Consumer complaint received 2019-01-09
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NY
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:
I am writing to seek a remedy for an action by Bank of America whereby I was charged more for a purchase on my Bank of America Premium Rewards Visa ( the Card ) than I would have been charged had the charge gone through as intended on the purchase date. Also, I want to share with you my customer service experience regarding this issue. 

On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, attempted to use the Bank of America ( BoA ) travel service to book four flights and pay for them using a combination of rewards points and the Card. The price each ticket was {$1200.00}. 

Through the BoA travel site I entered all of the information to purchase the tickets. An error message stated that there was an authorization problem and suggested that I contact my bank or use another credit card. Immediately I contacted BoA. After over an hour and a half on the phone with both card services and travel services, no one could explain why the tickets could not be purchased. Moreover, BoA travel services could not purchase the tickets on my behalf using the Card. After an enormous expenditure of time, no BoA employee could explain or resolve the issue, purchase the tickets or provide a workaround to purchase the tickets that day. This matter was left with BoA customer service associates with the expectation that they would provide a resolution. Notably, I had no other issues using the Card with any vendor. 

On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, no one from BoA had contacted me regarding this matter. When I checked the tickets, the price had gone up to over {$1300.00} per ticket. I again called BoA. The customer service representative was able to see my XX/XX/XXXX purchase attempt. I requested to speak with a supervisor and I was connected with XXXX in Idaho. After 65 minutes on hold, XXXX told me that she could not help me because BoA was changing computer systems and there was no record of the transaction. I still did not have my tickets and again I received no real customer service. 

Because I was receiving no customer assistance on the phone, I made an appointment at my local branch for assistance.On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I arrived at the BoA XXXX  XXXX branch at XXXX XXXX. I sat in Relationship Manager XXXX XXXX office for 2 1/2 hours while we both waited on hold with travel services and card services. I had to pick up my children from school, so I left Mr. XXXX on the phone until the end of his workday, at which point I was told that I should contact XXXX XXXX. I was given transaction ID : XXXX and authorization code : XXXX. Also, XXXX XXXX, the branch manager at BoA XXXX   XXXX, promised to call me on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. She was going to speak with her manager about how to make a complaint. I did not hear from Ms. XXXX or anyone else at BoA on Monday. 

On the morning of Monday XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX. They informed me that the I had properly made the reservation but it had been canceled by BofA. Moreover, XXXX would not honor the original reservation. As proof, XXXX XXXX provided me with the reservation number ( XXXX  ) that BoA canceled. Now, the price of the flight had increased to {$1500.00} per ticket. 

On Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX, I called BoA to reiterate what XXXX XXXX told me about the BoA cancellation. Neither XXXX in Advanced Client Solutions nor XXXX in Fraud and Servicing were able to help. Both told me again and again that there was nothing wrong with my card. Once again I spoke to Ms. XXXX in XXXX XXXX. She promised to follow up and call me back before the end of the workday. Frustrated and exasperated with BoA, I purchased the tickets at a cost of {$1500.00} each, on the Card, directly through XXXX. The purchase price of the tickets was {$1300.00} more than the tickets I originally reserved. 

On Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, Ms. XXXX informed me that a case number had been opened on XX/XX/XXXX to honor points. I have no idea what this means : no points have been credited to the Card. Also on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from XXXX in the Research and Review department, who stated that the claim ticket at BoA was routed to the incorrect department ( Research?! ) and would be re-routed to Travel Rewards with Case No. : XXXX. He recommended writing to the PO Box on this  letter. He was not able to provide the name of a person to whom this letter should be addressed. I am attempting to copy XXXX XXXX at BoA directly as he appears to be in a senior position with the authority to deal with this issue. 

My simple request is that BoA credit to my Card {$1300.00}, which is an amount equal to the difference between the price of the tickets I reserved and attempted to purchase on XX/XX/XXXX and the price I subsequently paid for the tickets on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I do not have all of the names of associates who I spoke with on the telephone. My recollection and records are probably incomplete as to all of the times that I called BoA and was bounced from one department to another and told that to have a supervisor call me back would take up to a week. This service makes one wonder why BoA even attempts to have a travel component or provide card services. 

It is worth noting that I obtained the Card with the express intention of using it for travel generally and the subject trip specifically. 

I wrote to BOA twice and have followed with two phone calls which have led to being put on hold for over one hour each time with no 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