Consumer complaint received 2020-05-19
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: IL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2020 I purchased a bundle pack on XXXX for an XXXX console + a digital membership for a total of {$590.00}. XXXX was offering a payment plan option in partnership with Citizens One Bank, so after entering a few pieces of personal information and my social security number, I was approved for the payment plan with no interest rate. Following the transaction, I received an email from Citizens One Bank with a link to my account that included the details of my outstanding balance that I would pay back to them in monthly installments to pay off the purchase. 

Immediately after making the purchase, I realized that I had made a mistake because I only wanted to buy the XXXX console rather than the digital membership so I contacted XXXX right away. XXXX refunded the amount of the membership which was {$350.00}, but it was refunded to a Mastercard ending in XXXX which is not my card. I do not and have not ever owned a Mastercard ending in XXXX, so I'm not sure why the transaction was refunded to that card. My assumption is that the card was affiliated with the XXXX/Citizens One partnership and was used as the financial instrument to complete the purchase. However, that's not my card and as I mentioned, I had already been setup with an account to pay Citizens One Bank out of my checking account for the purchase over monthly installments. 

I have been in contact with both XXXX and Citizens One bank 7+ times each. The only answer XXXX will give me is that they already did everything they could do, which is refund the card that the initial purchase was made on. That does not help me in any way, though, as I do not own that card and have seen no refunded funds come to me. Instead, I am still on the hook for the entire balance of the purchase within the Citizens One Bank portal. Additionally, I have contacted Citizens One Bank numerous times and they tell me that they have no record of any refund and they have nothing to do with that Mastercard that was charged. Therefore, they are unable to reduce the amount of my outstanding balance by {$350.00}. Both companies seem to absolve themselves of any responsibility in this situation, and they continue to tell me to " call the other company '' so they can deal with it. 

I am at a complete loss because I have spent endless hours on the phone with both companies and am still at square one. XXXX continues to focus on the fact that they refunded the Mastercard, but that provides zero benefit to me because I do not own that card and did not select that card for the transaction. I simply opted in for a payment plan, and after the transaction was completed, the order details indicated that the charge went to a Mastercard ending in XXXX. Somehow, XXXX expects me to know the innerworkings of their partnership with Citizens One Bank and has implied that the Mastercard is affiliated with me in some way. It is not -- I explained to them countless times that they can check my credit reports because I have never owned a Mastercard ending in XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation