Consumer complaint received 2018-03-07
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
RE : BOA Claim for account ending in XXXX *XX/XX/XXXX - Placed an order with XXXX   and entered into a membership with them. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - Received an email that I needed to place my monthly order per the membership I entered into so placed 2nd order with XXXX. 
*On or around XX/XX/XXXX - I called the merchant ( XXXX ) regarding the 1st order I had received, making them aware that the products I received were not of good quality and I would like return for a refund. I had made the customer service agent I was speaking with at the time aware that I had already placed a 2nd order on the XXXX but before actually receiving the 1st order, and that if the quality of that 2nd order was as poor as the 1st order, I would be returning that order as well. The agent I spoke with advised me that the XXXX order would be arriving to me within 1-2 business days & I could use the return label ( and RMA # ) she was sending me to return both orders if I was not satisfied with the 2nd order either. She further instructed me that if I was returning both order, I just needed to make sure I included that packing slips from both orders indicating the reasons for my return. She further indicated that she would notate my account on her end. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - Upon receipt of my second order, I was not satisfied with the quality once again, and did exactly as instructed. I packed both orders into 1 box, included the packing slips from both orders notating the reason codes next to each item as to the reason for my return ( and even went the extra step of adding a cardboard divider into the box to separate the orders ), attached the USPS Return Label issued to me by XXXX & on or around XX/XX/XXXX brought the box to the shipping doc at my place of employment ( a warehouse ) at that time where USPS picks up daily. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - I contacted XXXX to follow up on the status of my refunds & was informed by the customer service agent that my return was not showing received in their system yet. I asked if he could look further into it to confirm he was checking the correct order, since it had been at least 2 weeks at that point & they should have received it by then. He put me on hold then came back repeating that they had not received the order so I would just have to wait until they get it. I explained that I was sure it had been shipped & asked if I could speak to his manager in order to see if they could look into this further with USPS regarding the lost package since they were the company that issued the return label. He told me no & stated you just have to wait till we get it. Upon trying to explain for over 20 minutes that asking me to wait an indefinite amount of time without making any attempt to locate the package was irrational & I was extremely unhappy with the customer service so again I requested to speak to a manager, he left me on hold for quite a while only to return to the line, tell me no managers were available & repeated once again you just have to wait till we get it. At this point I was so frustrated, I canceled my membership with XXXX & told him I was going to dispute this with my bank. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - Immediately after I concluded my call with XXXX, I contacted the USPS to see if they could offer any assistance in locating my package or if I would be able to file a claim with them for the amount I am out for the lost merchandise. Upon speaking with 2 different agents, I was told they could not help me as the shipper ( XXXX ) needs to contact us as the tracking number provided belongs to their shipper account. They suggested I do what I had already done, contact XXXX to request they file a claim for this package to start an investigation. I explained I had already asked XXXX to take these steps but they refused, but USPS stated that because I was not the payer of this shipment, they were unable to assist me any further. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - After deciding to allow another few of weeks hoping they would receive the deliver and credit my account, I contacted XXXX again to follow up on the status of my return. I was informed they had still not received the package. I explained to the agent what took place during my previous phone correspondences, as well as what took place when I spoke directly with USPS. She put me on hold for quite a while & when she came back on the line, she stated you have to wait until we receive the package as well as another 4-6 weeks to see the refund. I then asked, How long do you suggest I wait to see if you ever get the package, 1 month, 3 months, 10 years, all the while you keep my $ , yet I am out the merchandise & the $ $? ". Then I once again requested that they file a request with USPS for an investigation since I am not able to since I was not the the person paying for the shipment, only for her to repeat her prior statement. 
Frustrated beyond words, I hung up and called Bank of America to file a claim. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - Bank of America took my claim info over the phone, and posted a temporary credit to my account for the total amount of the 2 purchases while they worked on my claim which they advised me would be resolved in 45 business days.

*XX/XX/XXXX - I receive a letter from Bank of America informing me they found no wrong doing on the part of the merchant ( XXXX ) & that they would be taking the $ $ back out of my account on XX/XX/XXXX. 
*XX/XX/XXXX I spoke to a CSR named XXXX in the Bank of America claims dept in regards to my desire to dispute the decision made by BOA , she advised me at the time that I could fax documents supporting my dispute. I explained that I do not have access to a fax machine & she stated I can go to any BOA location to have the fax sent. I further explained that her solution was not convenient because I have a XXXX son who has also been sick for over a month now so that was also not a convenient solution. I then inquired if I can email or upload documents but she stated these were not options & I could only make my submissions via fax or regular mail. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - I called Bank of America claims dept again & spoke to a claims rep named XXXX from FL. I summarized the details of the claim & what was discussed in my previous phone conversation with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained that my son was still sick & to get to a BOA location was not an option for me at that time. I again inquired about different options other than faxing to submit my documentation, but XXXX also stated fax or regular mail were the only ways to submit documents or letters to appeal. I asked if he could possible allow reschedule the debits that were set for XX/XX/XXXX to be removed from my account to allow me more time to get to a BOA to send over my appeal & he stated he would. He then asked me which day I thought I would be able to get to a fax & I indicated I hoped I would be able to get there by XX/XX/XXXX. He then proceeded to enter this info into the system, & even stated that he was putting in XX/XX/XXXX as the extension date so that would allow me enough time to get the documents faxed. He then placed me on hold for a while as he was setting all of this up, & when he returned to the line, told me it was all taken care of. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX XXXX  EST got an alert on my phone from BOA that my account had gone below {$25.00}. I called as soon as I saw the notice in a panic. 1st I spoke to XXXX in Alabama who after having me on the phone 20 minutes, told me she needed to transfer me to another dept. 
I was then transferred to XXXX in Arkansas who I then retold everything going on to, he stated there were no notes at all in my account confirming any of what I was saying. I was very upset & asked him what the next steps were, what do I need to do to get that money put back after I had been told already it wouldn't be removed & I had payments posted against it due to come out. He became very rude & made no attempt to even try to resolve my issue. I then asked to be transferred to a manager. 
After holding for quite a while, XXXX ( who introduced herself as a supervisor ) came on the line. I once again, went over all the details of what has happened up to that point. She apologized repeatedly, stated she did see everything I had stated notated in my account, but then went on to inform me that XXXX made statements to me that were completely inaccurate. That he did notate my account, but that he should have never told me it was taken care of at that point. 
She apologized many times for this, unfortunately, apologies don't return the $ $ to me, Upon speaking further, I also commented on the fact that when BOA denied my claim, they only provided documentation from XXXX regarding 1 of the 2 orders & that the documentation only spoke as to the delivery of the 1 package to me ( which I never disputed receiving ) but made NO mention of the 1st order at all or any mention of the return which is what this entire dispute is about, so how could BOA make a determination that the merchant was not wrong? XXXX agreed with my points, said she would notate my account as such, & also stated that the {$79.00} from the 1st order that was taken back was clearly never even addressed and should not have been re-debited from my account, regardless of decision on claim as XXXX did not fulfill their obligation to respond within 45 business days to that portion of the claim, but she reiterated that unfortunately her hands were tied and could not do anything about refunding the monies. She did suggested I make sure to include those points in my appeal paperwork though. She also then proceeded to ask me if I had online banking, to which I replied yes. She said that I can simply upload the documents through my online banking ( which both XXXX and XXXX stated I could not ). I told her that was great & I appreciated it, WELL, I went online approx 20 min after ending my call with her, & suddenly the upload feature was no longer available!!!! So now, once again, I was left with no options, no resolution, & money taken from me that should not have been! 
*XX/XX/XXXX - Paid $ $ to have someone care for my sick son to travel to Bank of America . After a 30 minute wait because the bank was understaffed and the girl behind the window did not know how to send a fax, finally faxed 19 pages of documentation for my appeal to the BOA claims dept.

*XX/XX/XXXX - Spoke to XXXX in Arkansas at the BOA claims dept to confirm they received my paperwork and that it was being reviewed since no one contacted me. She confirmed there were notes in my account confirming this & stated if I do not hear back by XX/XX/XXXX to call again to follow up as they should have reviewed it by then. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - Once again, called Bank of America claims dept and spoke to XXXX in Arkansas and inquired about the status of my appeal. He was nasty, condescending & told me he can't help me, I just have to wait. I asked if I could speak to someone who could help me & he said no. I told him I would be following up with CFPB, as well as the XXXX  and he just chuckled. 
*XX/XX/XXXX - Received a letter from Bank of America stating they will not overturn their decision and would not return my funds. 
I am attaching all of the documentation associated with this case, and I would also like to point out some key points : 1st and most importantly, BOA made a determination of no wrongdoing on the part of XXXX for the TOTAL amount disputed ( {$120.00} ) which is the Sum of 2 transactions : {$79.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) AND {$42.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) Yet XXXX ONLY provided rebuttal documents regarding the later charge of {$42.00} and did not even address the claim for the 1st charge of {$79.00}, so how can no wrongdoing be the decision on a claim that was not even acknowledged or addressed by the merchant, XXXX XXXX in full within the 45 business days allotted. 
2nd, and equally important is that XXXX flat out LIES on page 2 of 12 in their response labeled chargeback rebuttal when they state However customer gave no indication that there were any issues with the quality of the merchandise when contacting customer service. 
Not only is that statement COMPLETELY false, but I actually posted a review on their site stating the merchandise was poor quality and went on to also state that I was annoyed that I have to pay a restocking fee to return poor quality products. 
3rd, they have also left out any indication of the multiple phone calls I made, and the notes of the phone call they do reference are very minimal and do not even begin to detail the very long, detailed phone calls I have had with this company. All calls are stated to be recorded for quality assurance, so maybe they should provide the audio of my multiple calls instead of just their conveniently minimal summary. 
4th, they make no reference at all to the return label that XXXX provided to me for the return which includes the RMA # provided to me during the 1st phone correspondance around  XX/XX/XXXX ( RMA # XXXX ) and conveniently made no mention of my MULTIPLE requests for them to follow up with the USPS as I am not the shipper, so according to USPS because I am not the Payee of the shipping charges my hands are tied, yet XXXX refuses to do their part!. They didnt even include a copy of the label or return tracking # in question that was provided to me by XXXX. 

In addition, after my experience with this seemingly shady business, I decided to do some investigating and landed upon their profile with the Dept of Consumer Affairs. I have attached copies of reviews from other members of XXXX  showing similar shady business practices. You will see some are the exact same scenario as what I am currently experiencing which only further proves this companies shady business practices and retaining monies they are not entitled to. 
I would also like to point out that BOA never asked me for any evidence or requested rebuttal feedback before rendering a decision on behalf of the merchant ( XXXX ). 

I am also including reviews from the Dept of Consumer Affairs regarding XXXX including quite a few with a similar or exact issue to show the character and business ethics of this company.

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