Consumer complaint received 2020-03-30
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit 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 am seeking a charge dispute approval in the amount of {$210.00} back to my card for an item that I successfully returned to Best Buys warehouse on XX/XX/2019. I have made more than a good faith effort to resolve this issue with both Best Buy and XXXX, but have not received any assistance or satisfaction. 

I placed my order on XX/XX/2019 and the item was delivered to my residence on XX/XX/2019. I no longer needed the item, because it was a gift for someone that I ended up purchasing in-store on XX/XX/2019, after being told that my original order would be cancelled. 

Once I received the item, I contacted Best Buy to get a return slip in order to ship the item back to the warehouse for a refund. Using the XXXX  shipping slip provided to me by a Best Buy agent, I first checked that the item was securely packaged and then shipped the item back at my local XXXX store on XX/XX/2019. The item arrived at the warehouse in XXXX, KY on XX/XX/2019. I then called Best Buy support on XX/XX/2019 and was told that Id receive a refund back to my card within 30 days, or the next billing cycle. 

When I saw that the refund had still not posted on XX/XX/XXXX, I called Best Buy again and was told that the box had arrived empty. After discussion with the agent, they agreed that XXXX or the warehouse had lost the item and I would be refunded within the next billing cycle. Again, after not receiving the refund, I called back on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that they could not process a refund until I filed a damage claim with XXXX. So, I filed a damage claim that day, as seen in the XXXX tracking details. 

What ensued after I followed these instructions was phone tag and non-acceptance of responsibility. Best Buy told me to call XXXX, XXXX told me to call Best Buy, and so on and so forth. I spent more than 30 hours in the course of three months in customer support, from Best Buy and XXXX ( phone, chat, forum, email ). Best Buy gave me the same response each time that " since the box arrived empty, we can not process a refund. '' XXXX gave me the same dead-end response that " because Best Buy purchased the return label, they must contact us to resolve this. '' Best Buy ever contacted XXXX  or followed up with me regarding this case - a complete stalwart. Finally, after finding that neither side would provide assistance, I filed a complaint with the XXXX XXXX XXXX. Best Buy responded to that complaint that they could not process a refund for a lost item. 

Next, I filed a consumer fraud complaint with the California Attorney General, which received the same response. The simple solution here would have been for Best Buy to provide me a refund for the item I clearly returned, and then communicate with XXXX regarding the damage claim in order to recoup any lost funds on their end. XXXX is Best Buys preferred provider, and since XXXX would not allow me to discuss the damage claim ( as technically I was not the shipper - Best Buy was ), I had no means to receive any assistance or guidance. 

My last attempt to resolve this issue was to dispute the charge on the card, as I had been promised by Best Buy twice that I would receive a refund and did not - and I had also made more than a good faith effort to resolve this case with Best Buy and XXXX. After submitting 30 pages of documentation to Best Buy CITI Card, I was told that they had closed the investigation, after being informed by Best Buy that " they could not process a refund since the item returned empty. '' What was the point of submitting documentation if a real investigation would not be done? To me, it seems like Citi is not conducting objective investigations, but instead acting on behalf of Best Buy to deny chargebacks. 

I hope that Best Buy can see my utter frustration and disappointment in the behavior of their company, a company of which I have been a loyal customer for over 10 years. This issue has cost me an incredible amount of time and money, having to take hours and hours out of my workday in order to discuss and argue my position, for something that should have been resolved with one single call, as it is done with beloved companies like XXXX. This was a simple return that was lost by XXXX - how can Best Buy not resolve this?

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