Consumer complaint received 2021-01-04
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: NY
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:
XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XX/XX/2020 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX. XXXX  XXXX XXXX, IA XXXX Dear CFPB : I used my Discover card to make a payment to a property manager to cover the rent for a friend who was subletting an apartment. XXXX XX/XX/2020, I paid {$2000.00} to XXXX XXXX XXXX  using the logon information given to my friend by the current leaser of the apartment. I did not share my credit card information with anyone else except directly with the XXXX web site, a third-party entity that merely processes the transaction, as required to make the payment. 
Apparently, the current leaser then logged on to the clickpay site ( the site that the property manager asks tenants to use to pay their rent ) to confirm that the payment was made. The leaser claims that he made an additional {$5000.00} payment using my credit card information which was saved by Clickpay by accident. He logged on the following day, XX/XX/XXXX and made another payment to his account with my credit card and has no explanation how or why that happened. I had my Discover card in my possession the whole time and never lost control of my card. 
I discovered this on XX/XX/XXXX and called XXXX to alert them of. these two {$5000.00} charges that I clearly and obviously never authorized. It is self-evident that the first transaction of {$2000.00} was one that I personally made with my card and at that time, and it is clear that charge was authorized. It is just as self-evident, that the second two transactions, for {$5000.00} were NOT transactions that were in any way authorized. They attempted to reverse the transactions but said that they could not. They assured me that if I call Discover that they should be able to reverse the charges. XXXX also removed all of my credit card information from their system immediately. I did not intend nor was I aware that my card information had been saved in their system. 

I called Discover and spoke to the fraud protection department and explained the situation and reported the unauthorized charges as fraud. They issued a temporary credit for the {$10000.00} charges ( plus the service fees that were charged by XXXX ) and began an investigation. A few days later I discovered that my friend was never given the signed sublease agreement which was promised to be given to him as soon as the {$2000.00} payment had been made, I then called Discover and. told them to add the {$2000.00} payment to the charges that were. being disputed and reported as fraudulent as the agreed upon sublease was never delivered as agreed it would be after the payment had been made. 
I called XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX to discuss with them the fraudulent nature of the payments that were made. Despite numerous calls to. their main number I was only able to get voicemail. I left the details of what happened on several voicemails. I never got a call back from XXXX. 
I began the process of filing a police report and communicated with the chief of the XXXX division of the XXXX, XXXX XXXX, who put in touch with one of his detectives. His detective spoke by phone and i. gave him a summary of what occurred. He was scheduled to meet me that day so he could take my report. This was around XX/XX/XXXX, and the protests had begun after the death of XXXX XXXX. The detective was not able to meet. me. at the arranged time and I did not reschedule, as it seemed like the XXXX had their hands full dealing with the protests. 
In addition to reporting these charges to Discover fraud protection and having the three charges disputed I also cancelled my Discover account and opened a new account with a new card and new account number. 
I received letters later from Discover indicating that they never got verification from the. merchant ( XXXX XXXX ) and that my temporary credits would become permanent and the case closed.

Everything was apparently settled until midXXXX when i noticed that my balance to Discover had increased by over {$20000.00} with no explanation from Discover. I called and was told that the merchant Icon had finally responded to the written request Discover had sent them asking if the charges were legitimate or not. The response indicated that they were legitimate. Discover had no further information about the charges, what they were for or why they were legitimate despite my clearly indicating they were not. They sent me nothing in writing to demonstrate the legitimacy of these charges. When I referenced their fraud protection program that the customer is responsible for {$0.00} for any unauthorized charges, they claim that because I provided the credit card information that was necessary to make the initial payment of {$2000.00} to clickpay, that any subsequent charges were considered a billing error and not a fraudulent charge. This seemed preposterous and not in accordance with their fraud protection policy. The additional charges of {$5000.00} and {$5000.00} were absolutely not authorized by me and in no way reflect a billing error. They could not explain why this occurred after I had already been told the credits were permanent ( over 90 days after the charges were made ). They were reminded that the law limits the customers responsibility as long as the customer has the physical card in their possession when the disputed charges were made ( which was the case ). They were not able to adequately explain why the charges put back on my card were in excess of {$20000.00} when the disputed charges were only {$12000.00}. They offered to submit an appeal which would take 30 to 60 days. This discussion took place around XX/XX/XXXX. Discover has left all the charges o my account ( currently at {$25000.00} ) and has not communicated with me at all about the repeal. Several calls I made to get an update were not returned, no one was available to speak with me at the times I called. 
This situation has negatively impacted my credit score and my ability to refinance my mortgage. I submitted in writing another request to Discover about a week ago to update me about the appeal, but they have not responded. 
I am asking the CFPB to intervene in this matter. I ask to learn how Discover can possibly claim that their fraud protection policy does not cover my substantial losses when I indicated to them 2 days after the charges were made that they were fraudulent, unauthorized charges and that I had my card in my possession. I ask that you compel, by whatever means at your disposal, Discover Bank to remedy the situation by crediting my account for all charges that were put on my account due to these fraudulent transactions. 

In addition, I ask that you consider adding additional regulations to ensure that no other American is forced to suffer the stress and trauma that I have been forced to endure while STILL not finding a resolution. If I, as a customer of 34 years who has spent over {$100000.00} in just the past 12 months, have been bullied as I have been by this company, I can not imagine what a customer with fewer years of loyalty under their belt is treated. As a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX and XXXX and XXXX XXXX, I know all too well the terrible toll that such maltreatment and bullying can cause. 

Thank you very much. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, NY XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation