Consumer complaint received 2019-08-28
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid 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 working to get reimbursed for this problem for more than a year, so there are a lot of details. But let me preface the information by describing the problem as it currently stands : I went through a dispute process for a charge on my Visa card with Capital One. They informed me I lost the dispute. The bank that represents the other party ( the vendor ) also informed the vendor they lost the dispute. Somehow we both lost and the banks kept the money. I have attempted to resolve this on numerous occasions with Capital One, but they believe it is 100 % out of their hands once a determination has been made on a dispute. The other bank says the same. 

Full details : In XXXX, 2018, I used my visa to pay approximately {$860.00} for a deposit for artificial grass for a play area for my kids. The change was made in XXXX. Later that day, I got a message from the vendor saying that he spoke with the manufacturer, and the type of grass I ordered wasnt appropriate for a play area. The correct grass would require additional padding and cost twice as much. Less than 24 hours after putting down the deposit, I canceled the order. The vendor agreed that I would get a full reimbursement. However, they said they needed more time to refund my money because they had already purchased the wrong grass ( even though the manufacturer told them it was the wrong one ). The vendor told me he would refund my money as soon as another customer came along and purchased the grass. That scared me, so I filed a dispute with the credit card company to put a hold on the money. Again, all within a day of putting down the deposit. 

We continued through the dispute process, and I filed the appropriate papers. However, the vendors bank sent a one sentence form letter in response to the the dispute ( attached ). They did not consult with their clientthey sent it without any knowledge of the circumstances and claimed that I kept the merchandise. The vendor and I agree this letter was false. I never received any merchandise. If you look at the letter it is blatantly a form letter with no substantive response to the dispute. If you look at capital ones response, their decision hinged 100 % on this form letter. The bank is not a US bank, and I suspect they are not required to follow any of the same rules to involve their client in the dispute process, or at least they seem to ignore any such requirements. 

Based on that one sentence, inaccurate form letter, Capital One determined I lost the dispute and encouraged me to work directly with the vendor. I have done that. The vendor and I are in 100 % agreement that I should get the money back. ( One of the attachments in XXXX is the vendor writing to her bank in the same way I wrote to capital one. ) You are welcome to contact the vendor who supports me completely in this process. The problem is their bank ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) also told them they lost the dispute, and the money was debited from their account. That same bank is now saying too much time has passed for them to look into it any further, even though I have been calling and writing about this issue the entire time. 

As an aside, the dispute process was ridiculous. I submitted messages from the vendor agreeing that I should get the money ( We had already worked it out ), but the form letter from the bank caused me to lose. That makes no sense. Clearly XXXX XXXX   XXXX has a policy of denying every dispute without following the steps to find out more information.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief