Consumer complaint received 2021-07-12
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: OH
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: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2021, I purchased two salt scrubs and two jars of body butter at the XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX ), XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX OH, XXXX. I authorized a purchase by giving my phone number and my electronic signature. At that moment, I did not see the final price nor the corresponding items linked to that price, nor the non-refundable policy notice. The final price was {$270.00} with the receipt of " no refunds, '' that I found in the bag later that day. A representative of the store then took my credit card and went somewhere, as she said, " there is no internet connection here ; let me try in my office. '' I followed her as she held my credit card. She told me to wait in some cubicle while she " was investigating '' the internet connection. She might charge my credit card two more times without my further awareness for the amount of {$370.00} and {$210.00}. I requested to return my credit card and stop giving me " complementary goods and services. '' She was pushy and insisted she would give me some " complementary goods '' anyways. Only when I insisted on leaving and refused to receive any goods would she mention no refunds were available, and I could only exchange the items. I left the store in shock. 
After seeing two more charges on the credit card account, I called the credit card, Discover, the same day, XX/XX/XXXX, to immediately close my credit card and initiate a fraud dispute for the amount of {$370.00}, {$270.00}, and {$210.00} ( including the initial authorized purchase ) because the store representative might use my credit card without my notice after the initial purchase. At first, the Discover Fraud Security and Protection Office escalated the issue with their department. They closed my credit card and provided the new one. After several phone calls with Discover, the issue was suddenly de-escalated to the billing disputes department. The Discover billing department temporarily credited the disputed amount during the investigation. Still, the Billing department bounced the {$370.00} back on XX/XX/XXXX to the personal account, stating that they can not charge back the disputed amount since they could only follow the merchant 's non-refundable policy. I inquired about escalating the issue back to the Fraud office. According to the fraud office representative 's knowledge, she could not do anything about the charges since the charges do not constitute any fraudulent activity. 
I'm afraid I have to disagree with Discover 's statement for the following reasons : First, the listed charges do not show the correct correspondent price/amount for the purchased goods. 
Secondly, the charges for goods were made that I did not accept, and they were not delivered as agreed based on the initial purchase. 
Thirdly, the merchant 's representative failed to provide any return policy before making the purchase and failed to mention the price of the goods upon request ( only discounted percentage rates and complementary goods were mentioned ). 
I made several attempts to communicate with the merchant by visiting the XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Unfortunately, there were no representatives of the store present. I communicated with the security officers to let them know that I would like to dispute the charge to witness that I was present there with the goods to return. Additionally, I attempted to call the local XXXX manager the same day, no response followed. Finally, I called the general manager of the XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to initiate the investigation of the merchant 's sale practices upon Disover 's suggestion. I was provided with the following owner 's contact information : XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ( not a corporate email ). I was able to reach XXXX. They acknowledged that there was indeed an internet connection problem in the mall, " the technical difficulties happened, '' they were willing to refund me. XXXX told me that her secretary would call me back by XXXX XXXX local Eastern time. I called back around XXXX ; they told me they would call me later. After calling and waiting for the store owner and the XXXX XXXX XXXX manager, no further response or investigation on their end followed. I emailed XXXX XXXXXXXX Ohio too. 
I am contacting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as the last possible contact for help since Discover refused to initiate a fraud dispute. 
I am asking you to investigate the issue as soon as possible. 
I appreciate your understanding.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation