Consumer complaint received 2019-10-07
Company: Square Inc
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/19 I purchased items in the sum of {$330.00} shipping included from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, company XXXX XXXX, but the recipient of the {$330.00} was XXXX XXXX. Then on XX/XX/19 he sent me the Tracking # not for XXXX or XXXX as he initially said, instead it was some private courier named : XXXX : XXXX Then on XX/XX/19 he sent me an early morning message requesting that I pay an additional sum of {$180.00} for VAT fees, which I bluntly refused. I'm able to provide the transcript of ongoing communication with that supplier from the XXXX platform. The XXXX XXXX center will also validate my claim that I started negotiations and transaction on XXXX platform with supplier. In addition, when I reached out to vendor via telephone he pretended to now know anything about transaction. Very strange and very disappointed. I told vendor that I've been a buyer on XXXX for years and never had such an encounter of misplaced trust. But he kept insisting and demanding that I must pay the money in order for the goods to be released. 

Then on XX/XX/19, I reached out to CashApp 's Customer Support via email, and was advised to send the refund request to the supplier, who was using the CashApp platform and after several hours he denied the refund request. Again I reached out to the support agent and she quickly responded that there wasn't anything further that she could do to assist me. I must state that she never advised me about filing a complaint with the CFPB, which I found after I began poring over the fine print on the bottom of the email re, CashApp 's policies etc and I found information for filing complaints through the CFPB. 

All the while, I kept trying to convince and reason with the supplier to be fair, honest, in dealing with me, a first time purchaser from him, that it was bad for business. But he just kept reminding me that without that additional {$180.00}, no goods would be released. 

Let me also add that prior to the demand for more monies, I was also inquiring about other products that the supplier had in stock, immediately he sent me a price quote and wanted me to commit to purchasing right away, without even delivery of the first shipment. But I held firm to wait until I receive the first shipment then we would be able to do some more business, but that first shipment never came, and he pocketed my {$330.00}! 

Another thing, while I was waiting for the shipment, I decided that I would create the product listing and begin to run traffic to my website. So I requested photos of the products from supplier but he never once sent a photo of any products. All those were flags, but by then he already was in possession of my {$330.00}. 

As of XX/XX/19, I haven't heard from supplier. He believes he has gotten of with a nice little windfall, but I refuse to be another victim of fraud and exploitation. I hope that I'll be allowed to upload a copy of the message transcript between me and the supplier, to give even more details of the ongoing transaction, and how others can avoid being duped by unscrupulous vendors. 

Kindly, help me right this wrong, and let this supplier and others like him know that they're not above the law, and that honesty still is, and always will be, the best policy. Thank you for your prompt attention to this serious matter. 

Best Regards,

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation