Consumer complaint received 2019-10-10
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NC
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2019 XXXX XXXX charged my Bank of America Visa credit card {$6800.00}. I contacted Bank of America on XX/XX/2019 to discuss disputing this charge because of the poor service provided by their agent, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX NJ and XXXX XXXX. The issues included underestimating the total weight of the move by several thousand pounds from XXXX XXXX  to XXXX XXXX, not providing a moving van on the contracted pick up date, XX/XX/2019, selecting a 26 ft truck not large enough for all items to be moved, delaying 25 % of the delivery for over 3 weeks, and because of the multiple loading and unloading of the goods in their warehouse, damage to many items. 

I wanted compensation for the lack of communications, poor service, and lack of professionalism from the XXXX agent, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I spoke several times during the experience to XXXX customer service in XXXX XXXX, MO who, when delivery was finally made, offered me only {$100.00} compensation for my troubles. 

I spoke to Bank of America on XX/XX/2019 to discuss compensation for the poor service from XXXX XXXX covered under the Fair Credit Billing Act, which protects the cardholder in a dispute over goods or services purchased using the credit card. 
I was asked by the bank representative how much I was expected to be compensated and I stated {$1000.00}. A report was filed and I received the attached acknowledgement. 
Over a month later on XX/XX/2019, I was asked by Bank of America to provide additional details of the claim and to sign that I was disputing the charge from XXXX XXXX for {$1000.00}. I immediately complied with this request both by e-mail and US mail delivery. 

On XX/XX/2019, Bank of America notified me they were unable to determine that a billing error occurred based on the information or documentation available to us and they can not intervene in situations involving a merchant 's contract. When a transaction involves a contract, the consumer has the opportunity to review the terms and conditions before agreeing to or signing. 

Since my dispute with the merchant did not involve a billing error and had nothing to do with the contract with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX or XXXX XXXX, I contacted Bank of America who reopened the investigation. 

On XX/XX/2019 Bank of America notified me that they re-examined your recent inquiry of the {$1000.00} charge ( s ) from XXXX XXXX, and regrettably, we're unable to obtain credit ( s ) to your account from the merchant ( s ) and that We understand you weren't satisfied with the quality of the service the merchant provided ; however, the merchant has the right to request payment for any services that were rendered. 

After this letter, Bank of America told me verbally that they had never submitted a dispute charge through the Visa dispute process with the merchants acquiring bank. This is different than stating that they are unable to obtain credit from the merchant since they never notified the merchant of the dispute. 

Bank of America did not fulfill their obligations for disputing the charge with the merchant ( which is covered under Regulation Z ) and their Visa advertising claims that they will assist cardholders with unsatisfactory service from Visa merchants. 

When requested, Bank of America could not provide any documentation explaining their procedures for a dispute claim and stating they have the right to decline to file a dispute charge with a merchant. Their correspondence never states they didn't even file a claim with the merchant 's acquiring bank. They have no right to be the judge on what should be a credit card dispute nor could they provide any definitions from Visa on what is a qualified claim. 

After the letter on XX/XX/XXXX, Bank of America even transferred my call to their benefits department a third party provider group that has nothing to do with cardholder claims for services provided. Certainly, the multiple offices throughout the country within Bank of America dispute claims are poorly trained and lack the understanding of their product. 

Bank of America misled me in believing that they were working with me to resolve this claim until the time period for filing a claim with the merchants acquiring bank had expired. Further, bank advertisements regarding the guarantees for credit card purchases are false and any compensation for protection covered by the Fair Credit Billing Act was not offered.

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