Consumer complaint received 2020-06-16
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CT
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:
On XX/XX/20, I booked airline tickets using Sears Mastercard issued by Citibank. The charge was for {$740.00} for the flight New York XXXX New York on XX/XX/20 and XX/XX/20. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX sent an email informing me of the flight cancellation due to travel restriction imposed by the XXXX  government in response to COVID-19 pandemic. 

I tried to reach the airline to request my refund, however I was unable to get a hold of them ( in their email from XX/XX/20 the airline said that due to the heavy volume of inquiries the airline contact center will not be accepting calls and their email was sent from noreply-info address ), so I disputed this transaction with Sears Mastercard issued by Citibank and this amount was credited back to my account on XX/XX/20. However, on XX/XX/20 this charge reappeared on my credit card account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made another attempt to contact the airline, I emailed them and requested a refund. The airline offered a voucher, which does not work for me as I dont know when I will be able to travel again due health reasons. They later agreed to issue a refund, however they clearly started stalling this as they kept requesting the same information over and over again ( such as passport number, date of birth, my preferred option for resolution etc. ). Attached is the copy of my communication with the airline. 

On XX/XX/20, Citibank sent me a letter ( attached ) with the response they obtained from the airline where the airline was appealing to the restrictions imposed by the XXXX   government due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of these restrictions, the airline was unable to operate any international flights at that point. The airline further insisted that due to the extraordinary circumstances the airline should not be liable. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an enforcement notice ( attached ) where it clarified that U.S. and XXXX airlines remain obligated to provide a prompt refund to passengers for flights to, within, or from the United States when the carrier cancels the passengers scheduled flight or makes a significant schedule change and the passenger chooses not to accept the alternative offered by the carrier.  Furthermore, the notice clarifies that the longstanding obligation of carriers to provide refunds for flights that carriers cancel or significantly delay does not cease when the flight disruptions are outside of the carriers control ( e.g., a result of government restrictions ). 

On XX/XX/20, I sent a letter to Citibank ( attached ) where I referred to the above mentioned enforcement notice as an additional evidence to support my billing dispute. 

However, on XX/XX/20 Citibank responded that they have determined that I am responsible for the disputed amount ( letter is attached ). 

I disagree with the result of this dispute as airline cancelled the flight I paid for and this charge should not be my responsibility, however Citibank decided to take the airline 's side in this dispute. I seek your assistance in resolving this.

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