Consumer complaint received 2023-08-01
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: TN
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:
SUMMARY : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX., XXXX, a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, purchased four bottles of XXXX brand Ubiquinol ( the active form of CoEnzyme Q10 ) encased in oil as a gelcap on XXXX. Ubiquinol is fat soluble, which means it must be taken with fat or oil to dissolve. XXXX instead sent XXXX XXXX four bottles of XXXX Ubiquinol in a dry powdered tablet, which lab test results show to be worthless as containing little or no Ubiquinol. XXXX refused to apologize for sending the wrong product and immediately send the correct product at no additional charge to XXXX XXXX, refused to issue a refund, and refused to accept a return of the product. The purchase was made on Discover Card, and XXXX XXXX initiated a dispute for the transaction. Discover Card fumbled and bungled XXXX XXXX XXXX complaint THREE times and accepted XXXX XXXX proof that " some '' product was sent and received, even though it was not the product ordered by XXXX XXXX. Speaking on a recorded lines each time, Discover Card 's own dispute resolution staff admitted " The resolution specialist reviewing your account did not understand that you ordered gelcaps, not dry powdered tablets. '' " XXXX did not respond to your complaint that the wrong product was sent to you, and our resolution specialist thought you were claiming that did not receive any product. '' Ultimately, Discover Card attempted to absolve any liability by referring the dispute to an " unbiased '' arbitrator, who has a 99 % -100 % track record of always finding for the corporate supplier and 99 % -100 % of the time against the consumer purchaser. 

1. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX purchased XXXX Ubiquinol tablet form from XXXX for a price of {$22.00} per bottle. See attached picture file. 

2. A laboratory test to verify these tablets indeed contained Ubiquinol and check for possible fraudulent conveyance and lack of active ingredient demonstrated that XXXX XXXX XXXX serum CoQ10 value was in the lowest quartile of the reference range and a value of XXXX. See picture file labeled as low test result for CoQ10. XXXX XXXX attests that he can normally achieve this low serum level of CoQ10 without consuming any Ubiquinol supplement. This level is far from optimal, which necessitates his taking Ubiquinol as a supplement. 

3. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX specifically ordered XXXX Ubiquinol in softgel form, in which true Ubiquinol would be suspended in an oil. See picture file labeled XXXX XXXX order for softgels. 

4. The XXXX softgels were much more expensive than the XXXX tablets. Each bottle of gelcaps/softgels was {$32.00}, and XXXX XXXX paid that higher price for FOUR bottles. See attached picture file labeled XXXX price of bottle 5. XXXX XXXX was willing to pay this higher price in order to get XXXX Ubiquinol in gelcaps rather than the worthless product in tablet form. 

6. The picture file captioned XXXX XXXX shows my blood test result when consuming genuine, authenticate, real Ubiquinol 300 mg. The result of XXXX places me in the top quartile of the reference range, which is an optimal level of CoQ10. 

7. As part of my dispute, I included the picture file labeled Contents white tablets not softgels, which shows the bottle sent to me by XXXX with " softgels '' on the label but white tablets inside the bottle. 

8. As part of my dispute, I advised Discover Card that I still had two unwrapped with the outer warehouse wrappers uncut and the bottles unopened from this order. See two pictures. Anyone shaking these bottles will hear the rattling sound of tablets, not the silence of softgels/gelcaps. The warehouse wrappers state the content is Ubiquinol but do not state gelcaps -- - a possible sign of XXXX negligence that should have been rectified in Discover Card 's dispute process. 

9. XXXX charged a higher price on XX/XX/XXXX, for Ubiquinol in oil-based gelcap form than in dry powder pill form. 

10. Ubiquinol is a fat soluble compound, which means that it is dissolved and metabolized by the human body when it is combined with oil or fat. 

11. XXXX sent XXXX XXXX XXXX bottles of XXXX brand Ubiquinol labeled as gelcaps on the outside but which contained dry powder pills inside. 

12. XXXX XXXX took pictures of the pills inside one such XXXX  bottle and sent the picture as an attachment to Discover Card as attachments to his dispute. 

13. XXXX XXXX obtained a blood test to check whether the pills he purchased from XXXX contained any Coenzyme Q10, and XXXX XXXX attached a copy of the blood test result to his dispute with Discover Card. 

14. The blood test received by Discover Card and forwarded to XXXX showed that his Coenzyme Q10 levels ranked in the lower quartile of normal reference range. 

15. The purported dose of Ubiquinol in the product supplied by XXXX and shipped by XXXX was 300 mg ( per gelcap ). 

16. XXXX XXXX had previously taken 300 mg of Ubiquinol suspended in a gelcap and obtained blood tests showing his serum CoQ10 levels were in the top quarter to top decile of the reference range. See picture file labeled XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX sought to return the merchandise to Amazon for a refund alleging a fraudulent lack of Ubiquinol in the XXXX  pills, a fraudulent label showing gelcaps but actually pills inside each bottle, and a fraudulent charge of higher priced bottles for gelcaps sold to XXXX XXXX. 

18. XXXX XXXX sought a refund from XXXX within 30 days of the product arriving at his home. 

19. XXXX displayed a screen showing no return of the XXXX  pills was allowed and no refund could be requested, as shown on the attached screen capture picture file labeled XXXX offers no refund or replacement for fraudulent product. 

20. XXXX XXXX included a copy of this screen capture picture as an attachment to his dispute with Discover Card. 

21. XXXX refused to provide XXXX XXXX with an address where he could return the Ubiquinol pills. 

22. XXXX XXXX demonstrated to a Discover Card dispute representative that the Ubiquinol sent to him were pills and not gelcaps by shaking the bottle during his conversation and letting the Discover Card representative here the rattling sound of pills inside a plastic bottle. 

23. The Discover Card dispute representative spoke to XXXX XXXX on a recorded line. 

24. The Discover Card dispute representative confirmed in the call that he could hear a rattling sound of the pills being shaken in the bottle and that he would have expected to hear no sound if the bottle had contained softgels. 

25. XXXX XXXX sent Discover Card photographic proof of a XXXX  bottle labeled softgels, and when the contents was poured out, pills can be seen in the photo attached to his dispute and shown in the attached picture file Contents White tablets not softgels. 

26. XXXX fraudulently sold XXXX XXXX Ubiquinol softgels , in which the Ubiquinol would be suspended in oil/fat inside the softgels, and instead shipped him dry powder pills. 

27. The 300 mg dose of Ubiquinol in dry pill form yielded significantly lower ( bottom quartile of the reference range ) serum CoQ10 levels than what XXXX XXXX had achieved with a 300 mg softgel dose of Ubiquinol ( serum CoQ10 in the top quartile of the reference range ).

28. Discover Card employed and paid for a ( bogus ) arbitrator to review XXXX XXXX dispute. 

29. Discover Card provided XXXX XXXX with no notice of the hearing or an opportunity to present evidence during the arbitration hearing. 

30. The arbitrator has a track record of siding with merchants approximately 99 % -100 % of the time ; otherwise, he would be replaced with an arbitrator who always sided with the corporation supplier. To maintain this arbitration stream of income, the bogus arbitrator simply sides with the corporation against the consumer regardless of the facts. 

31. Discover Card refused to provide XXXX XXXX with the name and contact information for the arbitrator. 

32. Prior to this episode, Discover Card alleged that it had a fair and reasonable dispute process, and that it would not charge XXXX XXXX for products that he did not order. XXXX XXXX relied on these promises and declarations by Discover Card to make this specific purchase for a product from an uncertain supplier. 

33. Previously he had purchased products on XXXX using a Mastercard, not Discover Card. Therefore, Discover Card 's material representations as to an honest dispute resolution process, not a fumbling and bumbling mistaken and then accept whatever the merchant says without question, affected XXXX XXXX 's decision to use Discover Card.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation