Consumer complaint received 2019-01-01
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: CO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Gift card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Overcharged for a purchase or transfer you did make with the card

Complaint:
NOTE : I have selected available options regarding the complaint but it is regarding the purchases that I did not make as the card was never used, activated or opened from the origina wrapper until XXXX - details below. 

COMPLAINT about Mastercard Gift Card but inside wrapper pamphlet says " US Bank Gift Card : Ok, so one more thing to do before the year end.

I purchased 2 Mastercard gift cards in XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX ( I still have the original receipt ) mainly to use these cards for phone recharging and some online purchases. Before this I had purchased a similar {$200.00} Mastercard for the first time and was using it without any issues and since do small amounts in recharges the first one was still good and I had put away these other 2 gift cards in my safe box ie. I never opened them or activated them or used them. One thing I would like to mention is that I did not know myraid of " GOTCHAS '' these cards have and as the date of expiration on these is XXXX, I thought they were good as long as I did not activate and use them and never thought these are susceptible to fraud when they have not been activated or used. In fact when I search online ( and if you search online ) it seems that there have been thousands of users who have been defrauded. It is one thing when a card is active and used online and some thief or hacker gets a hold of the card number and uses it for fraudulent purchases - we all know this happens, but what if a card has never been activated or used for any purchases and put away in a safe with original wrapper unopened. How does a thief get a hold of the card information? It seems like this happens often ( specifically with Mastercard Gift Cards by US BANK ) and again if you go online you can see several forums where users discuss this. This is something I was not aware of. 

So, in XXXX XXXX I opened one of the 2 cards that I had in my safe ( in original wrapper ) to start using it and upon calling the phone number to check my balance I found that the card had been charged a " {$2.00} fee for each month '' for inactivity and almost half of the account had been drained by monthly inactivity fees. Again, I was not aware of this but I take responsibility for it although I would like to mention that it seems like a novel idea to charge someone for " not using a product '' - we all know companies charge for something when a product is used but how about charging someone for not using it? Is this done by design to make more money or does it really cost the bank in fees when the consumer is not using the service? 

However, the real issue here is that with regards to my 2nd card and when I checked the balance on that it had a balance of {$11.00} ( something like that ) and I was shocked. So, I called the customer service. Without going into all the details of the conversation which will make this even longer, he first told me that he did not know as there is history for only 24 months in the system. Then after I pressed him and told him that I never used the card before then said that the card was first used in XXXX of XXXX there were two charges for {$43.00} or something. So, I was not able to understand how he was able to get that information beyond 24 months which he was not willing to share first. Again, I would like to reiterate that I had never opened the wrapper, activated or used this card and I told him that and at that he said that he supected fraud and that he was going to lock the card and if I wanted to use the card I have to fax my original receipt and my address etc., so they can mail me a new card and when I asked him if it was for the original purchase amount of {$200.00}, he said no it would be for {$11.00}. I asked to speak with a supervisor and he said he would have someone call me back. Anyway, after that I spoke with 2-3 agents and they said they would refund me back the fees. Later I understood that by that they meant that they were " only refunding me the {$2.00} fee '' and not restore the original card. Different agents told me different versions. Anyway, I wanted to complain to CFPB about this since XXXX ( as  you can see how long this is ) and just did not have the time to do so and wanted to this before the year end. 

The issue is that as of today, they have locked that card, ( even with what was left {$11.00} ) and for that it seems I have to fax them and write them, etc., I am not willing to do that and as I told the agent in anger they can keep that, since they have taken the rest already. This is disgusting and if you search online, this seems to happen a lot where theives steal money from " never used/inactivated '' cards and yet banks like US Bank and Mastercard continue to issue these cards every year but customers lose millions of dollars to fraud and fees. I hope they can resolve this and I hope that your agency will look into the whole issue of " GIFT CARD '' business where banks are profiting at the expense of customers with inactivity fees for " not using '' the service and of course the issue of fraud.

Bottomline is that if they are willing to resolve and restore my original amount to that card or mail me a new card with the original {$200.00} purchase ( minus any monthly fees for inactivity, as absurd as they are and fees for not using a product ) I will fax them my original receipt and the mailing address, etc., and please provide me the proper contact phone number or email address and not your general phone system where I will have to go through the whole history again with another helpless rep. 

Thank You

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 non-monetary relief