Consumer complaint received 2024-08-25
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: Chime Financial Inc (ME)

Please refer to previous consumer complaint # XXXX ( Status closed XX/XX/year> ) I previously reported this issue, but didn't submit the proper information or documentation initially, because I was having difficulty uploading some of the information and the description I wrote initially took XXXX hours only to just get deleted from the form so I asked that your agency contact me by phone or mail so I could explain the issue as well as make arrangements to get the correct documents to you for the purpose of investigation into this issue. 

I don't know how to fight such a large corporation as chime, but what they have done to me and countless others I have talked to or read about online is WRONG, and I believe illegal. 

In the early morning hours of XX/XX/year>, while my granddaughter was being born XXXX months premature, and bothy daughter in law and grandbaby were fighting for their lives, I began receiving texts from chime regarding what they believed to be suspicious activity on my account. Within seconds, I replied to the message " no '' as instructed to indicate I had not authorized the first charge on my debit card. I recieved a text from chime stating the charges would be blocked. I then opened my chime app and locked my debit card immediately. I continued to receive messages throughout the night asking if I had authorized other suspicious charges, and to reach i replied no, and received confirmation texts to each one stating the charges would be blocked. Due to the crisis I was dealing with, the need for some sleep in order to care for my other grandchild while her mother and new sister fought to stay with us, and believing chime would not be open in theiddle.of.the night, I chose to trust that since I had received written confirmation the charges chime identified and alerted me to would be blocked as they promised, and chose to call in the morning to find out why despite my card being locked, I was still receiving these texts asking about further attempted charges. Upon calling in the morning, I was told.thst the charges had not been blocked and were pending. I was told I could not.fospiye them now until they had gone from pending to settled or paid. I was not given an explanation as to why locking my card from any purchases did not protect me from the subsequent charges after the first one other than telling me there was an error with chimes system, but not to worry, it was clear it was fraud, they would cancel my card and send a new one, and advised to call back after it showed settled. The person I spoke with apologized but said due to the error on the system and the charges not being blocked, and despite my card being locked ( the agent verified that my card was in fact showing as locked in their system at the time when I was on the phone with them, and stated they could see the card had been locked during the timeframe the charges were allowed to go through as well ) there was no way to do anything to prevent the charges, or even open a fraud investigation until chime paid out the charges. I was reassured that it was very clear that I had not made the charges, and that I could not have been able to make these charges where they originated when I had made charges from my home just hours before, but did not disclose to me where the charges had originated. I was told I needed to open a fraud investigation in order to get this information to file a police report in the correct jurisdiction, and stated I was entitled to that information and advised to ask for that when I called back to file the report. I was told everything was documented in detail and I would have no issue receiving back the money that was stolen. I also verified I had not given out my card number, or allowed anyone else to use my card. 
After I saw the charges had cleared, I immediately called chime to file a fraud report. I spent several hours on the phone attempting to report the fraud. I was placed on hold, hung up on, transferred, and given contradictory information. I was refused a supervisor multiple times before reaching one, and also was denied access to the fraud department. I continually had to re explain the charges, and repeatedly they tried to include a charge o clearly told them I had made, and I had to have them read off the fraudulent charges over and over, and each time they left out multiple charges and/or included charges I told them I had made. After doing this for an entire day, I thought I had succeeded in filing the necessary report to receive my money back ( which should have never been taken ) but within a short time I recieved an email with almost no information, just that they had concluded their investigation and found no evidence of fraud. I then called back and spent another full day repeating the same process and filed another fraud report, and attempted to appeal the original decision as well as get the investigation report including where the charges originated, as I still could not file a police report due to not knowing where the crime took place, and what jurisdiction to file it with. I again requested access to someone in the fraud department ( and was denied ) partly because I was receiving subpar help, there were language barriers, and I believed they were not accurately reporting the facts to the fraud investigation team if they were finding no proof of fraud since chime themselves alerted me to the suspicious activity, and had told me they would prevent the fraudulent charges, in writing. After again being shuffled around, hung up on, refused escalation for another whole day, I immediately received another email stating my claim had been denied and no evidence of fraud had been found. This email included a list of the charges disputed, but still did not include the information requested, or any real explanation or evidence of an investigation being conducted. I offered to submit evidence that I had such as screenshots of all the texts from chime promising to block the charges they thought were suspicious, and me verifying I did not authorize them, and was told that once the investigation was started, they would contact me for additional information, and would not allow me to send it until requested. I recieved a denial with NO opportunity to provide proof, and the same day I asked for an investigation. I don't believe chime is investigating, and worse, using tactics to discourage customers who are victims of fraud due to chimes negligence from making a fraud report to begin with. I believe chime is just rubber stamping fraud reports, and denying them, because most customers have no resources to fight, don't have the time to waste when you attempt to file a report, and many decide to just give up. 

This information was all included in my first attempt that took XXXX hours to type, but was deleted, and I believed erroneously that a person would read this form and contact me for details so I did not take an additional XXXX hours at the time of the first complaint I filed, because honestly, I felt chime had already cost me so much time and frustration, and the awful saga my granddaughter went through to fight for her life took over XXXX plus months of my life. I was simply too tired and exhausted trying to get chime to return what was rightfully mine, and thought I could be contacted and I could explain this to a person at that time. I now understand that on many cases this is forwarded to the company so they can reply. So I am attempting to have this resolved again. 

The reply stating the actions taken and the investigation done by chime is untrue, and not factual. They are not giving an accurate account of the situation, not did I receive a partial refund. I have proof that the reply they are gave is false, as well as copies of my bank statements for the dates they claim to have investigated as well as credits they claim to have issued and have included statements for XXXX months afterwards to show the credit was not issued. I have screenshots of the text messages where chime identified the charges as suspicious activity and notified me, to which I responded I did not make the charges, and received confirmation that the charges would be blocked. I also locked my card thru the app after the first text but the charges continued to be made, and I continued to dispute this immediately and chime stated they would block each one. They did not block them despite identifying them as suspicious, my responding that they were fraudulent, receiving confirmation the charges would be blocked, and locking my card from allowing any transactions immediately. I called chime immediately in the morning ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and cancelled my card, and reported the fraud. I was told I needed to wait for the charges to move from pending to settled and call back. I did this MULTIPLE times, and got hung up on, transferred, and otherwise pushed off, I believe in an attempt to make me give up. After many calls and hours of insistence, I was able to file a dispute but immediately received a denial, and repeated this process a few days later with identical results. I also asked for results of the investigation which I am entitled to, such as the city and state where the charges originated, so I can file a police report in the jurisdiction where the fraud was committed. Despite multiple requests, I have not received this information either. This was clearly fraud, and first identified by chime, yet they refuse to return my money despite me having proof of all of it. I was dealing with a family medical crisis in my home state of Maine, and to my recollection in all the years I have had this account have never once even made a charge in any other state, and also made charges originating from my home in Maine just hours before these occurred in the middle of the night ( starting around XXXX XXXX. I have a very clear recollection of this night because during this my granddaughter was being born 4 months premature and it was the worst possible time to have to deal with this mess, and I had to make these calls while waiting to find out if my granddaughter would survive. I have been told by chime if I close this account I can not dispute this any further or get my money back that was stolen. According to federal law, and the fact chime is FDIC insured, I am protected if I report this immediately, which I did. They are not disclosing the calls, locking my card on the app, card replacement or my texts notifying them I did not authorize the charges within minutes and hours of the charges occurring. They state I first contacted them XX/XX/XXXX. This is not true. ( Even if I hadn't contacted them, I should be covered for anything over {$50.00} since they are FDIC insured, but I DID report it immediately and should be 100 % covered ). I also never received the partial refund of {$11.00} as they state in the response. This is extremely wrong and in my view, illegal and I need help. I am XXXX and can not afford for chime to not return money that was stolen from me due to their errors.