Consumer complaint received 2018-08-10
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: FL
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:
XXXX XX/XX/XXXX To : Dispute Resolution Services XXXX XXXX XXXX AR XXXX RE : Answer to XXXX XXXX XXXX Rebuttal Note : Please read this introduction to understand the chain of events : General explanation of nature of claims : Claim Number : XXXX Dated XX/XX/XXXX for {$9400.00} Claim Number : XXXX Dated XX/XX/XXXX for {$3100.00} To whom it may concern : I am a client of Bank of America for the last 14 consecutive years. I use Bank of Americas Visa provided debit card for most of my transactions., except when I need to pay with a paper check. I use the card because I trust the ability of Bank of America to recuperate any payments made to merchants that do not deliver goods and services as advertised. I demand that the claims mentioned above be thoroughly, carefully and completely investigated. These claims are not a case of a merchant trying to get away with {$100.00} but of irresponsible and fraudulent healing business organization cunning the client and trying to literally steal almost {$13000.00}. Also considered that we additionally spent {$3000.00} for travel and rental expenses related to these claims. All the expenses were charged to my Bank of America Visa debit card. You are authorized to search my business account number XXXX and corroborate all the charges listed above. 
Introduction : My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX wife XXXX XXXX was diagnosed with a cXXXX XXXX XXXX and had XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. The XXXX determined that he was not able to proceed with the XXXX since the XXXX was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The XXXX   also said that he did not recommend XXXX because the XXXX could harm and destroy healthy tissue. So, the only option left was XXXX. My wife rejected the XXXX treatment because the survival rate is very low and the side effects horrific. 
We searched for alternative treatments and decided that the XXXX XXXX ) was the best and safest treatment. I had firsthand experience with the therapy since I followed the Therapy for a similar problem I had 8 years ago and I know that the therapy works. I became very knowledgeable regarding this therapy and what was required, and must be strictly followed, for the treatment to be successful. The fresh juices and the food become the medicine and the cure if prepared correctly with fresh organic ingredients. We have at home the required XXXX juicer to follow the diet, the problem is that my work does not allow me to prepare the foods, the hourly fresh juices, the coffee XXXX required daily, administration of nutritional supplements, detoxification routines etc. 
I simply do not have the time. 
We decided then to search for a treatment center that could provide the above mentioned treatment and found a web page for XXXX XXXX XXXX ( referred below as XXXX ),  that, at least on paper, promised to follow the therapy requirements. We were really committed to this treatment since there was no other alternative. So, we booked 4 weeks of treatment at the XXXX ( See Section A, subsection g ). We traveled from XXXX to XXXX Arizona, rented a car and drove to XXXX. Also all the supplements needed were sent in advance via XXXX to XXXX so we may have them when we arrive. We were really committed and serious about completing the 4 week XXXX treatment. We trusted that XXXX was ready to provide the advertised services. 
Bellow I will respond to XXXX rebuttal and explain and document the reasons why we decided to leave XXXX after staying at the facility from XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, arrival time, until XXXX XXXX departure time next morning : a total of 13 hours. I think that the owner of this Wellness Retreat prey on peoples urgent needs, does not deliver what he promises in the internet pages, telephone conversation and emails. 
XXXX, to my understanding and experience amounts to fraud and false advertisement. I need our money back to treat my wife. 

