Consumer complaint received 2023-04-29
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: PA
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:
Dear CFPB Staff, I am writing to file a complaint against the Bank of America 's unfair treatment in handling my refund issue. I returned the item but did not receive the refund. The bank rejected my claim on the grounds of exceeding the investigation time. That is one {$290.00} transaction! I believe that the bank 's handling of this matter was unfair, and they did not take my refund issue seriously. Let me detailed describe this issue : On XX/XX/2022, I purchased two scarves on XXXX for {$290.00} each, but I returned both orders through XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX ( I still have the receipt of XXXX  ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a refund for one order, but the other refund was still missing. After several inquiries with XXXX customer service, I was told that it might take up to two months to process my refund. I forgot about this matter due to my busy schedule until XXXX, when I discovered that I could no longer access my XXXX account. After communicating with XXXX customer service, they acknowledged receiving my return but said they couldn't issue a refund because my account was on hold. They advised me to contact Bank of America to resolve the refund issue. 

I contacted Bank of America and initiated a dispute on the bill. However, I had hard time with selecting transactions. These two {$290.00} transactions are the same amount but the one is on XXXX, the another one is on XXXX. I do not know which one is already refunded, which one is not since the order with no refund was placed 20 minutes before the one with refund. Therefore, I dispute the earlier transaction on XXXX. After uploading all the evidence document, In XXXX, the bank informed me that my dispute was successful, but in XXXX, I found out that the refund for the other order was still missing. Upon verification, the banker told me I might disputed the wrong bill, that is so weird because I placed that order earlier but Why is the billing date of that order is one day later than the second order after pending?

So I started a new dispute. However, after investigating for a month, the bank rejected my claim on the grounds of exceeding the investigation time. I believe that the bank 's handling of this matter was unfair, and they did not take my refund issue seriously, instead of rejecting my claim on the grounds of exceeding the investigation time. First, it is your responsibility to help customer to get their money back. The bank can not deny the claim by exceeding the investigation time. Second, could Bank of America explain that my first order was placed XXXX minutes earlier than the next one, but why is the billing date of this order one day later than the later one, which resulting in I select the wrong transaction at the first time? 

I request Bank of America to refund me the {$290.00} payment, as I have returned the goods and hold a return certificate. I appreciate your attention to this matter and hope for a prompt resolution.

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