Consumer complaint received 2023-09-20
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA
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:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I booked a stay at the XXXX XXXX in XXXX, TN, through which I thought was the hotel website, for the dates of XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX, total cost {$3200.00}, with my Coscto Citi Card. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to make the trip, so on XX/XX/XXXX, I called the XXXX XXXX to cancel the hotel reservation. I spoke with XXXX who told me the reservation was booked under XXXX ( conf # XXXX ) and they could not cancel the reservation for me. I then called XXXX and was informed they had no record of this reservation, and the confirmation number was not one of theirs. At this time, I also realized I had never received a confirmation email for the reservation. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called both the XXXX XXXX and XXXX during the daytime hours to again inquire about canceling the reservation but received the same responses, neither would cancel the reservation. I knew then that I must have been scammed, so I immediately filed a dispute through my Citi account online. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, Citi sent an online letter stating the " Merchant '' had responded. I immediately called the Citi billing dispute center to find out who the merchant was as neither the XXXX XXXX, nor XXXX claimed responsibility for the reservation. I was told by the Citi representative it was XXXX XXXX. I informed her I had never heard of XXXX XXXX and would never book a stay through a company I did not know. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, Citi sent an online letter stating the merchant ( XXXX XXXX  ) would not issue a refund because I violated their cancelation policy of not canceling before XX/XX/XXXX. However, as explained above, I tried to cancel this reservation on XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX, but I was unable to do so. 
At this time, I attempted to contact XXXX XXXX. It was very difficult as I could find no phone number for this company. I involved a family member who is a lawyer, and she found a group on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. It was there that I found an email address for XXXX  corporate and XXXX  customer service. I emailed both and received a response stating that since I filed a chargeback with my credit card, there was nothing they could do to refund my money. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, Citi sent an online letter stating I was responsible for the charge ( {$3200.00} ) and marked my dispute as " resolved ''. I was shocked and extremely disappointed that Citi did not protect me from this scamming company and refund my money. I called the Citi billing dispute center to speak to someone for an explanation. They stated that they tried to get XXXX  to refund my money, but since XXXX stated I violated their cancelation policy ( regardless of the events surrounding my attempts to cancel ) there was nothing they could do, thus, holding me responsible for the charge. Citi also stated that since I willingly gave my credit card number, it was not considered fraud. I tried numerous times to plead my case to the Citi billing dispute center. On one occasion, I was made aware by the Citi rep that the series of numbers following the charge on my credit card statement was actually a phone number. I called this number on XX/XX/XXXX, and spoke with XXXX from XXXX ( XXXX  apparently has several different names and companies they are affiliated with ). XXXX advised that there was never a confirmed reservation under my name, and she stated that I was not in violation of the cancelation policy. XXXX stated she would file a chargeback that would take XXXX business days, and I would then receive my refund. I asked her to send confirmation of this. She only sent the original hotel confirmation to me. ( This was the first time I had ever seen this hotel reservation confirmation ). I never received any money from this XXXX, and every time I called back to see where my refund was, I was told since I filed a chargeback with my credit card company, that I would have to go to my financial institution for the refund. ( You can see the discrepancy from the first phone call. ) ( It is important to note that I never received a confirmation email from XXXX XXXX confirming my reservation until I spoke with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, and requested one. Thus, I had no way to know who or where to call to cancel my reservation, which is why I called the hotel directly. ) I have excellent credit and always pay my credit card balances on time. I feel very wronged by Citi that they did not protect me from the scam that XXXX XXXX ( now called XXXX XXXX ), is running. This is why I used a credit card and not a check card to book the reservation, because credit card companies are supposed to protect consumers from scams. I have filed complaints with the Pennsylvania and California Attorneys Generals as well as the XXXX. I am a hardworking consumer who unknowingly fell into a scam and deserves to be protected by my credit card company.

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