Consumer complaint received 2023-10-24
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: MI
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
I was approached by XXXX XXXX in the first few days of XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX XXXX claims to be an executive recruiting firm that wanted to conduct a job search on my behalf. In their opening pitch, they stated it would cost {$8900.00} in total, with a {$100.00} deposit up front. XXXX XXXX stated that after the trial, if I chose to proceed, they would send me an agreement to review and sign. Per their Trial Period Agreement, " Two-Three '' sessions were included for free in the trial, if I chose to walk away after that, I would get the {$100.00} back. I did not walk away at this point. I did not receive or sign any agreement as well, leading me to believe I was still in the trial period -- though the deposit would no longer be refundable. I spoke to them a few more times before my son 's health took a turn for the worse. I spent the next couple weeks in numerous emergency rooms all over the state before making it back home for good. During this time, nothing had been going on with Next Level except keeping one person ( XXXX XXXX- not even a Next Level employee ) in the loop as to when I may be available next to pickup where we left off. They had emailed me the agreement on XX/XX/XXXX for the next step, requesting me to review and sign it. Knowing that I had not signed and returned the agreement, I had no indication or worries that I would be charged for anything else by this company. Unknown to me, they had charged me {$4300.00} on XXXX, 13 days before sending me the agreement to sign. They charged me {$4400.00} on XXXX totaling {$8800.00} while I was in the hospital with my son. Given his medical needs, I was no longer going to be looking for work. That night while digging into the company, I found some negative information about them online, which led me to do some more digging. What I continued to find was not calming any reservations I had about working with this company. I made my concerns aware on XX/XX/XXXX that I no longer thought this to be a legitimate business opportunity, and that I wanted a refund. This was my written notice telling them I no longer wanted to proceed, and that I would not be signing and returning the agreement. On XX/XX/XXXX, after my second attempt of reaching out, they informed me that they would not refund me. They claim that they had done everything outlined in their " list of services '' and that a signature is not required for them to charge me. To this day, I do not have their agreement due to the fact that they would only send me a copy once I signed it. On one of the attached documents you will clearly see it states " Please review and complete ... '', " review and sign '', as well as " after you sign Next Level - Services Agreement... ''. This document/email will also show where it states I will only get a copy once I sign it. I did not sign any agreement, nor did I give them permission to charge me for anything other than the {$100.00} deposit. I filed a dispute with Chase, my credit card company, and supplied ample evidence to show I was not liable for the charges. Chase has not in any way been helpful to get this resolved and continues to state that the charges are valid. Chase will not give me any information in regard to what steps a merchant must take to be able to charge my card lawfully.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation