Consumer complaint received 2020-02-25
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA
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 bought two airline tickets amounting to {$1200.00} from the travel agency, XXXX, using my Citicard Mastercard. I bought the tickets ONLY because of XXXX explicitly advertised 24 hour cancellation policy ( documentation submitted to Citicard ), which advertised that I could easily cancel flights within 24 hours of booking by paying a nominal fee ( documentation submitted to Citicard ). When I called XXXX within 3 hours of purchasing the ticket ( documentation submitted to Citicard ), I was directed to the user agreement and told that canceling tickets within 24 hours would be {$200.00} per ticket ( documentation submitted to Citicard ). {$200.00} per ticket is not a nominal fee ; their user agreement fees ( $ XXXX/ticket ) flatly contradicts their advertised fees ( nominal fee ). Because the original purchase was made under false advertisement, I thereafter initiated a cancellation of the ticket ( documentation submitted to Citicard ). Given that XXXX engaged in false representation to get me to purchase the ticket in the first place, and given that I clearly cancelled the flight well before the departure date, I should in no way be responsible for the full cost of two unused tickets, {$1200.00}. 

P. 57 of the published Mastercard Chargeback Guide ( https :  XXXX  ), details the conditions under which a cardholder dispute chargeback may be processed. The Chargeback Conditions for Goods or Services Were Either Not as Described or Defective are : the cardholder contacted the issuer claiming all of the following. 

( 1 ) The cardholder engaged in the transaction. ( I meet this condition - documentation submitted ) ( 2 ) The cardholder contacted the merchant, or attempted to contact the merchant, to resolve the dispute. ( I meet this condition - documentation submitted ) ( 3 ) The merchant refused to adjust the adjust the price or issue a credit. ( I meet this condition - documentation submitted ) And one of the following.

( 1 ) The merchant did not honor the terms and conditions of the contract with the cardholder including, but not limited to, 100 % money back guarantee, written promises, or return policy. ( I meet this condition - documentation submitted, showing the merchant did not honor their advertised 24 hour cancellation policy, as it contradicts the user agreement that I was made to uphold ) Time Frame : Between 15 and 120
calendar dates form the cancellation date of the goods or services. ( I meet this condition - documentation submitted ) Despite the fact that I submitted documentation of how each Chargeback Condition was met, Citibank ruled in favor of the merchant initially simply because the merchant responded with proof that I had in fact made the purchase ( a fact that was never in dispute ) and reversed their temporary credit. When I reinitiated the investigation, Citibank responded with the statement that they could not rule in my favor unless I could provide proof that the merchant explicitly agreed to credit the charge back to me, which they never agreed to do. I have relaunched the investigation thereafter and I have no confidence that Citibank will fairly adjudicate this case and protect me as a consumer.

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