Consumer complaint received 2017-12-18
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NC
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 a Citi AAdvantagePlatinum Select Credit Card customer and made an online purchase on XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX for a one year XXXX XXXX XXXX print and digital subscription in the amount of {$180.00}. After more than a week of no service - either print or digital, I tried contacting the company. XXXX has no contact information on its website so I contacted Citi AAdvantage to dispute the charge due to non delivery of services. I then researched and found the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX site, contacted them to order the same subscription which turned out to be {$30.00} less. The second subscription purchase was made on XX/XX/XXXX for {$150.00} and I had the digital service before the phone conversation ended and the print delivery began 2 days later. To date I have received nothing from the subscription ordered from XXXX. The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX communicated that XXXX has no affiliation with their site. 

When the original dispute was filed, Citi AAdvantage refunded the {$180.00} and a chargeback was sent to the merchant. The merchant XXXX XXXX XXXX emailed me that he had been notified by Citi of a problem with the purchase. The email further stated that they were sorry for the problems and could either provide the full service ordered or issue a refund. In the same email, sent by XXXX XXXX, he stated that " I can see we have started the subscription and set up the digital access ''. This was and is completely false. I responded by email, stating that by this time, XX/XX/XXXX, almost three weeks has passed and I have received neither the print or digital XXXX subscription for which I paid. I requested a full refund. After the email request I received nothing further from XXXX XXXX or XXXX. 

XXXX sent a chargeback verification for the subscription to Citi AAdvantage in response to the bank 's request which shows I paid in full and the card was not fraudulent. Citi AAdvantage reversed the charge and reinstated the {$180.00} on my bill. 

I disputed the reinstated charge for a second time asking the bank to investigate the XXXX   site and reimburse my payment for services not received. The following information was provided to Citi AAdvantage for further review : The XXXX phone number listed on my credit card statement XXXX XXXX NY is a XXXX based number assigned to a company named XXXX.XXXX- Tx ; the chargeback evidence submitted was processed through XXXX with a XXXX XXXX address , no phone number only a fax number, the business location shown on the XXXX   chargeback is XXXX, NY and the website on the XXXX invoice is XXXX XXXX XXXX with a statement description XXXX ; the XXXX XXXX XXXX is not a site listed on the internet DNS address could not be found. The business description states " Pay per subscription, we charge the customer as soon as they receive their first issue ''. Nothing about this site adds up and appears to be an internet scam. 
Based on the above, I am requesting a refund for the {$180.00} purchase for services not received through XXXX along with the {$38.00} interest charged for deducting the purchase price while still under investigation. I also request a full investigation of the the aforementioned websites and XXXX XXXX. This is the first time in 25 years as a card holder that I have ever been forced to pay a merchant for products never delivered and if Citi AAdvantage will not protect their customers when these incidents occur, internet scams or other legitimate merchant disputes then all of their customers are vulnerable and underserved.

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 monetary relief