Consumer complaint received 2019-09-25
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
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:
Disputed transaction for unauthorized charge by a merchant. 

Merchant Name : XXXX XXXX/ XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX -- XXXX Date of transaction : XX/XX/2019 Date of Chargeback : XX/XX/2019 Amount : {$250.00} Bank of America Visa/Debit Card Transaction ( No signature ) This merchant was NOT authorized to charge my card for this transaction. 
This was a landscaper that had my card on file to charge upon completion of twice monthly services in the maximum amount of {$100.00} and ONLY after obtaining my prior consent with verification that the work had been completed. I am an out of state homeowner and this individual took advantage of that fact by not showing up or doing the job he was contracted to do. He was FIRED for breach of contract, not showing up and leaving my yard unkept covered in weeds, overgrown and dead grass and bushes growing wildly along with leaking sprinklers that I had to pay another company almost $ 1k to repair due to his negligence. The amount in question was charged AFTER he was fired for non performance, and not showing up as contracted and another company was hired to complete the work. I in fact contacted him immediately when I saw that he charged my card, and told him he needed to reverse this charge as it was NOT AUTHORIZED. 

I gave this individual ample time to credit my card before filing a dispute, he refused. 
I filed a dispute with my bank, Bank of America, they issued a chargeback on XX/XX/2019. 

The merchant provided an invoice addressed to a completely different person with a different name as part of his rebuttal and " evidence ''. He has also provided some papers that show what appears to be a random message thread with no names, numbers or any indication that it's a conversation I am a part of or not just something he wrote and printed up himself. It certainly doesn't show my name or number associated with it, not too mention unless he can provide an actual sealed transcript from my cell carrier, anyone can photoshop and doctor up a fake document to attempt to defraud someone. I could just as easily have printed out some documents to say whatever I want them to say as well. 

Giving a merchant a card to keep on file for one monthly charge after work has been completed and I authorize the charge, does not entitle them to just randomly charge an individual 's credit card at will, whenever they see fit, especially when the cardholder has explicitly informed this merchant they were NOT authorized to charge anything without prior consent. 

This is tantamount to fraud and I would expect as a client of Bank of America for 20 years to be treated better than this. I respectfully asked them to reconsider the decision based on this information and their lack of ANY proof that I authorized them to charge my card {$250.00}. I will be filing additional formal complaints with the XXXX, XXXX XXXX and the FTC.

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