Answer to XXXX rebuttal. 
1. XXXX is correct that we booked the room and services for 4 weeks. I planned to drop her off XX/XX/XXXX and pick her off XX/XX/XXXX. I had a plane ticket to go back to XXXX at XXXX   the same day. 
2. On XX/XX/XXXX we sent 4 emails to XXXX since they requested us to fill out some admission and acceptance forms and her medical history. ( See Section A Emails a, b, c, d ) 3. We  accepted the cancellations policies with the understanding that XXXX  was able to deliver the advertised services and we accepted in good faith XXXX policies, providing XXXX  with all the requested information to accept my wife into the XXXX XXXX protocol. 
4. My wife was able to walk around the house and take care of herself ( See Section A subsection f ) but she was not able to walk long distances or use stairs due to the disclosed XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and that is why we paid extra for a room down stairs ( See Section A, subsection g Fees Schedule ). We understood and accepted that XXXX was not a hospital but expected XXXX to provide, at least, a minimum safety that any cheap motel offers ; after all we paid almost {$13000.00}. 
5. We never talked to the doctor, we only to talk to the receptionist in the office named XXXX ( See Section A, emails a, b, c, d ). The doctor XXXX XXXX, who according to the letter we received when we left XXXX is the Primary Care Physician of XXXX , XXXX XXXX never called us to design a personalize treatment plan as offered in the XXXX web site page ( See Section K ). 
6. XXXX told as that after reviewing XXXX XXXX admission form and medical history XXXX   accepted our booking for 4 weeks and that our personalized treatment plan was underway. My wife also requested other therapies offered on the XXXX web site ( See Section D and Section H ). After XXXX accepted XXXX XXXX admission forms and medical history, XXXX happily took our deposit of {$3100.00} required to reserve the treatment and services. I was never told that after XXXX examining her admission forms and medical history a companion was mandatory. 
7. We arrived at XXXX on or around XXXX XXXX XXXX.on XX/XX/XXXX, we asked for XXXX but we were informed that he leaves work early. A gentleman in the office showed us around and explained the XXXX routine. I was already surprised and concerned because only the staff present was 2 people. Also I only saw 3 guests in the whole facility. Around XXXX XXXX a lady presented herself as XXXX XXXX XXXX and said that she was the Primary Care Physician. XXXX XXXX asked several questions and told us that the next morning we have to be at XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX to have some XXXX XXXX done and told us that for safety reasons my wife needed a 24 hr companion and that was mandatory. We told XXXX XXXX that at the time that we were admitted to XXXX and paid the required deposit, XXXX did not mention that XXXX XXXX needed a companion ; additionally XXXX XXXX was appalled that XXXX did not tell her that other services were requested and added. XXXX XXXX said that she did not know if the additional services could be available. At this point I really begin to have a sinking feeling about the ability, the capacity and communication protocols of XXXX to provide my wife with the booked XXXX XXXX treatment. According to XXXX XXXX my wife was responsible to walk 1.3 miles and come back walking to make the XXXX XXXX test. XXXX XXXX said that XXXX did not offer transportation services. We asked what happened with the supposed personalized treatment offered at the web site and ask her if she read my wife admission forms and medical history. She said she did, but somehow no personalized treatment was produced, at this point I was appalled because it seems that XXXX was an irresponsible facility and that although everything looked fine and dandy in the web site the reality showed a complete disregard for the patient needs and safety. 
8. At around XXXX the same employee who was at the reception desk brought to the room the evening meal that consisted of cooked vegetables and green juice. It is important to notice, as I stated before that the fresh juices and food are the medicines that cure the XXXX. According to my personal experience with the XXXX XXXX and I am well acquainted with the required quality of the juices and food preparation. I immediately noticed that the juice lacked the characteristic surface foam due to the enzymes produced when the juice is freshly made. In others words, the juice was therapeutically dead and ineffective at curing the disease, no enzymes no healing power whatsoever. The cooked vegetables were badly cooked, already oxidized and especially the cauliflower showed signs of having mold. At this point I realized that we were scammed. 
After the uneatable food was delivered and on or around XXXX XXXX we wanted to use the bathroom and take a shower but the bathroom hot water was not working. I looked for the room telephone but there was not a telephone to call the front desk. Since there was not telephone in the room, I walked to the front desk and to my surprise everybody was gone. To make things worse I realize that if we had an emergency at night there was no way to ask for help. Our cells phone did not have a signal since XXXX is in a canyon and the cell signals are very week or nonexistent. So I asked myself : What to do now? What kind of business is this? 
It did not take long to down on us that under these conditions my wife wellbeing was compromised. XXXX was a dangerous place indeed. We decided to come back to XXXX and booked a flight with XXXX XXXX next day leaving XXXX at XXXX XXXX. Certainly the cost of the tickets was twice the cost of our originals tickets and XXXX XXXX did not want to exchange or give us credit for the tickets that we got to come back to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Decision to leave XXXX XXXX knew very well XXXX XXXX medical condition as per the Admission forms and medical records sent to XXXX ( See Section a ), XXXX stated in their rebuttal that we misled XXXX XXXX. The records received and evaluated by XXXX, records that XXXX use to admit XXXX XXXX treatment speak by themselves and show without a doubt that all the information required was trustfully and timely delivered for their consideration to evaluate XXXX XXXX and admit or reject XXXX XXXX according to XXXX standards. Please see XXXX XXXX letter when we left XXXX .XXXX  XXXX admitted XXXX XXXX with her health condition ; also the doctor was the one who read and accepted XXXX XXXX to be admitted in the first place. We waited for XXXX decision on the admission of XXXX XXXX to the XXXX Program. We completed the final payment of {$9400.00} when we were informed that XXXX XXXX was admitted. 
