Complaint sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

On XX/XX/XXXX, I placed an order with XXXX in the amount of {$190.00} using my Citi Double Cash Mastercard. The merchant stipulated that the order would ship by late XX/XX/XXXX. Throughout the month of XX/XX/XXXX, I sent several e-mails to the merchant to inquire about the status of my order, but received nothing but automated replies that did not address my concern. On XX/XX/XXXX, after still not receiving my order ( or even any additional details about my order ), I opened a dispute with Citi. Initially, Citi stated that a final decision would be made by XX/XX/XXXX. Within a few days, that date was changed to XX/XX/XXXX. I contacted Citi via their online chat to ask why the date was pushed back, and whether it could be pushed back further. I was told to address that concern with the Citi billing disputes department via e-mail. I sent an e-mail to the address provided, and a second e-mail to the same address 9 days later, but neither e-mail was ever responded to. During this time, the merchant ( XXXX ) sent me an e-mail stating that the order was cancelled and refunded ( as I had previously requested ). Despite this e-mail, it was never refunded by the merchant. Some time after that, I received the ( supposedly cancelled ) order in the mail, so I contacted the merchant, and requested a return. I returned the order with USPS tracking number XXXX. The merchant stated to me that they issued my refund, but I have not received the refund ( I received a " conditional credit '' from Citi that can be reversed, but no actual refund from the merchant ). To the best of my knowledge, XX/XX/XXXX has not stated to Citi that the merchandise was returned to them, but I did provide Citi with that information, along with the tracking number as proof. In the weeks/months after that point, Citi 's deadline was pushed back several more times, first to XX/XX/XXXX, then to XX/XX/XXXX, then to XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was told by Citi via phone that the refund would post by early the following week and would be reflected in my next statement, however that was not the case ( again, I did still have the " conditional credit '', but there was no final decision in the dispute, or a final refund posted to my account, as promised ). On XX/XX/XXXX I received my statement ( the one I was told would reflect the refund ) and when there was no mention of a refund, I contacted Citi via phone again. This time I was told it may take until XX/XX/XXXX to make a final decision, but definitely no longer than that. I told the Citi associate that I was getting frustrated with all the extended deadlines and would file a formal complaint against Citi with the XXXX XXXX XXXX if the refund was not made/finalized by XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, the date on Citi 's website was pushed back yet again to XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, the XXXX  complaint was filed via fax. I called Citi today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and the automated line told me that the credit was now permanent. Wanting confirmation since Citi 's website still listed the credit as conditional, I asked for an operator and was eventually connected to the disputes department. The Citi associate I spoke with claimed ( counter to the automated line ) that the credit was not yet permanent, as Citi had not heard from the merchant 's bank. I informed the Citi associate that the merchant told me ( via e-mail ) that they would not be in touch with Citi, and I also added that Citi stated on their site that they would give the merchant ( or merchant 's bank ) until XX/XX/XXXX to respond and that that date had already passed. The Citi associate did not have any reasonable answer/explaination for that.