Consumer complaint received 2020-04-26
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: CA
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 made a purchase with my BARCLAYS credit card from a merchant, named XXXX XXXX  for an amount of {$1800.00}. The purchase was for international air travel, with a travel date of XX/XX/XXXX. I was unable to board my flight on XX/XX/XXXX, due to the negligence and/or breach of contract of XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX, but they were non-responsive to my requests for a refund. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I sought reimbursement for my missed flight through travel insurance protection that I purchased in addition to the purchase of the airline tickets. However, on XX/XX/XXXX, the travel insurance company, XXXX, denied my claim and stated that the insurance policy I purchased did not cover negligence and/or breach of contract by the merchant XXXX XXXX  

Some time in XX/XX/XXXX, I contact BARCLAYS via telephone I disputed the transaction with BARCLAYS, and a provisional credit was issued for the full amount of {$1800.00}. I was given a Case Number XXXX. I confirmed on that telephone call I had documentation to support my dispute, and the representative on the phone stated that if XXXX XXXX did not agree with my dispute BARCLAYS would contact me to provide documentation for review before the investigation by BARCLAYS was completed. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received written confirmation from BARCLAYS that XXXX XXXX was notified of my dispute. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I happened to log-in to my BARCLAYS online account and saw that the provisional credit for the disputed {$1800.00} charge was reversed. However, I never received any written notification of the reversal, or a request for additional documentation from BARCLAYS prior to that date. I immediately called BARCLAYS on XX/XX/XXXX, and was told by a representative named " XXXX, '' that the investigation under Case Number XXXX was closed because XXXX XXXX  provided fraudulent information that claimed I voluntarily missed my flight and provided a copy of its cancellation and refund terms for voluntary missed flights in response to the BARCLAYS investigation. I advised " XXXX '' that BARCLAYS never contacted me during the investigation so I could provide documentation proving I did not voluntarily miss my flight, and I requested that BARCLAYS re-open the investigation immediately. " XXXX '' explained that in order for BARCLAYS to re-open the investigation I must draft and send the request in writing. " XXXX '' explained that in the meantime BARCLAYS could not re-issue the provisional credit, but that any interest on the charge would not accrue while it was still disputed after the investigation was re-opened. Finally, " XXXX '' stated that if I pursued legal action against XXXX XXXX  and was successful, BARCLAYS would reverse the disputed charge at that time. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I drafted a letter wherein I requested that BARCLAYS re-open the investigation for the disputed {$1800.00} charge, and outlined how I made multiple attempts to correct the charge with XXXX XXXX, but that XXXX XXXX  was non-responsive. Additionally, I outlined that under my written credit card agreement with BARCLAYS, I was well within my rights to have the disputed charge removed as I fulfilled all three necessary criteria listed in the BARCLAYS agreement : ( 1 ) The purchase was made in my home state of California via an internet transaction ; ( 2 ) I used my BARCLAYS credit card for the purchase ; and ( 3 ) I have not yet fully paid for the purchase. Finally, I included with my letter several documents, which disputed XXXX XXXX  ' claim that I voluntarily missed the international flight on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a lawsuit against XXXX XXXX  for the full amount of the disputed charge of {$1800.00}, plus additional damages. I waited to hear back from BARCLAYS, but I never did. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, a trial was held in XXXX XXXX County Superior Court, and the Court ruled in my favor for the full amount requested, including court costs, for a total judgment of {$2600.00} entered against XXXX XXXX, which included the disputed charge amount. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I still had not heard back from BARCLAYS, but I noticed that the disputed charge was not reversed, and I was still being charged interest on the disputed charge on my billing statement, so I called BARCLAYS on the telephone. The representative stated there was nothing she could do over the phone regarding the interest still being charged, that the investigation was closed, and that I would need to draft a request in writing to have the investigation re-opened. I explained I already had done that, and was waiting to hear back from BARCLAYS regarding the status of the re-opening of the original investigation. The representative simply repeated that I must submit my request to re-open the investigation in writing. I advised the representative that I had successfully sued XXXX XXXX  for the disputed charge. The representative told me that so long as I could provide a copy of the Court 's judgment included with my written request to re-open the investigation, then BARCLAYS would finally reverse the disputed charge and credit my account for any previously paid interest associated with the disputed charge. The representative gave me a new Reference Number XXXX regarding my request. That same day on XX/XX/XXXX, I drafted a letter requesting that BARCLAYS re-open the investigation, reverse the disputed charge and any interest charges, and I included a Conformed ( " Official '' ) copy of the Court 's Minute Order from the Trial, as well as additional supporting documentation. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, I still had not heard back from BARCLAYS, so I attempted to call, but due to COVID-19 I was unable to get through on the telephone line. So I instead contacted BARCLAYS through my online account messaging tool, asking for an update. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, I still had not heard back from BARCLAYS. I again contacted BARCLAYS through my online account messaging tool, asking for an update. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a response from BARCLAYS through my online account messaging tool : " Dear XXXX XXXX : Thank you for contacting us here at your XXXX XXXX in regards to the decision of your billing dispute. 

Regrettably, at this time, we can not change the decision of your case through the Secure Message Center. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. 

However, we can confirm the charge of {$1800.00} from XXXX XXXX, is currently in dispute. We also show that a dispute case has been opened for you and we have begun our investigation, which can take up to 45 days or longer to complete depending on the complexity of the case. During the time that the transaction is in dispute, it will continue to appear on your statement. However, the transaction will not be subject to finance charges, and you are not responsible to pay any portion of the dispute transaction during the investigation. Once we receive a copy of the sales draft from the merchant, we may reach out to you and ask you to review it or we may request additional information in order to present the strongest case to the merchant. 

We would like to make you aware that we will do our best to represent your interests in this case and will work to reach a fair outcome. Once the investigation is completed, we will send you a letter with our findings. If the dispute is resolved in your favor, a credit will be applied to your account. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the dispute in your favor, we will provide you with a reason why we did not prevail and you will be responsible for the transaction. 

If you have any additional questions regarding your dispute, we ask that you please contact our Dispute Unit directly at XXXX. Our agents are available Monday through Friday : XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX ET, and will be happy to assist you. 

We appreciate the time that you have taken for bringing this matter to our attention, and for the opportunity for us to clarify the situation. Thank you for entrusting BarclaycardUS with your financial needs. If you have any other questions or concerns, please reply to this message. 

Sincerely, Customer Care '' On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter in the mail from BARCLAYS that stated the following : " Dear XXXX XXXX : We've carefully reviewed all of the documentation supplied regarding the activity below : XXXX XXXX, {$1800.00}, XX/XX/XXXX. 

After further review we're not able to assist you with obtaining a credit to your account due to the following : We are outside of the permitted timeframes to continue this claim through the dispute process. 

We encourage you to continue to pursue credit by contacting the merchant directly. Unfortunately, we can not assist you further with this issue. ''

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 explanation