Consumer complaint received 2018-08-13
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
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 Monday XX/XX/2018, at XXXX I attempted to withdraw {$950.00} cash, as a cash advance, from my Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card account. 
The attempted withdrawal was made at a Chase ATM at the Chase Branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX. 

However after I inputted the details, the {$950.00} DID NOT dispense, but DID show up on my account as a charge. A {$47.00} cash advance fee also showed up on my account. 

I immediately called Chase 's assistance line on the back of my card, and they instructed me to open a dispute and the cash would be reinstated and removed as a charge, and it was nothing to worry about. They told me that this was not that unusual. 

I lodged a dispute the next day and the charge was momentarily removed from my card. I was then traveling for 2 weeks and assumed the matter would be handled. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed the charge had returned to my card. I called Chase disputes and was told that the case was 'closed ' and I WOULD be charged for the transaction. Obviously, I was extremely upset at this and told them they needed to reopen the case. I also told them I wanted the case escalated and handled immediately. I also received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX saying the ATM machine was in balance at the time of the transaction and the charge would stand. As I said, I escalated the dispute and was furious. I was told I needed to write a letter to have the matter reopened. 

On approx XX/XX/XXXX a Chase Branch Complaint Escalation officer employee named XXXX XXXX  contacted me. I told XXXX that they needed to do a security camera check and proper audit on the ATM that would confirm I did not receive the cash. 

On approx XX/XX/XXXX XXXX called me back to confirm that their security camera and internal audit had indeed found that I DID NOT RECEIVE THE CASH. 
The charge would be removed in a matter of days. She specifically said they did a camera check and found that I did not receive the cash, and that the ATM audit found the ATM was {$950.00} over. 
I was relieved, but was now wary of Chase 's systems and asked her for a copy of the relevant documents confirming I didn't receive the cash. She told me she could not provide me the documents ( Chase bank apparently refusing to be transparent ), but told me she would send me a letter but the letter would have to be 'vetted by the Chase legal team '. Again concerning. Anyway, I assumed the money would shortly be back in my account. 

I did receive the letter dated XXXX XXXX ( attached ). 
The letter states ( contradictorily ) : " This letter confirms our conversation and that we reached a resolution regarding your case number XXXX XXXX. '' It refuses to state any specifics or what I had asked for. 
On the next page of the letter, in contradiction to the previous statement, it says : " Your claim is currently under review by our Credit Card Disputes team. The necessary documents have been forwarded to this team for review ''. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX back but was apparently reassigned to another employee ( I did not record the name of this particular employee ). The money was STILL not back in my account. I again asked for the matter to be escalated to achieve a quick resolution, and that given they have the evidence this matter should be resolved quickly. I was assured it would be resolved and the money returned. I asked if the employee had all the relevant documents. She said she did not. She also said she was in a different department to XXXX. This was now extremely frustrating. 

I asked her to get XXXX on the phone while I stayed on the phone. A XXXX way call then ensued. I asked XXXX to send the new employee the documents proving I did not receive the money. They each said they could not because the employee could only receive faxes, and XXXX could only send emails!! 

This is not a joke. Honest to XXXX this was the discussion going on between them. The level of incompetence was mind-boggling. These 2 Chase employees could not send each other documents because one needed to do it by fax, and the other could only send by email. We resolved for XXXX to email the documents proving I did not receive the money to the Branch Manager, XXXX XXXX. XXXX would then fax the documents to the new department to get the matter resolved. 

I then went into the branch to confirm that XXXX received the documents. XXXX said she did receive the documents and had forwarded them to the new disputes escalation department. I asked her for a copy of the documents, she again refused and said there is a line stating on the letters " not to be provided to consumer ''. I told XXXX this is concerning. Not only is Chase not handling this in a timely manner, but they are refusing to be transparent and provide evidence that you have, proving I did not receive that money. I told her I believed that was because Chase is protecting itself legally. She said " well I can clearly see you didn't receive the money, and if you needed to subpoena me, I would have to tell the truth '', exact quote. 
She was quite confused why the matter was taking so long and to her credit was honestly very supportive. She has checked in several times to see if the matter had been resolved. Her details are : XXXX XXXX, Branch Mgr Vice President, XXXX, XXXX She has a copy of the documents proving I did not receive the money. She has been helpful. 

Anyway, I assumed the matter was resolved and I was waiting for the money to be reinstated. But it simply never was. I kept calling back and was told either the money will be back in the account shortly, or the matter was still pending with no more details. 

On approx XX/XX/XXXX, I had had enough of the 'pending ' case. The money had still not been reinstated to my account. I returned to the branch manager XXXX because she seemed to have an actual interest in resolving the matter. We escalated the matter again this time to the Executive Branch. I was told this was the highest possible department of escalation. 

My assigned officer was XXXX XXXX ( XXXX # XXXX ). I was assured the matter would be resolved promptly. When I called back to check in over a week later, I was told XXXX was on vacation ( seriously ), and I was now assigned to her assistant ( XXXX XXXX ext XXXX ). The case number here was XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX seemed again disinterested in resolving the matter promptly and said again, the matter was still being researched and it takes as long as it takes. When I asked her why it was still pending given you have the documents to prove I did not receive the money she said " because it was out of a credit card account, we are researching from where we reimburse you the money '' or some similar wording. Again, I'm not joking. What she appeared to be saying was that they knew I didn't receive the money from their own ATM, from their own Chase account, but they needed to research how to reimburse the money. 

And to top it all off, on XX/XX/XXXX, the {$47.00} cash advance fee was finally refunded! ( see letter ) But the original {$950.00} has STILL NOT been refunded. 

So to recap - On XX/XX/2018 I tried to withdraw {$950.00} from my Chase credit card account, from a Chase ATM.

The money didn't dipense but I was charged. 
In the ensuing 70 DAYS Chase has gone in circles and delayed. They have the evidence to confirm I did not receive the cash and that evidence can be requested from the branch manager, but they have still not reinstated the money into my account. Again, it has been 70 DAYS and countless hours spent on my part for their mistake. 

Faithfully, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief