Consumer complaint received 2023-11-13
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: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA (TX)

I have been battling with Apple Card for 4 months on these disputes. There were XXXX fraud charges, totaling around {$1500.00} each for about a total of {$8000.00}. I will walk you through the day these happened and everything that happened in the dispute to follow. 

I was in XXXX on vacation, when in the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX I passed by this red pop-up tent in the middle of the XXXX in XXXX, XXXX man approached me about an event that was going on for the town. They were out raising money by offering some really great prizes. The game started with a few XXXX, then a few more. When I said I didn't want to give any more of the XXXX XXXX I had, that is when the SCAM started. The street vendors explained that with their credit card machines they would give the best exchange rate possible, XXXX to XXXX. So I could continue with the best exchange rate possible. The real scam came from the credit card machine they used, it was a small calculator sized machine with just a tiny screen that made it impossible to read anything on it. After they inserted the card, they had me sign on a tablet or phone, WITHOUT any dollar amount on it, it was just a line to sign on. No receipt or anything was given with any transaction. There was NEVER a point in which I could see the amount being charged by the street vendors. My card ended up being locked after the fifth charge by them and I could not access any information on the account. The Apple Card screen on my phone just stated that the account was frozen, no other information to see. Not until I called to unfreeze the card was I aware that they made these charges in USD. THERE WAS NO COMMUNICATION ON THE VENDOR 'S PART ABOUT MAKING CHARGES IN USD FOR THE AMOUNT OF {$1500.00}! The agreed amount was {$1500.00} XXXX, something like {$90.00} USD. The entire operation is a scam and there are multiple posts online about it being a scam. 

I let Apple Card know that these were not legitimate charges as soon as I found this out. I got the charges reversed and they told me they would do an investigation and to send in evidence. I did my best to find what I could, talks of this place pulling similar things on other tourist, was about the only thing I could find. I sent that in and waited for a response. XXXX months later, I got very short email stating the dispute is reversed, because no billing error was found, and that I had a right to see all the evidence gathered in the investigation. I furiously reached out to get the information that they gathered because I know there isn't any evidence to support these charges. The response I got from the Apple Specialist was that the only evidence gathered was what I sent in, and she said she would send that over, its been XXXX months and I still haven't received it. But from what I can gather there was not a proper investigation done. 

Even after this, I called to get this reinvestigated. I called and this time the specialist told me that the original specialist filed this incorrectly. That I need to dispute this as a case of paying the charges in XXXX, so it is an adjusted amount dispute. If you ask me, this is crazy that I have to fight this hard for these fraud charges and I still have to pay. But either way, {$90.00} a charge instead of {$1500.00} is at least something I can live with. A quick side note, I haven't been out of the country much, but I XXXX sure have never spent that kind of amount of money in somewhere I am unfamiliar with. Back to the dispute, I get this all re-disputed, send in all the evidence I can gather, and I wait another XXXX months. I woke up today, XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX more emails from Apple, " Your transaction dispute is complete and will remain on your account. '' This time with the same short description as to why, but this time NO talk of having the right to see all the evidence gathered in the investigation. So again, I sent what I could in, I did my part, and there doesn't seem to be a proper investigation done. I do NOT believe Apple Card is doing their part in protecting my rights as a consumer. 

I will attach a screenshot of the chat with the Apple specialist that stated they would send the evidence gathered in this case. I never received it, and I will also include where they stated that they in fact hadn't gathered ANY addition evidence outside of what I submitted.