Consumer complaint received 2022-01-26
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: TX
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 reserved an apartment in XXXX, XXXX on XXXX for XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX for {$560.00} using my Bank of America Visa credit card. Upon arriving at the apartment we discovered the WiFi, which was advertised, did not exist or was not functioning. Essentially it was unavailable. This was necessary for us as I was working remotely and had work items due the next day. We contacted the manager for the apartment to resolve the WiFi connectivity. After multiple contacts with the manager, he quit responding to our communication efforts. We informed him that we would be unable to stay at the apartment due to the unavailable WiFi, and left to stay at another hotel that night and later an apartment, both of which had WiFi. We disputed the charges on our credit card, but after investigating Bank of America declined to uphold the dispute stating they dont get involved with refunds ( as XXXX said they dont provide refunds on this property ). Our complaint is Bank of America should uphold the dispute as we did not accept the property in the condition it was offered to us or as we had purchased it. This is not a refund issue because we never stayed there, although we would have if the advertised WiFi had been available. Below is a detailed description of events and attached is supporting documentation. 
Detailed and chronological sequence of events : XX/XX/XXXX - Reserved apartment XXXX XXXX on XXXX for check-in Saturday XX/XX/XXXX and check-out Sunday XX/XX/XXXX. Free WiFi was advertised on the site ( see document # 1 screenshot of apartment as advertised ) and received a confirmation email showing WiFi as a benefit of the room ( see document # 2 confirmation email from XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX - Arrived at apartment approximately XXXX XXXX, tried immediately to connect to WiFi. Documentation inside apartment indicated WiFi password but didnt indicate name of WiFi. Only one WiFi was showing available which was XXXX ( see document # 3 screenshot of available WiFis ). We attempted to connect with given password but connection was refused. 
- My fianc, who speaks XXXX, called the representative for the apartment at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX five different times to resolve the connection ( see document # 4 screenshot from fiances phone of 5 phone calls to above number ) - Representative sent message with WiFi password ( XXXX ), although this didnt work. 
- Representative told my fianc the neighbors WiFi was working so ours must be working also. We went to the neighbors, and they informed us they had their own private WiFi and knew nothing about our WiFi. 
- Representative then told us we need to reset the router and informed us it was in the panel in the hallway. We checked the hallway and what the representative directed us to was a circuit breaker box. 
- The representative then told us there must be something wrong with our devices. We had three cell phones and two laptops, all of which would not connect or see the WiFi. 
- I sent representative a screenshot ( SMS ) from my phone showing the WiFi networks we were seeing ( see document # 6 attempt by me to message apartment rep ). He did not respond to this SMS message. 
- My fianc asked the representative if they could send someone to fix the internet and he responded by asking her Who should I send?. 
- My fianc then asked the representative to talk to me as I was the one who had rented the apartment and I worked in the computer field, thus being computer savvy. The representative then said he didnt have to talk to me, then hung up the phone and no longer responded to any of our communications. 
- I called the representative but he did not answer the call ( see document # 7 attempt by me to call apartment manager ) - I sent the representative a message on XXXX, and although XXXX indicated he read the message, he never responded ( see document # 8 XXXX message to apartment manager ). In this message I indicate to him that since the WiFi is not working and he is not showing a willingness to work with us to resolve it, we had no choice but to cancel the reservation and leave ) - We left and rented a hotel room somewhere else that had WiFi. Connected with no issues. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Called XXXX and told them of having to decline our stay in the apartment due to lack of WiFi and our interaction with the representative that did not result in a solution. We also indicated the representative eventually stopped responding to our communications. XXXX told us the property was rented through XXXX and they would have to contact them and attempt to contact the apartment owner. They told us we would hear from them within 24 hours. 
- Looked at the reviews for the apartment on XXXX after finding out the apartment was rented via XXXX Found a review indicating another client had a similar issue with the WiFi and indicated the internet had to be reset by a customer services agent ( see document # 10 screenshot of XXXX review showing WiFi issue ). This option was not presented to us when we were having the issue even though, as indicated above, we asked the manager to send out someone to fix the internet. 

XX/XX/XXXX - After not receiving any feedback from XXXX I called again. They had not been able to contact the representative from the apartment and told us they would try again and we should hear something within 24 hours. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Filed dispute with Bank of America credit card, indicating we did not receive the apartment upon delivery as it was not what was advertised. Account ending XXXX, claim ID : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - Received email from XXXX explaining they were not going to reimburse us for the apartment as the policy did not allow for refunds. 

XX/XX/XXXX - Received a conditional credit to Bank of America credit card account for the transaction amount of {$560.00} XX/XX/XXXX - New claim by Bank of America was initiated to research the claim. Claim # XXXX XX/XX/XXXX - Received letter from Bank of America indicating they were not going to reimburse us for the claim as they can not intervene in situations involving a merchants return, refund, or cancellation policy. Our contention is this did not fall into the category of return, refund, or cancellation, but rather a refusal to accept a purchase as what was delivered was not what was advertised. 
Attached supporting documentation : 1. Screenshot of apartment as advertised on XXXX In 3 separate locations it indicates Free WiFi and indicating Free WiFi in all rooms. 
2. Confirmation email from XXXX showing WiFi as a benefit ( even highlighted in green ) 3. Screenshot of available WiFis at the apartment, missing is the WiFi the manager said was available for the apartment 4. Screenshot of 5 phone calls my fianc made to the manager to resolve 5.  Screenshot of response from manager regarding WiFi giving password 6. Screenshot of my SMS message to manager that went unanswered 7. Screenshot of my attempted call to manager that went unanswered 8. Screenshot of my XXXX message to manager that shows it was read but unanswered 9. Receipt of payment from apartment 10. Email response from XXXX to my request for recovery of my payment due to non-delivery of advertised apartment. They reference their no-refund policy, claiming the charges are still valid. 
11. Screenshot of review of apartment on XXXX indicating WiFi not operational but reset by customer services agent, an option not given to us 12. Letter from Bank of America explaining their rationale for not reimbursing us for the apartment charges.

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