The quality of the healing juices and food was below XXXX Institute standards and, as supplied, do not offer any healing effects for a XXXX patient as XXXX XXXX. 
There was no way to communicate with the outside world to request emergency help since the room did not have a land line, our cellular telephones were dead. No cellular signal whatsoever since XXXX is located in a canyon area. Also there was no one left from the staff to request emergency help. 
We were informed that a companion was mandatory after we arrived to XXXX ; it was never mentioned even after reading XXXX XXXX XXXX admission forms and medical records. 
We informed XXXX, and are documented in writing in the XXXX admission forms that we required additional therapies but the therapies were not available when we arrived. 
We were told that XXXX XXXX XXXX was within walking distance, actually the distance is 1.3 miles the average temperature in XXXX in XXXX is 79 to 80 degrees, ( See Section F see XXXX map and the average weather temperatures ). As said before and according to the admission XXXX XXXX was able to walk reasonable distances inside the retreat but not 1.3 miles with an 80 degree temperature. 
We really needed the treatment as advertised but we were not able to check the quality and veracity of the program until we arrived to XXXX. 
9. We realized that these people are just money thirsty predators that mislead sick people using a web page that advertise services and products that they can not deliver, they exhibit a total disregard for people safety and have not business ethics and/or human compassion. 
10. Next day XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX we packed our unopened luggage in the car and I went to the office and waited for XXXX. I told him why we were leaving and he told me that the money was not refundable. I left and came back later and requested a letter so I may try getting to discount from the Airlines and to document that we did not stay at XXXX for more than 13 hours. XXXX XXXX wrote a letter ( See Section A ). 
11. Before we boarded the plane to XXXX we stopped at a Bank of America branch and sent the first claim, the claim was faxed directly to the claims department from the Bank of America branch ( See Section A ). Next, 2 o 3 days after I faxed the second claim from my Bank of America from the branch in XXXX were I opened the account in XXXX. 
12. Some days after we received a Gift Letter email from XXXX saying that we could come back and use the facility later on. I talked to XXXX later and told him that we were not interested and that we needed to use the unavailable services at the time we were there! I told XXXX that they were a fraud and the web site was rampant with false and misleading information. He insisted that XXXX will not refund any monies although no services were rendered. We only stayed at XXXX 13 hours, my wife planned to stay 4 weeks. We did not travel from XXXX to XXXX, traveled by car to XXXX just to stay at XXXX 13 hours. We paid our fees in advance and in good faith and had no way to check for the veracity of the services until we arrived to XXXX. Lately I found that the XXXX area XXXX XXXX XXXX has only one review and it is negative. ( See Section B ) Furthermore XXXX is not XXXX accredited. 
13. XXXX and the owner said that they record only certain conversations ; conveniently they do not record the conversations that prove them wrong. 
14. We felt confident about XXXX since we sent the admissions forms, the medical history and we were accepted for the therapy. My wife planned to stay but the existing conditions encountered made it impossible to receive a successful treatment, after all we are talking about XXXX. XXXX is trying to get away with a fraudulent offer and false advertisement not only they profit from people urgent needs but also show total disregard for peoples life. I demand and need my money back to treat my wife immediately. 

My question is : If I pay with my Bank of Americas Visa issued Debit Card which is supposed to protect my interest against defective merchandise and/or con artist, Dont I have a right to demand a refund? What is the protection that Bank of Americas Visa offers? 

Money lost according to XXXX based of XXXX inability to book the room to another patient. 
According to XXXX policies if you cancel you lose your deposit in this case {$3100.00} and {$9400.00} for a total of {$12000.00}. You are required to pay the balance ( {$9400.00} ) 7 days before arriving which we did. Notice that, it appears that if you do not pay the balance before arrival, you lose the deposit. This implies that XXXX will take your deposit and happily re-book the room in one week to another patient.

Also notice that XXXX did not lose any monies for the services listed below since they did not provide any of them and these includes the following : 1. 13 daily juices for 30 days for a total of 390 healing juices.

2. 3 daily meal and breakfast for a total of 120 meals.

3. Daily laundry service for 30 days 4. Daily cleaning room, bed sheets etc. service for 30 days 5. Wages payable to employees performing the above mentioned services.

6. Electric bills for lighting, air conditioning and heating.

7. 5 daily XXXX for s total of 150 XXXX. 
XXXX did not have to spend a penny on the above mentioned services because they did not provide any, despite their claimed inability to book the room again.

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