Consumer complaint received 2023-11-02
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: WA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
I have been dealing with a very large dispute with Citibank and with an unlawful merchant in XXXX, XXXX since XXXX, 2023. In summary, I was manipulated to go into a storefront in XXXX, purchased one silk carpet for {$4500.00} and asked the merchant to hold XXXX other carpets for me while I travelled home to the XXXX to give me an opportunity to think about this very, very large purchase. These carpets were to be heirlooms for my daughter as I am XXXX and have XXXX  XXXX. Once I arrived home, I paid for and had him send me those specific silk carpets he put aside for me. I received them and stored them in my garage unopened until I realized they were attempting to extort money from me. Once it hit me what they were trying to do, I then opened the packages to find they sent me cheap carpets, made of wool NOT SILK, and not even the same colors. I then asked for a refund and eventually the merchant agreed ( I have that specific XXXX text ). I initially asked that they please take back these carpets and send me the carpets I actually ordered, have a picture of and clearly had them hold for me. They refused. I want desperately to return these cheap wool carpets worth practically nothing and get my XXXX back from these scammers. 

I sent a XXXX page color document to Citibank via regular mail so both Cards dispute teams could physically see the DIFFERENT COLORS AND TEXTURES of what I ordered vs. what was delivered. As I understand it, when this document is scanned in, it turns to BLACK AND WHITE. In looking at the scanned document, Citi can not distinguish the COLORS. This makes for a difficult time actually SEEING what I ordered vs. what the vendor delivered. It is the most simple and clear case of bait and switch. I have spent hundreds of hours on a recorded line and sent in hundreds of pages of documents proving that I was deceived, scammed, and being taken advantage of, likely because of my age and XXXX. 

Citibank refuses to accept videos. I have a staged video of this merchant pretending to have his store shut down, in line with his story of tax evasion and imprisonment that he was being prosecuted for and threatening me trouble with our government if I didn't pay him {$81000.00} immediately. For nothing. This was his bold move at scamming me for EVEN MORE MONEY since he knows I'm XXXX. Citi won't accept my video from them proving what I have been saying since XXXX. Why? 

I have no idea how Citi continues to deny me protections against such blatant fraud. It seems like the initial calls in in XXXX, 2023, someone filed this case as a " return issue '' case. It isn't about a return. It's about the merchant sending cheap substitute carpets to scam me out of {$100000.00}. It is a clear case of " bait and switch ''. The merchant " befriended '' me and fully manipulated me to trust them. Knowing I am XXXX, they pulled this scam on me. I paid alot of money and they sent me alternate carpets of significantly less value. I believe they did so knowing my health history and knowing I have no time to fight a battle with them. I have made literally hundreds of calls into Citibank for both accounts, spent hundreds of hours on a recorded line sharing the exact same information time and time and time again, sent the same proof over and over again, and still Citi has continued to refuse to have the merchant refund me. I'm old, I have XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX am XXXX, and have many other medical issues outside of XXXX that I'm dealing with which are worsening due to the stress of this dispute, and I have clearly been taken advantage of by this merchant because of my obvious vulnerabilities. And Citi is doing nothing to help. I have contacted the FBI and filed a report. I have contacted econsumer.gov and filed a report. I need this money back. I need these carpets gone. I need this settled properly for myself and my XXXX year old daughter before I go. 

I have sent hundreds of documents to Citi, it's all there yet still they aren't doing the right thing. 

The entire basis of my dispute for all of these charges is that the merchant sent me carpets that I did not choose. They sent me WOOL carpets, Citi has the pictures from my garage, not the pink and blue SILK carpets I have shared in that one picture ( they are behind the scale ). That picture is all I have as proof of what I actually wanted sent to me when I returned to the XXXX. If I received what I actually had the merchant hold for me, I would NOT BE DISPUTING ANYTHING. This is not a case of, I dont like what they sent. Its a case of, They sent me something other than what I ordered. 

There is no question I wanted these silk pink and blue carpets in the attached photo sent with all of my other documentation. I believed, when I gave them all of this money, that I was paying for those pink and blue carpets specifically. I made the mistake of TRUSTING the merchant to send me the carpets we discussed and agreed upon when I was inside the actual store. The merchant and I confirmed this on several XXXX phone calls ( I have the proof of this also on my app/phone ). When the packages arrived here, I stored them in my garage, unopened, again TRUSTING they sent me what we had agreed upon in person and on multiple phone calls. I did so because I was in the process of getting hardwoods put into my home ( and carpet removed ) and was unsure where to put each of them post hardwood installation. I stored them in my garage fully packaged, unopened as I have shown in pictures. I only went to open all of the packages once I realized they were clearly trying to manipulate me into giving them money for nothing and threats and videos of the owner going to jail for some type of tax evasion story. I opened the packages and found out they were cheap wool carpets, NOT the ones I had selected when I was in the store. I immediately went to my local police department and to the FBI ( you have the original report to the FBI and the business card of my local police department. ) As I later learned, the merchant then FRAUDULENTLY USED MY CREDIT CARD RECEIPT, INVOICE, and SIGNATURE FROM THAT ONE IN STORE PURCHASE and the one credit card transaction prior to leaving XXXX, to send a few silk carpets, TO FRAUDULENTLY COPY IT AND MY SIGNATURE to supposedly invoice me for the next shipments to my home. I NEVER SIGNED ANYTHING after that {$4500.00} in store purchase and in-store deposit on the additional carpets AND I NEVER RECEIVED ANY ADDITIONAL INVOICES OR RECEIPTS as they have claimed. There were only wool carpets with no documentation whatsoever and not the carpets I had clearly selected. As you can see, on their invoice to you, they later put in carpet codes that matched what they sent me, NOT the codes for the carpets I asked them to hold for me and send once I was back in the states. I was told the paperwork would come with the shipments but they didnt. Now I see why. They are not what I ordered.

This " bait and switch '' routine that is the basis for every one of these disputes. In the Sales Contract from XXXXXXXX XXXX  ( interesting it isn't from XXXX XXXX XXXX where the charge was sent and I never stayed or even knew about ) you can see in their handwriting AFTER I filled out the form, the numbers were later put in. These false numbers are XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. They simply copied my signature from the one I actually provided when buying the {$4500.00} carpet and fabricated FAKE invoices/receipts with my actual signature from my first purchases! I'm guessing the reason they didn't put the product numbers in was because of their plan to switch out the silk carpets with cheap wool ones and use those numbers to make it look legitimate. 

I see there are another set " carpet numbers '' on another invoice they made up/produced : These numbers, they say are XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX. Again, these numbers were produced later, when I was home in the XXXX. I ordered XXXX carpets to be delivered, why are there XXXX now according to their invoice? A mistake clearly on their part. The lies are stacking up. 

Between this man and his nephew, I have hundreds of texts as evidence of me asking for them to take these carpets back and send me what I ordered. After they attempted to extort me for {$81000.00} USD ( see XXXX Texts ), I no longer wanted the actual silk carpets I originally had them hold for me and wanted them to take their wool carpets back and refund me all I had spent. I kindly asked for a refund at that point. The owners response was, No way. Once this happened, the nephew deleted 90 % of the texts messages that I had previously screenshotted as I began to get the sense they were scamming me. He wanted NO EVIDENCE of the bait and switch, and extortion messages they sent. Im happy to show you the texts that prove that he deleted everything as soon as they realized I wasnt going for their scam. 

I have literally hundreds of documents that sent to Citibank. They are all there. Please lmk if you need me to send those.

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 explanation