Consumer complaint received 2020-07-21
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: VA
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:
To : whom it may concern Subject : Transaction dispute- Items not delivered by seller Date : XX/XX/2020 The following details the purchase transaction with the vendor as well as the steps taken to resolve the issue with the credit card company * On XX/XX/XXXX : Placed an online order for {$12000.00} from a vendor in XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX : Three days after placing the order, we requested the supplier to cancel the order and process a full refund. 
* On XX/XX/XXXX : the vendor responds acknowledging our order cancellation request and explaining some challenges in reversing the transaction * On XX/XX/XXXX : the supplier follows up on his previous communication informing us that he had sent a request to his bank and that he would let us know once his request was approved. 
* On XX/XX/XXXX : the vendor informed us that he is unable to refund the money due to the fact that in XXXX it is too difficult to send US dollars to other countries and asks us to instead proceed with the order *On XX/XX/XXXX : we replied stating that we were not in need of the order. We also recommended other venues to send the money. As a last resource, we informed the supplier that we would dispute the transaction with the credit card but we made it clear that we did not like that option due to the possible negative consequences on his end * On XX/XX/XXXX : the vendor responds stating he does not have a veem account and once again suggests we un-cancell our order *On XX/XX/XXXX : We replied trying to make the supplier aware of the negative impact of a charge back. We also made sure he understood that we were willing to be very flexible in order to get the money refunded : 1 ) We were willing to assume any transaction charges we would incur, and 2 ) We were willing to split the whole refund into several transactions sent over several means ( XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, etc ) *On XX/XX/XXXX : The vendor acknowledges our message and informs us that he would try to get help from underground banks *On XX/XX/XXXX We contacted the supplier for an update. 

*On XX/XX/XXXX the supplier replied that he would not refund the money and that he hoped we would move forward with the order. This was our last attempt to get refunded and subsequently we proceeded to dispute the transaction with the credit card. 

*On XX/XX/XXXX : We filed a transaction dispute with the credit card company. 
*On XX/XX/XXXX : A conditional credit was applied to our account for the total amount of the dispute. 
*On XX/XX/XXXX : We received a letter from the credit card company dated XX/XX/XXXX by which the credit card company requested additional information. The letter stated a deadline to provide the requested information by XX/XX/XXXX. Here is the information requested : 1. Specific details concerning this claim 2. Attempts to contact the merchant to solve the claim 3. Specific information regarding what was purchased 4. Copies of all documentation pertaining this transaction 4.1 Invoice 4.2 Emails *On XX/XX/XXXX, we replied to the bank 's letter providing all the information requested. We provided the information via the means they provided : email and fax. Our response included a total of 16 exhibits that documented points 1 through 4.2 above. 

*On XX/XX/XXXX, the conditional credit on our account was removed and the total amount in dispute was added to our credit card balance {$12000.00} *On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from the bank stating that : 1. Now that the investigation is complete we have re-billed your account for this charge along with any related fees and interest charges. All adjustments will appear on your statement within two billing cycles. 

2. Additionally the status on my online account stated : this case has been resolved in favor of the seller. 

3. The letter also indicated that if I wanted to reopen the investigation I needed to submit information that had already been provided in my XX/XX/XXXX letter. 

* On XX/XX/XXXX we replied stating that : 1. The requested information had already been submitted on XX/XX/XXXX but nevertheless we re-submitted the requested information. 
2. We asked for an explanation of why our case had been closed with no good cause or explanation. 
3. We also asked them to provide any communications with the seller that provided substantiation to their decision. Specifically we asked the bank to provide the sellers reply to our claim. Did the seller refute our claims? Are the sellers claims stronger than ours? Did the seller prove that the goods were actually delivered? 

Today is XX/XX/XXXX, it has been more than 90 days since we disputed this charge and : 1. The credit card has not provided any explanation as to why our dispute was closed in favor of the seller on XX/XX/XXXX. 
2. The credit card company has not provided any communications with the seller that support their decision to close our dispute in the seller 's favor. 
3. The dispute remains open. 

We ask that this case be investigated as we believe the credit card not has violated our consumer rights but also has violated several FTC and CFPV guidelines. 

Thanks. 

XXXX

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 explanation