Consumer complaint received 2022-03-04
Company: Upgrade, Inc.
State: OR
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:
First contact on charges in late XX/XX/XXXX. 

Initial complaint sent on XX/XX/XXXX : Signed up for an upgrade card as I was rebuilding credit and thought it could be useful for credit strengthening purposes. When I was approved and received the card I activated it and never used the physical card, only the option to take out an advance through the app. Now several months later I see there are two charges on the card that are not advanced for XXXX XXXX and XXXX. Reached out to each and they both told me to contact the card issuer to file a dispute. When I reached out to Upgrade support they told me it was outside their 60 day window. I received no electronic communication regarding that my physical card was being used, a common feature most companies offer. Now I cant dispute over {$3000.00} in fraudulent charges. Charges were for {$2400.00} with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and {$590.00} with XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX Of course they dont offer any traceable contact either. No email or chat support for me to record easily, only phone calls. Ridiculous for the year XXXX. 

Upgrades response XX/XX/XXXX : Hi XXXX, Thank you for your correspondence through XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. We appreciate that you took the time to let us know your concerns and would like to make things right. 

We are currently investigating the issue with your account and a member of our Resolution Specialist team will reach out to you directly in 1-2 business days once we have concluded our investigation. 
If you have any additional questions in the meantime, please contact our Resolution Specialist team at ( XXXX ) XXXX, Monday through Friday, XXXX XXXX, or email XXXX. 

Sincerely, Upgrade , Inc . 

My response XX/XX/XXXX : No resolution has been provided. Upgrade reached out over the phone asking me to call them or send an email. After I sent an email, they have continued to call me telling me to send an email or call them back. Despite having already done what theyve asked, it seems theyre more interested in playing phone tag than actually resolving the issues on my account. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX Upgrades response XX/XX/XXXX : Dear XXXX, Thank you for contacting us regarding your concerns. 

We have an assigned case number and we are working to thoroughly investigate your concerns. You should hear back from us within the next business day. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance to our Resolution Specialist Team at ( XXXX ) XXXX, Monday through Friday, XXXX MST or email XXXX. 

Sincerely, Upgrade , Inc . 


My response XX/XX/XXXX I have waited 5 business days and have still not received a response. Called number left in voicemail on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX. Entered my social and birthdate and was on hold for about a minute before being told they couldnt take my call. Ive received a call from Upgrade everyday now telling me to call this number or send an email. I have done both and have not gotten a response. Meanwhile interest continues to accrue on my account for fraudulent purchases. Called the number I was provided for Upgrades resolution team ( same as the one given above ) on XX/XX/XXXX and was informed my ticket was closed because they had not heard back from me. I had sent an email XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX with no response as well. When I called the resolution team number again I confirmed that the call was being recorded and requested a copy, still have not received one. Reiterated that I want to continue my case over email, not phone so I can easily document what is going on. Supposed to receive an email from XXXX XX/XX/XXXX but still have not received anything as of XX/XX/XXXX. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX final response XX/XX/XXXX : Hello XXXX, Thank you for your response. 

We attempted to reach out to you on the following dates via phone : XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, our team sent you an email requesting you to contact us and provided a phone number and email address. We received responses on both XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX in which you requested a response via email. As the need to verify your identity is critical to the process, we are not able to discuss it in detail via email. 

XX/XX/XXXX, we attempted to reach you again via phone as well as XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX, in addition to a phone call, we also sent the same email to contact us as sent on XX/XX/XXXX with the provided phone number and email address. 

XX/XX/XXXX you spoke with one of our agents. After being advised that the advocate assigned to your case was unavailable, you requested a response via email to which the agent on the phone stated they would pass the message on to your assigned advocate. 

We acknowledge the confusion that may have resulted due to being inadequately informed that we could not speak via email and will address this issue to avoid further confusion for other customers in the future. 

In your Cardholder Agreement in paragraph 37 titled Errors or Questions About Your Card Account Transactions, it is stated that, ... Unless applicable law permits a longer time for you to provide notice, Upgrade must hear from you no later than 60 days after the date Upgrade sent the FIRST written transaction history on which the error appeared. 
XX/XX/XXXX, you were advised by one of our agents that the transactions in questions had passed the timespan stated within your Cardholder Agreement. 

We would recommend attempting to work with the vendors in question to resolve the issue, but UpgradXXXX is unable to provide any further resolution. 

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this issue or any others, please contact Upgrade Customer Advocacy by phone at XXXX, Monday through Friday, XXXX MST. 

Sincerely, Upgrade Customer Advocacy My final response with no further responses or correspondence from Upgrade. They are now ignoring my phone calls and emails. XX/XX/XXXX : Upgrade has continued to not assist with this issue in good faith. Now I receive a response saying they actually cant talk over email because they need to verify my identity. This could have been avoided if it had been mentioned a SINGLE time in one of the many times Ive spoken with them already. Not to mention when I called them, I gave them everything they needed to verify my identity. Do not tell me I have a choice to correspond over email if that is not the truth. You simply work to make this process as painful as possible. I have filed several complaints with the FDIC and have retained an attorney as well. Expect a demand letter from my attorney soon. It is obvious from our correspondence here over the XXXX  alone that you only proved the thinnest bit of information possible, while stating that you will reach out or get things resolved only to provide no resolution. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX # XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation