Consumer complaint received 2019-02-11
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
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:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I disputed a charge that was made on XX/XX/XXXX for tickets to the " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX '' for a total {$100.00} for the reason that the event was not as described and used misleading advertising.

Chargeback Dispute Details The advertising was misleading as the ticket name indicates this was to be a " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. Further in the ticket description it was indicated that balloons would be available " weather permitting ''. However it was not indicated that " weather permitting '' meant winds of less than 10mph, which according to XXXX and other weather sites ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) the average wind speed in XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX is 10mph, meaning that a balloon launch was unlikely. The 10mph wind limit was not listed anywhere in the ticket description nor on the website ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). The event had a strict no refund policy which they iterated many times and would not offer a refund when requested via XXXX. They only offered a chicken dinner as substitute for the balloon ride passes which I did not accept. Without the balloons, the event is not a " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '' but a XXXX XXXX   with a few food vendors. I was not the only one who felt scammed by this event. Many negative comments were posted to the XXXX XXXX XXXX page, but all were deleted. I suspect that XXXX XXXX also shutdown a XXXX group set up specifically for complaints for this event. Fortunately though, they weren't able to take down the XXXX XXXX XXXX article that was published detailing the many complaints for the event ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ).

As further evidence that this event was a scam, note that one of the partners of the organizers of the event, Senator XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) was previously investigated by the XXXX XXXX on suspicion of using funds from his charity polo match " XXXX XXXX '' to fund his political campaign ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ).

Dispute Process With Citi After I failed to get a refund from XXXX/XXXX XXXX I filed a chargeback request with Citi online. The only contact information I was given with Citi was a fax number which was to be used to fax supporting documents ( attached ). I never received followup that these documents were received. I attempted to call Citi several times with their customer service number ( XXXX ), but when routed to the Dispute Center, you are only given an automated message with the status of your dispute. You are not given an option to speak to a customer service representative to provide more details. I am extremely disappointed in Citi for this impersonal treatment. The only notifications I got from Citi was when they received a response from the merchant on XX/XX/XXXX and then another notification on XX/XX/XXXX that they reversed the chargeback in the merchant 's favor. The only details I received from them was a scanned copy of the merchant 's response. I received no confirmation that Citi ever received or used the information I sent them. I have no indication that Citi even bothered to read the information I sent.

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