Consumer complaint received 2022-08-13
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: MN
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 purchased some supplements from XXXX. The person who sold me the products signed me up for a monthly subscription without my knowledge. In XXXX, when I saw my Bank Account had been charged {$490.00}, and even though I had not received the products yet,, I contacted the Company to let them know I didn't want the products and demanded a refund. 

The representative I spoke with instructed me not to open the package when I receive it and to take it back to the post office and say that I was refusing the package. In the meantime I contacted my Credit Card, Discover and disputed the transaction as I wasn't willing to pay for a transaction I had not authorized. The Discover representative I spoke to was extremely rude and demanded that I call back to dispute the transaction once I had returned the package. I refused and insisted that she issue a temporary credit to my account while I navigated the return process, she finally badged and gave me temporary credit. 

The package was then delivered to me while I was out of the country and when I got back I did exactly what I was instructed to do by the XXXX representative. I took it to the post office and told the representative there that I was refusing the package and that it should be returned back to the sender. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Discover reversed the credit I had received and posted the {$490.00} back on my account. I called discover again and informed them I had returned the package back to the merchant, and I believe another temporary credit was put on my account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Discover again charged back the transaction to my account and this time I called XXXX asking why they had not refunded my money yet they had already received the package I sent back. According to the XXXX tracking page, the package had been delivered to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The representative I spoke to stated they had received the package but didn't issue a refund as I had disputed the charge with my bank and they had reversed the payment. I explained that the payment that had been reversed had been sent back to them again. The XXXX representative stated she can not issue a refund as the bank had reversed the payment they received. 

At this point I conferenced in Discover and asked XXXX to verify they had received their product and that I should get my money back. XXXX representative verified on the phone that they had the returned product in their Warehouse. At that point the Discover representative asked that I send them the XXXX documents showing the product was returned and delivered to XXXX. She also issued a temporary credit to my account. 

A few days later, I uploaded the documents to my online Discover dispute, thinking this is done. On XX/XX/XXXX I noticed the {$490.00} charge was back on my credit card transactions history AGAIN! I also received an email stating I had a secure message from Discover. Upon logging into my account I got a message stating the Transaction I had disputed had been found to be valid. I was livid! I called Discover AGAIN to ask why this transaction had been posted to my account again after a XXXX representative had confirmed the product had been returned on XX/XX/XXXX and I had uploaded the requested documents confirming delivery was made to XXXX. 

I asked to speak to a XXXX and after being transferred around a couple of times I was finally connected with XXXX. I was furious as I've had to call Discover several times for the same issue. For the millionth time, I explained to the supervisor what was going on again. The supervisor said from the documents they had received from XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, they had determined the transaction was valid. 

When I asked what documents had they received that proved the transaction was valid, he said he couldn't tell me. I asked why the last representative I spoke to verified on the phone that the product had been returned and that I had provided the proof they requested to show the product had been returned to the merchant, not enough to prove the charge was not valid and was told Discover now wants me to provide a promise for refund from XXXX in the form of an email or a letter. 

The supervisor asked if I had an email from XXXX stating they would refund me for the purchase. I told him I didn't and that shouldn't matter as I shouldn't be forced to pay for a product I not only didn't order, but had already returned. The supervisor insisted that they have to see a promise to refund in order to issue credit. 

I asked if I could conference with XXXX on the call, and again the XXXX representative verified the product had been returned. When I asked why they had not processed a refund, I was told to email Compliance as the representative could not help me with getting a refund as I had disputed the transaction and my bank had already reversed the payment. I was then told I would have to email compliance to get my issue resolved. 

I insisted that I needed to talk to someone and that I was not going to email Compliance. After a lot of going back and forth a XXXX from compliance got on the phone. I proceeded to explain what was going on and asked why a refund was never issued after they received their product. XXXX said a refund was issued sometime in XXXX. I asked him what account the refund was issued to as it never hit my account. He then said he needed to do more research to verify if a refund was made. I asked him to verify to Discover that the product had been returned and a refund should have been processed. XXXX confirmed again that the product had been received and I was due a refund. 

XXXX told the Discover representative that he too worked for Discover for 11 years as a Team Lead in the Disputes department and that he was very aware of what they were looking for. He promised to research the matter and get back to me shortly, but I never heard back from him, and still havent received a call from him, or anyone from XXXX, XXXX days later. After XXXX got off the XXXX the Discover supervisor told me that when XXXX calls me back to ensure I ask for an email stating a refund will be issued. 

I further expressed my disappointment with how Discover was making me jump through hoops to get a refund yet the XXXX had verified twice, I had returned the product and should get my money back. I told Discover it was unfair for them to dismiss my documents and assume I was lying by taking the XXXX side. At this point I told Discover I would contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to file a formal complaint as I was done with the going back and forth. 

While preparing this complaint I logged into my online secure inbox to get the letter Discover Bank sent me on XX/XX/XXXX stating the transaction was valid. On the last page there was a document from XXXX bank titled XXXX XXXX XXXX. The document states : We are UNABLE to accept your Pre-Arbitration Case for XXXX, XXXX, Amount of case : {$490.00}. REASON : We are unable to accept your pre-Arbitration request because you cant come back with the same reason code when it comes to AA. If your CH still doesnt recognize transaction then the reason code should have been changed. You have lost all rights. We will not accept. 

Well, from the above mentioned document it is obvious that Discover messed up when processing the chargeback from XXXX credit card merchant and now theyre forcing me to get a promise for a refund for a purchase I never authorized and products I dont have. This is unacceptable. I want my money back.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation