Consumer complaint received 2018-10-08
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: GA
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:
Summary JP Morgan Chase ( Chase Bank ) failed to conduct a reasonable investigation in relation to a credit card billing dispute in reference to a contractor ( also Merchant ) failing to complete work, causing water damage to two ( 2 ) tenant occupied rental properties, and obtaining payment through fraudulent misrepresentations ( Chase Case # XXXX ). Chase Bank willfully refused to accept images and video evidence in support of claim. Chase Bank ignored and then provided incorrect means of transmitting screenshots of text communications. Chase Bank does not appear to have employed even the most basic investigative techniques to include questioning parties about the incident and documentation submitted. 

The assigned investigator appears to have made no attempts to question the contradictory information in documentation provided to them by the Merchant. The investigator appeared disinterested in obtaining any additional documentation, to include available text communications, in support of the investigation and did not appear to have reviewed the documents sent to her based on our brief conversation. The investigator merely advised that Chase Bank is requiring me to hire another contractor to inspect work and submit a report on a company letterhead. This requirement was made only days before the investigators alleged deadline. Chase Bank has willfully ignored any requirement to conduct a reasonable investigation. 

Details On XX/XX/2018, I called Chase Bank to report a fraud incident involving a contractor who failed to complete the job for which he was paid to complete, caused water damage to two ( 2 ) of my tenant occupied rental properties, and obtained job and payment through deception and fraudulent misrepresentations. 

The investigator called for the first-time during the investigation on Friday, XX/XX/2018 ( four days before Chase re-billed charges ) advising they would not be able to move forward unless I hired a contractor to inspect Merchants work and damages. She also advised that she only had until next week to resolve incident. She claimed the incident was he said, she said. I reminded her of the text communications, photos, and video evidence I have been waiting to submit. I advised her that their secure message system which Chase advised to use to transmit documentation related to the dispute process would not allow submission of images files, zip files, or video files. She finally provide me with an email address to send images of screenshots of text communications to. She stated that they would only accept screenshots of text messages as images. She stated that they would not accept any other photos in support of the dispute. 

On XX/XX/2018, I sent an email to the address provided by the investigator with screenshots of text messages, photos, and video clips to Chase Bank. 

On XX/XX/2018, I called the investigator and left a message. Shortly afterwards, I received an email that a message had just been posted to my Chase account. When I checked the message. I found a letter dated XX/XX/2018 stating Chase found the charges to be valid. I never received any notice by mail and this XX/XX/2018 letter was posted on XX/XX/2018. I immediately called Chase to challenge the dispute and to confirm their receipt of the XX/XX/2018 email. My account reflected that Chase re-billed my account on XX/XX/2018 for the disputed charges. 

When I spoke with the call taker, I explained the situation and he immediately asked if I was suing. I advised that legal proceedings are underway and he immediately forwarded me to a supervisor. The supervisor answered and confirmed that legal proceedings were underway. I advised her that I believed that Chase Bank failed to conduct a reasonable investigation, cited the general deficiencies, and inquired about the procedure for appealing the investigation. She advised that I would need to dispute the charges again. When questioned about receipt of supporting documents she confirmed that they received the XX/XX/2018 email, but advised they were unable to open attachments. She advised all attachments needed to be in pdf format. I advised her that I specifically requested a means to transmit the image files and was instructed by the investigator that the email address she provided would allow them to be received. 

The supervisor advised the customer has the burden of proof in the dispute process. She also advised the Bank represents the customer in the billing dispute. Restricting the customer from submitting evidence in support of his claim contradicts any notion that a reasonable investigation is being conducted by the Bank who is allegedly representing the customer. 

On XX/XX/2018, I re-disputed the charges and submitted supporting evidence in pdf format as instructed by supervisor and noted the previous failure to conduct a reasonable investigation in the hopes Chase Bank will take the time to review and conduct at reasonable investigation.

On Saturday, XX/XX/2018, I sent a message through their secure messaging system requesting information and to confirm receipt of attachments.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation