Consumer complaint received 2020-05-29
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: NJ
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:
Hello, I've had the Barclays XXXX XXXX Mastercard for over a year. I decided to get the card because I'd been doing a great deal of travel and aside from its XXXX points benefits, one of the selling points of the card was travel insurance. 

I had a number of travel arrangements planned for XXXX when COVID hit. This resulted into three different charges I needed to dispute because the airlines would not give me a refund or credits towards future flights. When I contacted Barclays, customer service was nice over the phone and gave me the impression they were going to make things right, but they did not. 

Below is an excerpt from a letter/fax they required me to send to them outlining my issues with the three disputes, including dates and charge amounts. I've also attached a PDF of the letter, which includes screenshots and ample evidence backing up my claim. 

Weeks after receiving this letter, Barclays sent me three brief letters, one per dispute, simply stating " We are unable to override the merchant 's no refund cancellation policy that was agreed to when making the purchase. '' What I find to be repressible is every time I've called to follow up on their refusal to credit my Barclays account, the customer service representatives have stated untruthful information about my claim. For example, on my most recent call, Barclays told me XXXX had offered me credit for my flights, which was not the case. They told me there was nothing I could do. When I initially called Barclays about this dispute, I specifically asked the customer service representative if I should cancel my flights while the charge was being disputed, and the customer service rep told me to cancel it. Those flights ended up being cancelled by the airline a few weeks later, meaning had I not cancelled on my end, I would have received credit. How is Barclays, a multi-billion dollar company, not liable for this? How am I stuck with the nearly {$1000.00} in charges? 

I would have NEVER cancelled my flight had they not specifically advised me to. Aside from being completely unethical, how is this even legal? 

Like I said, below is a more detailed breakdown. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Supposedly one of their higher up dispute managers is going to be calling me, but it's been three days since I last spoke to them and I haven't heard a thing. 

This letter is in regards to three different chargeback disputes : XXXX XXXX XXXX I am writing to request to continue my case with all three of these. The reasoning for my disputes being initially declined was : We are unable to override the merchants no refund cancellation policy that was agreed to when making the purchase. 

Lets start with XXXX. 

My charge was processed on XX/XX/2020 for the amount of {$160.00} from gotogate_us_us XXXX. 

The charge was for a flight booked on the airline XXXX. The flight was scheduled for XX/XX/2020. 

On XX/XX/2020 I received an email from XXXX stating that XXXX filed for bankruptcy and that my flight would no longer be happening. In the email from XXXX they state this : Ive been booking my travel with my XXXX XXXX Mastercard arrangements under the impression I would receive protections in events like this. Since my flight never happened and the airline no longer exists, I am requesting this chargeback. If you go to XXXX official website, you can clearly see that they filed for Bankruptcy after I booked my flight and before my flight was scheduled to depart. 

Below you will find screenshots of emails confirming my initial flight information, XXXX response, and the home page of XXXX website, re-iterating everything Ive claimed in this letter. 

Now for XXXX and XXXX. 

These are two different charges from the same airline, XXXX XXXX. 

The first charge was processed on XX/XX/2020 for the amount of {$460.00} from XXXX. 

This flight was scheduled to take place on XX/XX/2020 from XXXX to XXXX. When COVID-19 caused the festival I was traveling to postpone, I contacted Norwegian immediately and they denied to give me credit for a future flight, I then contacted a Barclays representative on XX/XX/2020. The Barclays representative advised me to then cancel my flights with XXXX. I have learned in the time since canceling and being denied credit from Barclays, that both my flights were cancelled. Had I not cancelled the flights on my own, I likely would have received credit from the airline. I would have never cancelled, had I not been advised to by a Barclays representative. 

The second charge was processed on XX/XX/2020 for the amount of {$490.00} from XXXX. 

This flight was scheduled to take place on XX/XX/2020 from XXXX to XXXX. When COVID-19 caused the festival I was traveling to postpone, I contacted Norwegian immediately and they denied to give me credit for a future flight, I then contacted a Barclays representative on XX/XX/2020. The Barclays representative advised me to then cancel my flights with XXXX. I have learned in the time since canceling and being denied credit from Barclays, that both my flights were cancelled. Had I not cancelled the flights on my own, I likely would have received credit from the airline. I would have never cancelled, had I not been advised to by a Barclays representative. 

Below you will find screenshots proving that the flights were eventually cancelled, as well as my initial booking information. 

Please do what you can to rectify this situation. Thank you for your time. 

XXXX XXXX

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