Consumer complaint received 2021-06-24
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: AZ
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:
This is in regards to a charge for an internet purchase I made on XX/XX/2021 from online merchant XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$350.00}. XXXX XXXX is the merchant name for the vendor where the online purchase was made, XXXX. 

On XX/XX/2021, I contacted Chase Cardmember Services in regards to the above charge due to concerns with the legality of the item purchased. The merchant, XXXX XXXX, had no listed phone number on their website and was not responding to emails. I became concerned with whether I could legally possess the item purchased. 
During my conversation with the Chase customer service representative ( CSR ), the CSR advised me that she would open a dispute in order to force the merchant to contact me directly. CSR was also able to provide me with a phone number for the merchant. I advised CSR that I did not want to file a dispute and would attempt to reach the merchant via telephone. The CSR stated that she had opened the dispute already without my permission in order to force the vendor to contact me. She advised that she immediately closed it within a few minutes of our conversation. She advised me that the merchant would not be advised of the dispute as it was opened and closed within a few minutes. I got off the phone with CSR and called back to speak to another CSR in order to be sure that the dispute was cancelled and to ensure that the merchant would not be advised of the dispute. During the second call a different CSR advised me the same. 

On XX/XX/2021, I made telephonic contact with the owner of XXXX XXXX, XXXX. Upon speaking to XXXX, he assured me there was no issues with the legality of the part ordered from his company and that the item would ship no later than XX/XX/2021. I had no issues with XXXX response and awaited shipping of the item. 

On XX/XX/2021, I contacted XXXX XXXX via email in regards to my order, as the order had not shipped. I was able to check the status of my order via XXXX, where the item was originally purchased. I received an email back from XXXX representative XXXX. XXXX advised me that the item would ship the following week. 

On XX/XX/2021, my item still did not ship. I again contacted XXXX via email. On XX/XX/2021, XXXX responded via email and stated that they had received a chargeback on the transaction and she was cancelling my order. XXXX stated that per company policy, I would be charged a fifty percent restock fee of approximately {$180.00} for initiating the charge back. 

On XX/XX/2021, I contacted Chase Cardmember Services regarding the original dispute and the charges. The CSR I spoke to indicated that the charge was in fact refunded to me on XX/XX/2021, however, the same charge was recharged in the amount of {$350.00} on the same day as the dispute was cancelled. CSR advised me that the merchant got their payment and the matter was not considered to be an official dispute as the dispute was cancelled. 

On XX/XX/2021, I sent a detailed email back to XXXX which included copies of my credit card statements showing that the charge was rebilled and the payment was received. I indicated several times in the email that I did not want to cancel or refund the charge and I wanted the ordered item. Several days passed and XXXX did not respond. 

On XX/XX/2021, I made telephonic contact with XXXX XXXX owner XXXX regarding the situation. I again advised XXXX that I in no way wanted to cancel the item. XXXX advised me that he would look into the matter and would call me back. 

On XX/XX/2021, I received an email from XXXX stating that she was looking into the matter and would respond in 24 hours. 

On XX/XX/2021, I contacted XXXX via email as I had not heard back. XXXX responded and stated that she was unable to find the recharge and she was initiating a cancellation of the order which included the fifty percent restock fee as they did not receive their payment. 

XXXX XXXX, never shipped me the item and I never received the item. 
Additionally, I indicated to the merchant on several occasions in writing, that I did not want to cancel the order. The merchants return policy requires that all refunds and cancellations must be submitted in writing. I did not submit a request to cancel or refund the item. The vendor claimed that I did not pay for the item and is attempting to charge me a fifty  percent restock fee of {$180.00} for an item they never sent. 

On XX/XX/2021, I sent a formal letter to Chase Card Member Services requesting a reopening of the dispute as I never received the item. This request included documents with emails from merchant XXXX XXXX. 

I followed up with the Chase Card Member Service Disputes Department on several occasions to ensure they received the request. On three occasions after the request for reopen was submitted to Chase, a CSR from the disputes team confirmed that it had been received on XX/XX/2021 and was currently being worked on. On each occasion I was advised that a " back office '' handles reopening of disputes and there was no way to contact this back office or request an update and I had to either just wait or continue to call weekly. 

On XX/XX/2021, I submitted second formal letter to Chase Cardmember Service requesting an update on the reopen as 30 days had passed and they had failed to provide any updates. 

On XX/XX/2021, I received a letter from Chase Cardmember Services stating that my dispute was being denied because too much time had passed from the original purchase. 

On XX/XX/2021, I contacted Chase Cardmember Services via telephone. I made contact with a supervisor named XXXX in the disputes department. XXXX confirmed that my first letter to reopen the dispute was received by Chase on XX/XX/2021. She also confirmed that my letter for a request for a follow-up was received on XX/XX/2021. XXXX stated she was not sure but believed that the window to dispute the charge was 60 days and set by Visa. She stated that 60 days had been exceeded by the time the " back office '' had gotten to the request to reopen the case. 

I feel that I filed the request to dispute the charge within a timely manner. This whole situation is a mess and was brought on by the very first Chase CSR that I spoke to opening and quickly closing a dispute on the charge without my full permission. I filed the request to reopen the dispute well within 60 days. This should have been the first dispute that I filed on the charge as Chase shouldn't have filed the dispute in the first place. Regardless of the first dispute for the charge being filed, I still requested that the dispute be reopened before the 60 day mark of the original charge and Chase failed to address the request in a timely manner. 

I am now forced to pay {$350.00} for an item I never received, Chase improperly handled a dispute with and Chase failed to properly address in a timely manner.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief