Consumer complaint received 2020-03-22
Company: Army and Air Force Exchange Service
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
After our last communication I have decided to close my account with Military StarCard. This is based on the fact they have continuously failed to properly address this situation and outside of CFPB I have received no communications from them to even address this situation. I have also decided to retain legal counsel at XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX and plan to pursue legal action against this company up return from XXXX. 

They have continued to defame me and they have continuously over the years damaged my credit. In today 's complaint I will include my bank statements over the last year to prove their incompetent and dishonest business practices. 

To recap, this issue began a few years ago between XXXX and XXXX. I was on a trip to XXXX for work and received an NSF charge from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). Upon calling to inquire I was told over the past few months Military StarCard was attempting to ACH debit my account unbeknownst to me and because all my funds were in my savings account and I had no overdraft setup from savings to checking the transactions were all denied. XXXX were nice enough to refund all the NSF charges. I called Military StarCard immediately from XXXX to inquire what was going on. I was told by the representative my request to have my payment restriction lifted was approved because I was making regular on time payments to my account. With it being approved it activated a payment cycle that was previously setup about 3-4 years prior and just started deducting payments. 

Please note on the website with a payment restriction I can make no changes. That being said I received no communication that the restriction was lifted and I was never late on payments as I was cleaning up my credit report and paying off all my outstanding credit cards. At the time I'd payed down about 50 % of my outstanding balance with Military StarCard. 

For some reason the department that handles this can not be reached via phone. The representative has to always send in a request. After my frustration had built and I'd had enough I contacted customer service and got an email address to which I have yet to receive any kind of response to my 4 -5 attempts at contact now. It goes without saying, I see this as deliberate due to the fact I made a complaint here and less than 10 days later they had a response to send as well as a letter. How fitting. 

Military StarCard has continued to have money deducted from my military pay ; they have continued to contact my XXXX XXXX and XXXX sending them my bills and requesting I pay during periods of extreme financial hardships I went through. They continue to not reach out or communicate adequately which as you see has resulted in years of fees being paid and extreme damage to my credit. 

Unless this matter is resolved prior to my return from XXXX I will be going ahead with a suit against the company for a minimum of {$5000.00} for defamation and damages. I am willing to settle this matter out of court for a minimum of my account being reinstated and refunds of any interest charged from the time period this problem began. It's unacceptable and an extreme disadvantage to a consumer especially one like my self that travels 90 % for work and depends heavily on the ability to make and set payments online. Please find the attached bank statements from XXXX XXXX detailing my balances over the past year showing money was in my account if attempts were made at debiting any payments and sufficient funds were available,

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