Consumer complaint received 2018-04-07
Company: Comerica
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase or transfer

Complaint:
OnXX/XX/XXXX {$520.00} and an additional {$1.00} transfer fee were fraudulently taken out of my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Social Security payment card. I did not become aware of this until XX/XX/XXXX when I reported the fraud claim over the phone to XXXX XXXX. I was told a packet would be mailed to me to be filled out and returned. It took many days for the packet to arrive in the mail but I had not kept count of the days. The day I received the packet I immediately filled it out and put mailed it back the next day. In the packet was a letter stating I had ten days from the original date I had called to report the fraud to return the packet and there would be a provisional refund put back into my account. I waited the allotted time and checked my account to find the money had not been refunded. I checked the account for a few days and still no refund. I called XXXX XXXX customer service and was told I needed to speak to a level two agent, upon transfer to a level two agent I was disconnected. I called four or five times on that day being kept on hold for long periods only to be disconnected each time I was transferred to the level two agent. I told them of the issue, spoke to a manager about the issue and was told there was nothing they could do to help. I asked for the direct line to level two agents and was told they could not give me that information. This continued for several more days of trying. On the fourth day I was able to get through by calling around XXXX XXXX I was told by the level two agent that the forms I returned were received on the eleventh day and not the tenth, therefore it would take 45-90 days for them to review the fraud claim. I told them I had put the packet filled out back in the mail the same day I received it. I was told by the agent that I could have sent in a written statement before hand. When I said I was never told this she said that after I originally spoke to a customer service agent to report the fraud, who told me only to fill out the packet that would be mailed, a voice recording told me about the option to send in my own written statement. Either I hung up, thinking I was done speaking to the agent and never heard this message or this is a false claim. When I asked why I would have been refunded my money had they received the paperwork on the tenth day but not the eleventh day I was read a script about the money not being guaranteed. When I told her the Social Security payment was backed by the FDIC, the claim that there is no guarantee was repeated. I then spoke to a manger at level two who repeated word for word the same claims. As a XXXX person surviving solely on Social Security this is a possible life threatening situation. When I asked if there was anyway to expedite the claim due to the need for the money for life saving medicines and devices, I was told no. I have found that this is a more than common problem with the XXXX XXXX XXXX. It is an outrage that a company handling government money for the most vulnerable citizens conducts itself this way and there needs to be a comprehensive investigation into their practices. If it is found that the money is given to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX through the FDIC in those 10 days after the fraud is first reported and then not refunded or not refunded for 45-90 days, then they may be profitting and would be a gross mismanagement of funds and if it is not already should be illegal. This is a Treasury recommended card and the default card used for social security payments. I hope this complaint will be taken seriously and followed up on.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief