Consumer complaint received 2019-01-08
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: DE
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: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
Summary : While traveling abroad, I logged on to check my credit card statement almost immediately after the statement had been generated. I noticed several charges I did not make. I immediately made multiple attempts to contact the credit card company, by phone and through the web interface, but to no avail, over the next two days. When I arrived home a few days later, I was finally able to get someone on the phone, and filed the fraud report. Over a month later, the company decided against my claim, and reinstated the charges. No reason was given, though after speaking with someone on the phone I was given a nonsensical explanation that the fact I had logged on to my account so many times after the fraudulent charges indicated I was responsible. I explained that I logged on to the account so many times in an attempt to contact them. 


Details : XXXX XXXX : Shortly before leaving for a XXXX trip that evening, I logged on to my account through the credit card web portal to file a travel notification, so I could continue to use the card when traveling. ( travel-notice.pdf ) XXXX XXXX : While traveling in XXXX, I received a notification that my monthly statement was available. ( statement-notification.pdf ) XXXX XXXX ( and possibly XXXX XXXX ) : I logged on to my account to view the statement and recent transactions and noticed four charges I did not make : Transaction Date - Posting Date Description Reference Number Amount ================================= XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX FL XXXX {$500.00} * This charge was also credited back from the merchant in two credits of {$250.00} each on XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX {$93.00} XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX {$2200.00} XXXX - XXXX XXXX   XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$290.00} ( See XXXX and XXXX ) I immediately began making efforts to contact the credit card company and inform them of the fraud, and ask them to cancel the card. I tried calling various phone numbers on the card and listed on the web page, but always got only messages saying the center was closed. I tried various things through the web interface, including clicking on boxes next to the fraudulent items which said " report this as fraud ''. 

XXXX XXXX : I flew to XXXX. After arriving that evening, and continuing into the morning of XXXX XXXX, I continued trying to contact the company, to no avail. I made repeated phone calls but could never get a person, only messages. I sent a note through one of their web interfaces for contacting them. Something I did did result in freezing the card -- on XXXX XXXX I received an email from them ( XXXX  ) asking me to contact them immediately (! ) and indicating a hold would be placed on my card. I wrote back explaining I had been trying repeatedly to contact them but no one would answer the phone ( XXXX ). 

XXXX XXXX : I arrived back in the U.S. in the evening. 

XXXX XXXX : I called the credit card company and this time was able to get someone on the phone ( XXXX, see XXXX ). I explained the whole situation to her. We went over all the charges. We discussed that the {$500.00} had already been reimbursed. A fraud claim was filed. 
Shortly after, I received a credit on my statement for all four charges ( including the one for {$500.00}, which wasn't necessary ). 

XX/XX/XXXX : I received a fraud claim letter explaining that {$3100.00} was credited to my account as the invesitgation proceeded ( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX : I received a letter indicating the credits for {$500.00} would be reversed since the merchant already credited me. 
( Which was correct, and which I pointed out at the beginning when I made the claim. XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : I received a letter saying " We've received your dispute regarding our decision on the fraud claim for the above account. Our decision hasn't changed ... '' ( XXXX ) But I was never informed of any decision, and I never disputed anything. 

All of the fradulent charges were reinstated on my account. 

XX/XX/XXXX : After several attempts, I was finally able to get someone on the phone to speak about this. I asked ( 1 ) why I was never informed of a decision, and ( 2 ) why this decision was made. 
I was told the " wrong letter '' had been sent to me, but there were notes regarding the basis of the decision. These amounted to something like this : because I had logged on to my account many times after the fradulent charges were made, and did not " display urgency '', they decided I was responsible for the charges. I said that the reason I had logged on to my account so many times was because I was trying urgently to contact them, to no avail. I was told the investigation would be re-opened, but so far no action has been taken and the charges still have not been reversed. 

Given the way the company has handled the situation so far, I have no faith they will do anything about it. I have spent many hours communicating and trying to communicate with them about this situation. 
I did everything right, and promptly. I am not supposed to be liable for charges I did not make. It should not have taken this long to resolve the situation ( and it is still not resolved ).

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 monetary relief