Consumer complaint received 2022-11-28
Company: Google Compare Credit Cards Inc.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account

Complaint:
On XX/XX/22, I requested {$180.00} from XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) from my googlepay account to assist my boyfriend with anticipated medical bills for our sick cat. Prior to this, he had requested the same amount from XXXX XXXX, and although the funds were sent to his GooglePay account, he was unable to withdraw said funds, and his account was frozen with the {$180.00} stuck in the account. This money, a full six months later, despite his account being permanently closed, remains in the closed account, and unavailable for withdrawal of any kind. When i received the {$180.00} from XXXX XXXX into my googlepay account, the same issues occurred. My account was first frozen, then googlepay demanded i make photocopies of my identification and each form of payment I attempted to withdraw to even though each of those payment methods failed for reasons unknown to me. I contacted XXXX chat and phone support more than 10 times in the following 48 hours, and on XX/XX/22, I received an email stating that my account was now permanently closed, the funds could no longer be withdrawn, and i would have to wait for XXXX to submit the funds to the proper government agency, which in my case, would be the California XXXX XXXX XXXX, which would take months to recover these funds from them. I was never given a reason why the account had to be permanently closed or why those funds couldnt at least be refunded to the payer ( XXXX XXXX ) but instead, the email stated that XXXX has the right at any time and for any reason to close my account and does not have to give a reason why, and that i basically have no right to know anything about the decision and that the decision was made by a team of specialists and that it was final. I have since contacted my state controllers office but they have no record of any funds being sent there on my behalf by XXXX. I also saw that those funds are still sitting in a permanently closed account when legally, they should have been turned over to the state a full 6 months ago. XXXX has done this exact same thing to my boyfriends account, so thats {$360.00} that remains in permanently closed accounts despite several attempts to notify XXXX of this issue through chat support, which are a group of some of the most misinformed and incompetent people i have ever had the displeasure of having to communicate with. Chat support still believes that i just need to submit my photos and identification documents and then i can withdraw those funds but in fact, an email dated XX/XX/22 sent to me clearly states that the account is permanently closed, no refunds or withdrawals can be made from this account, and that XXXX would turn over the funds to my local government which they still have yet to do. This situation is ridiculous, there is no one to speak to about this problem, and i believe that XXXX has no intention of ever giving me or my local government that money back even if the law states that they have to. They thought I would just give up and forget about it but i have not and neither has my boyfriend, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). GooglePay has held these funds for long enough and there should be legal consequences for their complete lack of action or any concern about my money.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation