Consumer complaint received 2021-08-07
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:
We put down a deposit to reserve two boats for a large group trip ( 24 people ) to the XXXX. The deposit was made on XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX XXXX XXXX ( dba XXXX XXXX XXXX ) ( the Merchant ) in two individual transactions of {$2000.00} for a total of {$4100.00}. Because of the pandemic and travel restrictions that were implemented around the world after our deposit was made, the agreed-upon date of travel was XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. 

In early XXXX, we began ramping up planning efforts for our trip. This planning required close coordination with the ever-changing travel rules and regulations due to the pandemic ; our large group ; and ( most importantly ) the Merchant. Throughout this process, the Merchant was extremely non-responsive and would frequently leave our calls and emails unanswered for weeks at a time. This basic lack of communication and responsiveness from the Merchant persisted until early XXXX when we reached an inflection point where a decision had to be made. Without adequate input from the Merchant on planning the core activity of our trip ( e.g. the boat rental ), our group could not continue to move forward with scheduling time off from work, booking airline tickets, and reserving lodging on either side of the boat dates. On XX/XX/XXXX, we notified the Merchant of our intent to cancel the trip and requested a refund of our deposit. Despite our efforts to communicate with the Merchant via both email and telephone, we had not heard back from them since XX/XX/XXXX. That is over three weeks without response when we were just a couple months away from a major international trip. After notifying the Merchant, we finally received a response on XX/XX/XXXX indicating that they would not refund our deposit and if we cancel our trip then our deposit would be forfeited. If you visit the Merchants website ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ), they promise unrivaled customer service excellence and friendly, professional and knowledgeable teams. In our experience, the Merchant is unprofessional, negligently non-responsive to the point where planning for a trip on one of their boats is impossible, and clearly not delivering the services promised. 

So what now? Fortunately, we made the deposit with our Chase credit card and this is a clear " not providing the services promised '' scenario that would typically warrant a positive dispute claim by any reputable credit card company. 

We contacted chase customer service and were told that even though the agreed-upon date of travel had not yet passed, too much time had lapsed since the original transaction to open a dispute. This is obviously because of the pandemic, which is clearly not something we can control. We raised this to a supervisor to inquire if there was some way to manually open a dispute so we could at least present our claim. We were told this was " not a possibility '', that the pandemic was not a valid reason for an exception, and were refused an explanation when we asked why. We were advised to *snail mail* or *fax* Chase to pursue it further, but aside from that, there is no other avenue for us to pursue. 

Since this conversation, I have reached out to 20,000+ people via a Chase-themed XXXX XXXX and am finding that there are many people going through similar situations. Predatory companies like the Merchant are refusing to refund travel deposits but will allow " rescheduling ''. When the time to reschedule arrives, they are uncooperative or non-responsive and the consumer attempts to dispute the transaction for not providing the services advertised. Credit card companies then play the " too much time has elapsed '' card even though the agreed-upon travel date has not yet passed. In the end, the consumer takes the financial hit during a time where individual finances are anything but certain. 

I'm baffled that the original Merchant - XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX - wouldn't give us a refund. I'm even more confounded that the mighty Chase Bank is attempting to hide behind technicalities and not standing by their customers during a global pandemic.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief