Consumer complaint received 2023-07-03
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: Chime Financial Inc (NJ)

I attempted to make a purchase for {$400.00} from XXXX on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX using my Chime debit card. After clicking Submit, the website screen popped up with an alert saying that the payment could not be processed and to select a different payment method. I assumed I had wrote my information incorrectly somewhere so I input the same information for my Chime debit card again. XXXX website again informed me that the payment could not be processed. However, when I checked my bank account with Chime, the {$400.00} had already been taken out of my account twice. I immediately called XXXX to confirm that the order had not been processed but the customer service line was not open yet as it was early in the morning. I called the customer service line again around XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The customer representative told me that neither transaction had been processed and that both were immediately rejected by XXXX because the company doesnt accept that form of payment. He advised that the issue was with my bank and not with XXXX, but that typically the money should be back in my account within 24-48 hrs since XXXX never accepted the money. Immediately following the call with XXXX, I then called Chimes customer service phone number and was connected to the disputes department. I explained what had happened and was able to file a preliminary dispute. I was told to wait to see what happens with the pending charge, and if the charge does go through, then the dispute would go into effect. As of today, Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, the money is still being withheld in my pending charges. I called Chimes customer service line again and was told that I would need to wait XXXX business days in order to access my funds as the charge would eventually expire. I explained to them that the charges should have never been taken from my account because it was not processed by the merchant and therefore never existed. I also reminded them that it was rejected and therefore did not need to expire because it was already cancelled. Still, the call center representative refused to help and continued to reiterate that I would need to wait seven days. I told the representative that I wanted the bank to use its insurance money to cover the {$800.00} missing from my account and that Chime could pay itself back once the charges cleared in seven days. The representative forwarded me to the disputes department again. The disputes representative tried to be helpful but she stated she could not formally enact the dispute on a pending charge. She tried to have the customer service representative investigate further into when the pending charge would realistic come off my account but the call center representative continued to reiterate that the maximum is seven days. Now, over a holiday weekend and as a single mom, I have to wait seven days for money to go back into my account when it shouldnt have been taken out in the first place. I am being punished for a glitch in Chimes system and they are unwilling to fix it or make amends. It is extremely unfair to me and makes me scared to even make purchases online or anywhere for that matter for a large amount. XXXX would not disclose why they wouldnt accept the payment so now I have no idea how to know which merchants accepts Chime and which ones dont. Ive never had this problem until Friday but it is definitely concerning.