Consumer complaint received 2023-04-27
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
Good afternoon, Id like to state that this is the wrong section. My intended form to file was for filing a complaint with debit card chargebacks. I failed to find it. I hope you can re-arrange it in the system. 

With that out of the way, Ill start by stating the elephant in the room. 
This goes out to Wells Fargo Bank AND XXXX. 

The story is, I bought two identical cameras from XXXX. The " XXXX XXXX '' the reason for getting two of them is for my cooking channel on XXXX. After some time I realized I could just use one of them and save money by returning the other one. 

Alright, cool so I return one of the cameras to the seller ( XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ), and keep the one that was sold directly by XXXX. To reiterate, the seller I listed above is an independent seller on the XXXX marketplace. 

So, them being Identical cameras I accidentally shipped the wrong one to them, the only difference being the serial numbers. 
You can not blame me, it was an honest mistake they are once again exactly identical models. 

So, weeks go by without a refund and I contact the seller ( XXXX XXXX ) and ask what happened with my refund. They tell me I returned a camera with a different serial number. I tell them my apologies and that I'll send the correct one over but in return, I want the one I shipped to them back and a refund as Ill be shipping the correct one. In return Ill cover shipping. 

They agree, so I pay for shipping to send the correct one back while they still have my other camera ( once again both are XXXX XXXX 's ) in their possession. I check the tracking daily like a hawk, till it said delivered finally! 

I ask them what happened with the refund and shipping my other camera over as it said delivered+signed on the tracking. They said they never got it. That they will investigate, find out what happened, and get back to me. 

This went on for months back and forth telling me they will investigate and that they found nothing in their warehouse. With nothing ever coming out of it! 

They refused to send me the wrongly returned camera, even though they sent me the serial of it showing they had it. They also kept acting like they never got the correctly returned camera when tracking info showed delivered and signed by there warehouse. 

It seems like they made quite a profit that day! Not only did they have my money ( approximately {$1300.00} ), but they also got to keep an identical camera for free, in addition to the one they sold me. 

Why were they able to get away with this without any consequences, such as me being able to file an A-Z claim or report the seller to XXXX for engaging in clearly illicit activities? 

Well, unfortunately, things couldn't get any worse, as my account on XXXX was closed around the same time this ordeal was happening. Closed for " too many returns ''. This was a long-standing account that we had opened since 2014, with thousands of purchases made over the years. With a big family, returns were bound to happen, but we always returned items in their original condition and shipped them promptly. It's really disappointing that XXXX treated us this way. 

Anyways, this seller knew they could do all this without any consequences as I had no one to go to. 

At some point, I reached my breaking point and threatened the seller with legal action and complaints to every bureau I could think of. Eventually, they gave in and returned the camera they had been holding hostage. However, they never refunded me for the original camera I had returned, which means they made a profit without losing any inventory. At this point, I realized that I would probably be going back and forth with them for months again, so I decided to file a chargeback with my bank and move on. 

So, I call Wells Fargo to tell them I want to file a dispute. I explicitly told the agent, the reason for dispute is I returned something, have the tracking, and never got a refund. He said " Ok, all set ''. Without ever asking for the tracking or further documentation and told me to have a nice day. Thought it was pretty fast and easy and went on with my day. 

Until... recently I got a letter from Wells Fargo saying they reversed the claim because " we found the charges were made by you or someone who had your permission '' WHAT?!? I never filed a claim saying my card got stolen or that this was an unauthorized charge! I clearly stated I wanted to file a dispute for shipping an item and never getting a refund! 

Unbelievable, so I call their claims department and am on hold for several hours. Finally, I get to a rep for them to tell me they cant help me as it's already final. The rep also states the documentation the XXXX seller provided. She stated the seller said I returned a totally different camera and made a dispute. 

On top of everything else, these people had the audacity to lie in the documentation to make it look like I was the one at fault. It was infuriating, especially since they were able to provide documentation while I couldn't. I repeatedly expressed my frustration to the representative, but she simply apologized and said that the case had been finalized, and suggested that I reach out to XXXX for help. I knew it would be a dead end with Wells Fargo and XXXX, so I hung up in frustration. Sitting here regretting trying to settle things with the seller and realized that it would have been easier to just resell the camera for a refund. 

Now knowing XXXX won't help me, and nor will my bank, I come here. I'm ~ {$1300.00} in the hole with no one to help. It started off as an honest mistake but Im clearly in the right here... 

To reiterate I shipped a camera with a different serial number yet it was the identical camera/model ( only difference is the serial ), saw my mistake, agreed to arrangement to ship the correct one back and get the wrong one back while also getting a refund for shipping the correct one back if I cover shipping. 

P.S I would like to mention since this problem has been going on since XXXX of last year, the tracking no longer works. As XXXX discards tracking numbers older then 120 days. Luckily for me, I have proof of receipt from XXXX. Also I am confident, if these companies decide to take my claims seriously they can contact XXXX and get them to use their internal systems to verify the tracking number. 


DOCUMENTATION : Some proof I cant get as its in my XXXX account which is now long gone, I still have some in my email though. So if anything is missing context, thats why. 

Also, these are not in chronological order. Im sorry for whoever is reviewing this, if I could I would. 

I will provide evidence, but I will also explain it. 

1. This screenshot is me contacting XXXX in regard to this situation. The tracking shown in this photo is for the camera that was correctly returned. This is after me and the seller made arrangements, yet they kept taking too long. 
The rep decided to file an A-Z claim and I backed up the seller! Knowing how detrimental A-Z claims are to a seller 's reputation I declined! Thinking the seller would help me without issue. After the chat, I contacted XXXX again to cancel the claim... 

2. Refer to 1.

3. refer to 1. 

4-4c. Proof that this was for the correct camera returned. 

5. Proof that this has been going on since XXXX. 

6. My first contact with XXXX after they closed my account. They closed it after I stated to a chat rep that I never got a refund for something that shows " delivered ''. This is for the camera I wrongly returned. This is before I had found out it was the identical camera I returned yet a different serial via the seller. 

6a-6b. email reply to XXXX with tracking. You can tell this is for the wrong camera shipped as it shows the recipient for a " return dock '' rather than an actual address, like the seller provided. 

7. Seller agreeing to arrangment, I return the correct camera back, they ship back my the wrong one, and they issue a refund as long as I pay shipping. 

8. Seller first time informing me that the camera I returned was the wrong one which is the reason I never got a refund this whole time. Also showing proof they had the wrong one in there possesion/hostage till several months later. 

9. Now XXXX, them acting clueless and still having both cameras in possesions up till this point. 

10. Heres them not replying to me for 10 days after promising to help me. And me showing that I even backed them up to be treated like this. 

11. More generic responses and wasting time. 

12. Them replying to me 14 days later saying they cant find the package. Then trying to pin me on the weight of the package when it was just because I didn't ship back some attachments that came included. 

12a. My reply 13. Them saying they cant help me at all.

14. XXXX XXXX REFUSING to not only refund my money that they kept while also keeping there original camera! But also holding the camera that I sent to them hostage! 

14a. Me getting fed up with them 15. There response to 14a 15a. This here is what I replied but is important info as it shows the exact info that was shown on the tracking number before it was disposed for being older then 120 days. And also once again our agreement. 

XXXX6. Them finally releasing my camera hostage with my response included. Which they never replied to! Just acted like it wasnt there. After this, I promptly started a chargeback with my bank for once again the correct camera I shipped back and never got a refund for.

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 non-monetary relief