Consumer complaint received 2023-03-11
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: WA
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/2023 I filed a dispute with Bank of America regarding a return made to XXXX that was seemingly lost by XXXX, XXXX would not refund me nor would they agree to open a XXXX Investigation ( only XXXX can initiate the XXXX Investigation because they are the ones that purchased the pre-paid shipping label ). When filing dispute I explained the situation thoroughly, that I had returned the item in unused condition via XXXX with the label provided to me and my concerns about XXXX possibly losing it as the tracking was all over the place but ultimately delivered in Texas and signed for by someone. So I feel XXXX should take responsibility since they would not even contact XXXX for me. 
As for as Bank of America, they said that was all they needed from me ( just my statement and the return tracking number ). I wanted to include my XXXX drop off receipt, a copy of the return label given to me by XXXX, the shipment facts ( proving I sent the item back based on weight ), my XXXX XXXX XXXX complaint, and my communication with XXXX throughout the ordeal ( including me asking them to at least open an investigation with XXXX ). However, Bank of America did not provide me anywhere to submit this supporting documentation. On my messages in my Bank of America Portal, they said they would request more information if needed after the merchant responds to the claim. So I waited for them to request the documentation. But on XX/XX/2023 they denied the claim saying the merchant provided documentation showing the transaction is valid. 
The documentation they provided was shipping discrepancies and that i did not follow the terms and conditions policies for the transaction, the Terms and Conditions they highlighted to say i didnt follow were as followed : IV. Seal the delivery package and affix the pre-paid delivery label to it V. Bring the package to ANY XXXX location to arrange pick-up I followed both of these Terms and Conditions ( as well as all others ) but Bank of America did not even bother to ask me for the drop off receipt, the copy of the label I used provided by Cartier, or explanation as to why the return was shipped from XXXX Florida when I live in Washington State . I feel as if I had been given the opportunity to provide this critical documentation then my Bank of America dispute would have been resolved in my favor. 

When I reached out to Bank of America on XX/XX/2023 via phone to ask to appeal the decision, the representative asked me why I did not provide any documentation or proof with my claim. I explained to her that I was never told nor given a place to submit the documentation. She advised me that I should fax the documentation to the Bank of America claims department and provided the fax number. The other option was sending the documentation through postal mail. I asked if I would receive any confirmation that my claim is being appealed and she said that I wouldn't and that it will automatically appeal once I send over the documents. I faxed them a 14 page document after the phone call, explaining the situation and providing documentation. 

But this feels very odd to me and I am not comfortable with not receiving any type of confirmation. I feel as though in these modern times, Bank of America should be more transparent with clients about where and when they can submit PDF/Photo documentation to support their disputes. They should also have a system in place to notify clients that their fax submissions have been received and when they are being reviewed as well as confirmation of appeals being submitted. I feel very stressed now because I was not given the opportunity to submit proper documentation and now I don't even know if my fax is received or if my appeal is submitted. This lack of transparency from Bank of America does not feel right. 

The following is part of the explanation/documentation I faxed to Bank of America XXXX Bank of America did not request all of the documentation from me so I had previously only provided the return tracking number. I am now faxing documentation such as the copy of the XXXX Return Label provided to me by the merchant, the XXXX drop off receipt, a copy of the Shipment Facts per the XXXX tracking, my communication with XXXX regarding the return, as well as the Better Business Bureau complaint that was filed. 

My claim was denied because merchant provided documentation showing the transaction is valid. The documentation they provided was shipping discrepancies and that i did not follow the terms and conditions policies for the transaction, the Terms and Conditions they highlighted to say i didnt follow were as followed : IV. Seal the delivery package and affix the pre-paid delivery label to it V. Bring the package to ANY XXXX location to arrange pick-up As for shipping the package out from XXXX, this is because I asked my husband to return it in the XXXX Boutique in XXXX since he was there on a business trip ( there is no Cartier boutique in our state ). However the sales associate advised that he could only return online since the ring was not purchased via the XXXX XXXX so he proceeded with bringing it to the XXXX store and shipping it there with the return label that XXXX provided me ( copy attached ) ( meaning I followed the XXXX & XXXX of sealing the delivery package and affixing the pre-paid delivery label to it ). I am also providing the drop off receipt for this. Shipping the return from XXXX is not a violation of the XXXX & XXXX because it says " Bring the package to ANY XXXX  location ''. In their terms and conditions, XXXX mentions the following : As the case may be, the Customer or Gift Recipient must keep proof of return shipment and the XXXX tracking number, and XXXX accepts no liability in the event such proof can not be produced. 
But neither XXXX nor Bank of America requested the return receipt from me nor gave me an opportunity to provide it. 
As for the shipping descrepancies, I am not sure why the package tracking goes back and forth between Tennessee, Florida, and Texas. I just know I did my part in the return correctly, and it should not be my fault if XXXX mishandles or misdelivers the package. I even asked XXXX multiple times if they could open a XXXX investigation and they refused. I tried calling XXXX to open the investigation but they said only XXXX can open the investigation because the return label was purchased by them. The tracking says it was delivered in XXXX XXXX, Texas and was signed for by " XXXX '' who they claim is not an employee of theirs. Ultimately I think this whole issue could have been resolved had XXXX just agreed to open a XXXX Investigation but for some reason they refused. I also saw on their XXXX XXXX XXXX  claims that I am not the only person experiencing issues with returns with XXXX, there are many people having issues with their returns system. 
I would like my claim to be approved because I did follow the Terms & Conditions and returned the item back to XXXX and I can't even have XXXX investigate if it was an error on XXXX 's end because I did not purchase the return label. I did not provide this information previously because no one had requested me to send it.

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 monetary relief