Consumer complaint received 2024-03-12
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: ALLIANT CREDIT UNION (CA)

[ see " EXHIBIT A '' I uploaded for easier to read version ] On XX/XX/XXXX I was helping a person I know who was out of the country. Their business phone stopped working in that it could no longer send and receive text. The product ( a phone ) in question wasnt for myself XXXX XXXX couldnt fix the existing phone and told me I must buy a new phone. New phone had the same problem. They told me to wait overnight and said it would start working. It didnt. 
I returned the next day to return the phone and XXXX XXXX refused to take the defective new phone back. I still have the defective phone in my possession because they refused to accept the return. According to XXXX, the problem is probably related to their service on the specific number in question but I have no way of knowing if its the phone or the service or both. Regardless, a phone that doesnt text is unacceptable. 

Because XXXX refused to accept the return on the very next day after the purchase, I disputed the charge XX/XX/XXXX I provided a detailed narrative which I am including in this complaint to the dispute department on the same day I initiated the dispute on XX/XX/XXXX. Alliant removed the charge from my credit card soon after According to the Disputes Department, the merchant has 30 days to respond which would be XX/XX/XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX Alliant put the charge back on the card. I immediately ( I believe XXXX XXXX or XXXX ) called in to re-open the dispute. 
I believe this late chargeback may be in violation of procedure and/or law as I could have easily missed it because I only saw it because I was looking for something else, which is rare. My be on alert for chargeback '' ended XXXX. 
Alliant charged it back to me far past the 30 day deadline for the merchant which was XX/XX/XXXX. I escalated to supervisor XXXX XXXX then switched to XXXX XXXX at Alliant to re-open the dispute. XXXX took over for XXXX XXXX. 
For a month, XXXX XXXX was telling me he was re-opening the dispute on my behalf. 
On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX sent me an email at XXXX telling me there is nothing he can do and the charge stands because I didnt return the phone ( I tried, the store refused to take it back ) I emailed XXXX XXXX to call me, but he didn't. I called to talk to him, he wouldnt take my call. This happened multiple times during the month. XXXX XXXX has very poor follow-up and to talk to him always took a huge effort on my part On XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX XXXX at XXXX which is the 3rd party vendor Alliant uses to handle credit card disputes and spoke to XXXX who is a fraud and disputes investigator. XXXX told me Alliants deadline to re-open the dispute was XX/XX/XXXX ( one day before XXXX XXXX sent me an email at XXXX telling me the charge against me stands ). He also read through the case notes and told me what was really happening with my case and it was inconsistent with what XXXX XXXX was telling me. XXXX also told me that Alliant has the option to re-open the case but chose not to. XXXX also told me my case was never re-opened. 

XXXX XXXX was presenting to me during the month of XX/XX/XXXX that he was diligently working to re-open my dispute but according to XXXX, that is not true. In fact, XXXX XXXX waited until one day after the dispute re-open window closed to tell me there is nothing he can do and abandoned me and my case. Towards the end of XXXX I started asking XXXX XXXX to escalate me to executive level to get more power behind my issue and he refused to allow me to escalate above him. Multiple times by voice and email, I asked for escalation before the deadline ( not knowing about the deadline at the time ) and he refused my request insisting he was helping me and all he needed was more time. 

So, here we have an issue in which a reasonable person could believe XXXX XXXX was lying to me for a month to get it past the deadline to re-open my case. And wasting my time in the process. Also, XXXX XXXX was blaming the 3rd party vendor, XXXX XXXX  for not doing the right things when in fact it was Alliant that was refusing to protect their member by choosing not to re-open my dispute. Also, when I was saying negative things about XXXX XXXX  '', XXXX XXXX was not correcting my understanding of the situation by telling me the truth in that it was in fact Alliant that was making the conscious decision to not support their member - and lie about it - for a month - wasting my time and efforts. 

In fairness to XXXX XXXX, I leave open the possibility that he was indeed trying to help me but his superiors at Alliant were not allowing him to re-open my case and was ( alleged ) lying to me on their behalf. But if thats true, thats worse. Worse because it suggests a culture of dishonesty, dishonest business practices and unfair dealing at Alliant going up at least 3 layers, possibly 4 layers and into management. I also leave open the possibility that Im getting inaccurate information from XXXX XXXX  but, its Alliants 3rd party vendor that they chose. So ultimately, its Alliants responsibility. Somebody is lying to me but my current thinking is that it's Alliant and not XXXX XXXX 

I dont enjoy writing this report. With the exception of this case, Im a big fan of Alliant, I like this credit union. I was referred to Alliant by a family member and I have referred others to Alliant. Im embarrassed because Ive sent referrals to Alliant representing them as an excellent credit union but now Ive learned they dont back their members in easy-to-understand CC disputes and lie to members about their real position in the matter. My trust has been broken and that is disappointing. Its very clear they dont back their members when a situation arises that takes a little extra effort to do the right thing and tell the full and complete truth ; namely, that Alliant chose not to back my dispute and blamed others for their decisions, which is quite cowardly. Alliant also refused escalations to executive management indicating executive management is disconnected from the credit union and doesnt possess a full spectrum understanding of members concerns. Early in the process, XXXX XXXX could have simply told me that Alliant wont back me and my dispute and then we could have had an honest conversation and appropriate escalations.. But instead he hid that information from me, he didnt give me the respect of my having a clear understanding of the situation so I could respond accordingly. To this day, Alliant hasnt told me the truth, I got the truth from XXXX at XXXX XXXX  who gave me his time to explain how the process works and what was really happening with my case. I again tried to escalate above XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and was promised a call back within 24 hours Nobody called me back.