Consumer complaint received 2023-02-21
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: IL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit 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:
From : XXXX XXXX XXXX ( cell XXXX ) To : Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Subject : Vendor sold me broken XXXX Refrigerator / Never Replaced / Vendor Affiliated Credit Card Company Did not issue refund I purchased a brand new refrigerator on XXXX from XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, Illinois by applying and financing the purchase through their Brand Source credit card which offered deferred interest payments for 12months. By XXXX of XXXX the refrigerator was broken, making a tremendous loud noise. A repair man was dispatched by XXXX XXXX to my house on, XXXX, the name of the repair company was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Illinois, XXXX, XXXX. The repair man made an initial assessment and determined that the appliance was indeed broken and ordered parts. ** ( It is important to note that XXXXXXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX are able to communicate between each other in order to determine serviceability of a repair and whether or not an appliance needs to be replaced ). ** Over the next several months XXXX XXXX XXXX gave me repair status updates, but XXXX XXXX XXXX ultimately determined that my refrigerator was not able to be fixed. XXXX XXXX told me that because the appliance was not fixable and an attempt was made for it to be fixed, XXXX XXXX needs to provide replacement ( my appliance owners manual page 44 states that a new XXXX fridge has a 1 year warranty, document attached ). 

When I, in good faith attempted to ask for a new refrigerator in person at XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, the salesperson became angry and irate and I immediately left. When I attempted to call XXXX XXXX customer support via phone, I was met by two angry representatives and was not able to resolve the issue. 

Since I financed the purchased through XXXXXXXX XXXX  credit card Brand Source, I did submit a purchase dispute. Although the appliance was broken, I kept paying the monthly credit card payment. I was also forced to pay the remaining balance on the appliance before the 12 month interest free agreement expired, had I not done so, it would have resulted in me paying the total interest of the purchase. Brand Source on XXXX sent a final letter saying that too much time had elapsed since the time of purchase ( all letters attached ), yet I submitted all evidence to Brand Source in XXXX  to show that a 3rd party ( XXXX XXXX XXXX did document it was broken. I spoke to several customer service representative via phone from Brand Source in late 2022.

After I contacted Brand Source, I started to receive random pieces of XXXX fridge parts in the mail. I am not a repair person nor would I know what to do with random pieces ( images attached ). It also lends to the fact that all parties acknowledge that I have a broken appliance. I am seeking to be made full, I want to receive a refund of the full purchase price of the appliance so that I may buy with another vendor because I no longer want to do business with XXXX XXXX and its credit card affiliate Brand Source. I am a XXXX veteran and this purchase is too much for me to replace on my own. Sincerely, XXXX 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