Consumer complaint received 2020-10-23
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
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:
I recently moved to another state across the country, and to move my belongings, I chose XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. This was my first time using a moving company, and due to the nature of my sudden job offer, I had to book a move within one week or so. Unfortunately, I chose a moving company that simply delivered extremely poor service, and violated their promises verbally and in the text contract. I was misled, overcharged, their promised delivery was two weeks late, and many of my possessions were damaged or lost forever. During and after the move, I called their customer for days and days and days, hoping to get some sort of resolution. This company/merchant does not operate in good-faith, and they refused to make things right. 

After filing complaints with the XXXX, XXXX, and the merchant 's required third-party claims reviewer " XXXX '' ( a non-reputable company ), I had exhausted all of my options. As a last resort, for the first time in my life, I filed a dispute for the initial deposit charge that was processed on my Mastercard credit card issued by  Citibank. This amount was only a few hundred dollars, quite small compared to the several thousands of dollars that I had to pay to my merchant in total via check or cash, but it was the only amount that I believed that I had any sort of protection on, as it was a credit card charge.

Unfortunately, Citibank 's dispute process managed to entirely dissuade me of this notion that I would have any consumer protection. To-date, it has been over 2.5 months since I first filed my dispute with Citibank, and at every stage, the process has been slow, the communications have been delayed and incoherent, and the  reasoning has been illogical. Citibank marked the investigation as complete, and sided with the merchant, even though they never even asked me for my side of the story or my documentation. I was the one that noticed that the dispute was closed, and I was the one that had to call-in for explanation, and I was the one that had to ask where and how to submit my evidence and documents.

Then, even after I submitted 10 documents totaling well-over 80 pages  of material, with ample proof and evidence, and with clear discussion showing that the merchant had provided Citibank with forged documents, Citibank marked the investigation as complete and again sided with the merchant. When I called-in for explanation this time, they were asking for a 'valid credit slip, ' which was something that came out-of-the-blue and had never been mentioned up to this point, and that without this mysterious document, they could not intervene on my behalf. I did not even know what a 'credit slip ' was referring to, and the agent I spoke with was also confused. Eventually, he figured out that they were asking for a sales receipt or proof-of-purchase. Fine.

I submitted my electronic invoice, and for a THIRD time, Citibank marks the dispute case close, siding with the merchant. Again, they are still asking for a 'valid credit slip. ' I ask the new agent to define this, and she states that it is an admission from the merchant that I  would be refunded. This is an entirely different definition than what I was told initially. Obviously, I do not have such a refund admission from the merchant, because the merchant does not operate in good-faith, and the only reason that I filed a credit card dispute in the first place was because I had tried and failed to work things out with the uncooperative merchant.

In the Citibank Executive Response Unit, I spoke with XXXX/XXXX/XXXXXXXX, and at-last, she admitted on our phone call that she sees exactly what I am talking about with regards to my faked signature and faked delivery date in the merchant 's documents that purport to support their charge. But then, she went on to insist that THIS DOES NOT MATTER for the dispute. How in the world does it
not matter that the merchant clearly and unambiguously lied and submitted forged documents as evidence to support their charge in  this dispute case? Citibank has been more than happy to oblige the merchant at every stage, in spite of this. It is simply baffling.

XXXX? also tried to intimidate me against filing a complaint with the CFPB. She stated with an arrogant and dismissive tone that any CFPB case would be sent to her in the Executive office, and she would make the exact same decision against me as she did already. This is yet another instance of totally unacceptable treatment of the consumer, of Citibank 's customer. It would be astonishing if Citibank indeed assigns this CFPB case to XXXX?, despite her clear
conflict of interest. But it would be par for the course of Citibank 's treatment to me, of someone who has been their customer for years and has always paid bills on-time, and has never filed a dispute before in his life.

Citibanks indifference and lack of consumer protection and advocacy on my behalf is beyond disappointing.

There is so much more to be said. I have written a much more detailed document that I have attached below. PDF file 0_ is my letter to the CFPB that explains the entire situation and Citibank 's mishandling of my simple dispute case. I am also providing *all* of the documents that I submitted to Citibank, *all* of the documents that the merchant submitted to Citibank, and *all* of the letters/notices that I
received from Citibank throughout this process. The CFPB can see for itself just how clear this dispute truly is.

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