Consumer complaint received 2024-01-03
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: MN
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
Im writing about a payment I made to my credit card from Ameriprise Visa through Elan Financial. In XX/XX/XXXX I used XXXX bill pay service to make a {$10000.00} payment from my checking account. The payment was sent by XXXX to the bank who previously owned the credit account instead of to Elan. A copy of the check which is dated XX/XX/XXXX is attached. 

Upon realizing the payment had not been credited to my account, I contacted XXXX and Elan on XX/XX/XXXX. During a conference call the call with both parties, I spoke to XXXX XXXX from Elan who advised us that the address the check had been sent to appeared to be for the bank which owned the account before it had been purchased by Elan. He also advised me that this thing happens sometimes when the accounts get bought and sold and that Elan would open a payment investigation to find the payment and get it applied to my account. He also said that the timeframe for the investigation was unknown. The reference number for the investigation was XXXX. 

Over the next 2 years, I continued to contact XXXX, Elan, and the bank where my checking account that the payment was drafted from. No one was able to give me any updates of any substance. XXXX advised that they had sent affidavits to XXXX XXXX, as the bank where the check had been deposited, and to Elan, but that Elan was unwilling to sign the affidavit. They have never shared with me what the affidavit was asking Elan to affirm, but since they had not received the payment, this affidavit likely should have also been sent to the bank that previously owned the account. XXXX also advised me several times that they have sent proof of payment to Elan. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I began receiving assistance from my checking account bank who was determined to help me locate where this missing {$10000.00} was and how to get it back. During a call to Elan on XX/XX/XXXX, we were advised that the previous owner of the account was actually XXXX and not XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX was just the bank where XXXX had deposited the check when it was cashed in XXXX. Upon providing the reference number for the payment investigation from 2 years prior where XXXX had assured me that Elan would contact the previous processing center to locate the payment, that it did not appear that any investigation had ever been done and there had been no attempt by Elan to follow through on their promise retrieve the payment. 

Now knowing that XXXX was who had the payment Id made 2 years ago, we were able to have XXXX contact them, although they did occasionally continue to try and direct me back to XXXX, and the {$10000.00} has now been returned to me. On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Elan again to request to make the payment, but I would like to have it backdated to XX/XX/XXXX, the date on the original payment check which was erroneously sent to XXXX, and that I would also like the account to be re-aged from that date. I was told by XXXX at Elan that he would need to look into the account but that he would call me back in 1 or 2 business days.

When a week had passed with no return call from Elan, I called again on XX/XX/XXXX. This time I spoke with XXXX and again explained the situation and my request to her. She also advised me she would need to look into the account and would call me back. We also provided a copy of the check dated XX/XX/XXXX, to show that the payment had been made, it had just been sent to the previous owner. When she called me back the next day, she told me that even though I was misled by XXXX promise of assistance more than 2 years ago, there was nothing they could do. 

I have been trying to do the right thing for both myself and Elan since XX/XX/XXXX. I was promised assistance from Elan and did not receive it. XXXX consistently gave me the runaround and were not trying to contact the right bank to retrieve the money. I want to make the payment that I tried to make 2 and a half years ago, but I wanted to be treated fairly.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief