Consumer complaint received 2019-09-27
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: OR
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:
On XX/XX/2019, I flew into XXXX with my husband on a red-eye flight from XXXX for my XXXX birthday, since we were going to see our first XXXX show together. When we arrived at the curb after getting our baggage, I opened my XXXX app to call a car. A car with an XXXX sign in the window was parked there, and the driver yelled out, XXXX? I said yes, and he instructed us to hop in and said hed look up my XXXX account via email once we got to the hotel. He quoted me {$89.00} for the ride to XXXX XXXX. It seemed legitimate to us, because the XXXX app had estimated {$89.00} for the trip from XXXX to XXXX XXXX. We got in the car and he drove us to our hotel, The XXXX, at XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX. Once we arrived at the hotel, the driver asked for my email address tied to my XXXX account, which I provided. He stated he was having trouble with the XXXX app due to a poor signal in the alley. He then said, Well just use my dip reader as a limo since the XXXX app isnt working. I offered him cash instead, but he insisted on taking credit card only. The driver showed me his phone with a charge of {$89.00} on the screen. He then put his phone down and handed the dip reader to me in the back seat. I dipped my card and exited the vehicle. The driver then pulled away quickly and left us at the hotel. I still felt uneasy about dipping my card, so I logged into the Bank of America app to  review the purchase within about 15 minutes of arriving at the hotel. The B of A app showed a transaction of {$330.00} for XXXX XXXX in XXXX. This was {$250.00} more than I had authorized. I knew then that we had been scammed by the driver. I tried disputing the charge in the B of A app right then, on XX/XX/2019, but the chat window said I could not dispute it until the charge had posted and was no longer pending on my account. The charge did in fact post on XX/XX/2019 for {$330.00} with authorization number XXXX. I did not have a receipt, but this was {$250.00} more than I authorized, and I submitted a dispute on XX/XX/2019 requesting the permanent return of {$250.00} to my account for this unauthorized purchase amount ( CASE XXXX ). Bank of America then requested a receipt for the transaction, when I had already said the merchant had not provided me with a receipt but instead sped off in his car after getting my card information. I submitted a detailed letter of explanation to Bank of America on XX/XX/2019 ( the same day I received the request for a receipt from them ). Bank of America did not provide me provisional credit of {$250.00} for the unauthorized charge until XX/XX/2019, which was well over a month after I submitted my dispute. Then, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Bank of America telling me they could not pursue my dispute further because I didn't have a receipt. B of A charged my card that same day for {$250.00}. The merchant provided Bank of America with a FORGED invoice saying I had transported six people to the hotel in a limo. The name on the invoice was incorrect ( my middle name was listed as my first name ), and the signature was clearly NOT mine. Bank of America has plenty of records of my signature, and the signature on that invoice is not even close to mine. I called Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX and was repeatedly transferred. I was instructed to submit an appeal and was given yet another case number ( XXXX ). The employee told me to wait to send the appeal until I had received the invoice copy from XXXX XXXX in the mail, since the online portal only told me the reason for denial and did not have attachments. A week or so later, I received the denial in the mail with the XXXX XXXX invoice copy and confirmed that it was forged/fake. I had not signed ANYTHING with this company- much less an invoice for a limo ride for six people. I submitted an appeal on XX/XX/2019 for CASE XXXX and explained that the invoice provided by the merchant was forged/fake and that both my name and signature were incorrect. I even provided Bank of America with a copy of my plane tickets for XX/XX/2019, proving there were only two passengers ( me and my husband ) and not six. I received yet another letter from Bank of America on XX/XX/2019 denying my claim, and they provided me with yet ANOTHER new case  number ( XXXX ). I submitted yet ANOTHER appeal for CASE XXXX and reiterated that I was a victim of FRAUD, that my signature had been FORGED, and that the invoice was FAKE. I received yet another denial from Bank of America on XXXXthis time telling me that they would not respond to any further dispute communications on the matter. I was not provided provisional credit for more than a month after my initial dispute. Bank of America has refused to call this anything but a billing error when I have repeatedly stated this is FRAUD and that my name and signature have been FORGED. Bank of America has given me THREE different case numbers for ONE dispute, making the process far more cumbersome and confusing than it has to be. Bank of America is ignoring my rights as a consumer and refusing to provide me with credit for an unauthorized charge of {$250.00} that I disputed in a timely manner ( the day it posted to my account ).

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