Consumer complaint received 2024-06-28
Product: Prepaid card — Government benefit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer — Card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase or transfer
Company: Comerica (MI)

Direct Express denied refunds that were issued to me by XXXX and have refused to return the money to my account. They continuously deny my claim despite clear evidence supporting my claim, and despite even their own customer service reps continuously escalating/reopening my claim due to the fact that their own findings easily and consistently show very clear evidence supporting my claim. 


On ( or around ) the date of XX/XX/XXXX, I returned 7 previously purchased items to XXXX. 
XXXX then issued a refund for each item on the same day, totaling 7 refunds. The amounts of the refunds are listed below : {$42.00} {$42.00} {$30.00} {$27.00} {$18.00} {$34.00} {$21.00} The issuance of these amounts back to my account has been documented and confirmed within my transaction history/bank records. Please also refer to Screenshot-1. 

Out of all 7 refunds that were issued, only 3 were posted back to my account while the other 4 were denied ( either by XXXX or Direct Express ). I've been told by Direct Express reps over the phone that those 4 particular refunds were " flagged for fraudulent activity '' but that they did not understand why since this was very obviously NOT a fraudulent transaction. Every rep I've spoken with has been able to quickly and easily see the denied refunds alongside the ones that were posted back to my account successfully. 

The 4 amounts that were denied are listed below with the transaction IDs provided by XXXX : {$27.00} - Transaction ID : XXXX {$18.00} - Transaction ID : XXXX {$34.00} - Transaction ID : XXXX {$21.00} - Transaction ID : XXXX I did not receive those 4 amounts even though they were issued alongside the other 3 that were received. This is documented and confirmed within my transaction history/bank records. XXXX reps have also confirmed that these refunds were issued successfully and have provided the Transaction IDs for each of those 4 refunds. Please also refer to Screenshot-3. 

I then followed all the necessary steps to file a claim in order to have the wrongfully denied funds returned to my account. This initial claim was filed on XX/XX/XXXX ( claim # XXXX ). Unfortunately the Direct Express rep who filed this initial claim for me over the phone failed to file the correct amounts in dispute. No other rep that I've spoken with is quite sure why this mistake was made, as the correct information has been easily available to them. This claim was therefore denied and eventually escalated. 

When attempting to discuss the outcome of that claim and correct those issues, I spoke with a Direct Express claims department supervisor ( she ) on XX/XX/XXXX. 
The supervisor concluded that mistakes were indeed made but determined that 2 of the amounts in dispute were included within the total amount listed in the first claim. I do not understand how she determined this, nor did I receive an explanation when I mentioned my confusion.

She then explained that she would escalate the denied claim to have those 2 amounts returned to my account, then filed a new claim ( claim # XXXX ) for the other 2 amounts in dispute that she determined were not included within the total of the first claim. 

I was then told I'd receive paperwork in the mail within 3-5 days and that I would have to reply to Direct Express by XX/XX/XXXX to have provisional credits issued for the amounts listed in the second claim. And if it's worth noting, the paperwork I was supposed to receive never even arrived until after the deadline. 

Following the conversation I had on the phone with the supervisor, I noticed on XX/XX/XXXX that Direct Express had actually taken money OUT of my account in the amounts of : {$27.00} {$34.00} {$21.00} These are 3 of the 4 disputed refund amounts that I am actually OWED. 
So on top of the fact that my refunds were wrongfully/mistakenly denied in the first place, Direct Express then `` doubled down '' on 3 of those amounts and took them out of my account, essentially doubling the amount that I'm owed back for each of those 3 transactions ( {$27.00}, {$34.00}, {$21.00} ). 
This is documented and confirmed within my transaction history/bank records, please also refer to Screenshot-2. 

I had received NO provisional credits whatsoever prior to XX/XX/XXXX, so there would have been no verifiable reason for those amounts ( {$27.00}, {$34.00}, {$21.00} ) to have been taken out of my account by Direct Express.

I did however receive 1 of the disputed refunds in the amount of {$18.00}, which was posted to my account as an Adjustment Reversal Credit.

This is also reflected in Screenshot-2. 

Following the discovery of these unexplained charges on XX/XX/XXXX, I called Direct Express customer service once again and was connected with an individual who listened to my explanation of events and investigated the info available to him and determined that the charges on XX/XX/XXXX were infact incorrect and unwarranted. Upon further investigation of my original claim ( regarding the 4 disputed refund amounts ), he confirmed that my claim is supported by a substantial amount of documented evidence and was able to easily determine the amounts that have been wrongfully/mistakenly denied. As well as the amounts that were wrongfully/mistakenly taken out of my account on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I was then provided with a new claim number ( claim # XXXX ) and told that my previous claims would be escalated and that he included a detailed summary of the entire situation explaining the original claim, as well as everything stemming from that original claim and leading up to this point. 


To summarize directly, the amount owed back to me as of XX/XX/XXXX totaled {$160.00}. The breakdown is listed below. 

Denied refunds that I have still not received : {$27.00} - Issued to me by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX {$34.00} - Issued to me by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX {$21.00} - Issued to me by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX Mistaken/Incorrect Adjustment Reversal Debit taken from my account : {$27.00} - Charged on XX/XX/XXXX {$34.00} - Charged on XX/XX/XXXX {$21.00} - Charged on XX/XX/XXXX The refund amount of {$18.00} is somehow the only one that was correctly posted to my account as an Adjustment Reversal Credit on XX/XX/XXXX and needs no attention. 

*CASE UPDATE* As of XX/XX/XXXX, the mistaken Adjustment Reversal Debits taken from my account on XX/XX/XXXX have been returned to my account as Adjustment Reversal Credits in the amounts of : {$27.00} {$34.00} {$21.00} This account action has corrected the XXXXdouble down " previously mentioned above. However, this action has not returned the original 3 amounts, nor has it provided me with a provisional credit for those amounts even though I met the criteria and deadline given to receive them. 

As of this time, the only 3 amounts still owed back to me are the original XXXX refund amounts issued to me by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX that I have yet to receive, which are ( again ) in the amounts of : {$27.00} {$34.00} {$21.00}. 
( Please also refer to screenshot-1 ) The above amounts total {$83.00}, the current total in which is owed back to my account by Direct Express as of XX/XX/XXXX. 


This claim has been denied and subsequently reopened/escalated about 4 times now since the original claim was filed. The most recent escalation being claim # XXXX ( which I was told is still open when I called on XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ). 
The reasons provided for Direct Express denying my claim have ranged from reasons that are completely irrelevant to the claim to reasons that don't acknowledge any of the facts or evidence provided/available to the investigators who make the determination. 

For example, one denial letter I received states that my claim was denied due to them finding that the charges were authorized ... My claim has nothing to do with authorization! It was never in dispute whether any of those original purchases were authorized. They were. And then eventually refunded when I returned those items. 
Another example is a letter of denial that I've recieved about twice now that states my claim was denied because they found that I did infact receive refunds that day... This is true, however I did NOT receive all 7 of the amounts that were issued back to me, which is what my claim is about! I only received 3 while Direct Express/MasterCard flagged the other 4 as fraudulent and denied them.

At this point it seems the Direct Express claim " investigators '' are either being negligent and simply not bothering to examine all of the evidence submitted/easily available to them, or just deliberately ignoring the facts and ruling against my claim regardless of the evidence that overwhelmingly supports my claim. 

I've been fighting this issue for nearly 5 months and every time I call it takes literal hours to get through. And before the reps actually look into the available evidence themselves, I'm consistently told that I have to request a " force post credit '' from XXXX because the refunds were either never issued or were sent back to XXXX after being denied by Direct Express/MasterCard . However, once they investigate a bit themselves, it's the same outcome and they all end up agreeing that my claim should not have been denied based on the reasons provided by the investigators. 
I've even been hung up on more than once after the Direct Express rep would become frustrated upon realizing my claim is right and that they'd been arguing against me and even being straight up rude throughout the entire call, telling me how I'm wrong about it all... 

XXXX customer service reps have continuously stated with certainty that those refunds were issued successfully and received by my bank ( Direct Express ). XXXX reps have also provided proof that the refunds were successfully issued by them ( with Transaction IDs ) and that there is nothing further they can do. 
XXXX reps explained to me that if the refunds were truly sent back to them as being denied or due to error, XXXX would automatically apply the amounts in question to either my account 's gift card balance, or issue them in the form of a check, neither of which scenario has occurred. They also assured me that I'd be notified if any issue was to arise on their end while issuing any refunds. And every single XXXX rep I have spoken with has confirmed this information to me. 
XXXX reps have also stated XXXX 's willingness to speak with Direct Express directly to provide any additional info and resolve this issue.

Direct Express has also received all of this information directly from me multiple times through email, as they have requested. It seems to make no difference to their investigators what the evidence actually supports. 

I truly look forward to having this claim investigated correctly and the amounts in dispute correctly posted back to my account balance. This experience has been incredibly frustrating and unfair. 


*Additional Information* ( Also provided to Direct Express at their request ) The original transaction dates for the disputed amounts : {$27.00} - On or around XX/XX/XXXX, included in a transaction that totaled {$48.00}, reflected in bank/transaction history. 

{$21.00} - On or around XX/XX/XXXX, included in a transaction that totaled {$48.00}, reflected in bank/transaction history. 

{$34.00} - On or around XX/XX/XXXX, included in a transaction that totaled {$52.00}, reflected in bank/transaction history. 

{$18.00} - On or around XX/XX/XXXX, included in a transaction that totaled {$29.00}, reflected in bank/transaction history. 


Thank you.