Consumer complaint received 2023-07-19
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Sub-issue: Transaction was not authorized

Complaint:
This Real Estate merchant charge my account for {$10000.00} and telling me they would give me the tools and resources I need to make a return on the money. I also spent money on the software to run the business and I had to pay the Virtual Assistant every 2 weeks for the work they put in to produce leads and receive offers but were unsuccessful. Within the first month and after 30 days I asked the Merchant/CEO for my money back and he refused to refund my funds. They promised to help me get the leads and help me close real estate deal or until I Make my money back but did not fulfill what they told me. They said they didnt have a refund but they lied to my bank about no refund because it was an advertisement video online about getting a refund back within a certain period and after he took the video down and also this year he took down the website and Im not the only one he has done this too. In this process I have lost upwards of {$15000.00}. Upon my situation and trying to dispute with the bank and contact the merchant they blocked my number and ignored my emails and my request for refund because I did not get the service that was told to me and that I would make my money back which I didnt make a dime. With all these transactions plus my bills it caused my account to go negative because the bank reversed the charge of {$10000.00} and that left my account in the negative and now I owe the bank {$5500.00} and they kept telling me to go after the merchant which I did many times and didnt get any response from them and my bank closed out my account in XX/XX/2022. This has been soo frustrating and painful because thats my money that I worked hard for. I would like all my money back plus damages. I disputed this transaction and Appealed with Citibank and they still denied my money back. They have failed me drastically. Another young lady contacted my on XXXX with the same issue with the merchant and the XXXX XXXX tried to compromise with her and told her if he drop the case against him he would give her back half of the money which would be {$5000.00} but he was not willing to compromise and help me out in the cold. The merchant charged her card a month before mine in XX/XX/2022 and my charge came out XX/XX/2022 and for some reason her bank XXXX XXXX honored and gave her half of the money but still lost the other half of the money and my bank didnt give me anything back and they didnt even seem to want to further help me get my funds back. Its been soo frustrating and this misery to get my funds back to me.I am attaching the receipts of what was taken from my account for the software and paying the virtual assistant every 2 weeks to work the leads. Also Im attaching the messages from the young lady that lost her money with this merchant XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX name is 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