Consumer complaint received 2023-08-18
Product: Credit card or prepaid 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: DISCOVER BANK (VA)

I will summarize the events in sequential order, and include a note when I am referring an attached document : -- XXXX. I purchased the Go Relax Day Spa XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX for {$57.00} with my Discover Credit Card, processed through XXXX ( XXXX ). The original purchase price was {$62.00}, but I had a {$5.00} coupon. Very shortly after, when I realized I accidentally ordered it for the wrong location, I requested a refund through XXXX 's self-service refund system. The refund was initiated, and this is when I thought it would end. 

-- XXXX. Months later when I checked XXXX again, I realized that the refund never actually went through. 

-- XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I followed up with Customer Support since I never received the refund, and was told by XXXX XXXX that I've verified that no charges were processed and removed the order from your account, but it was still on my account. I was then advised that from their perspective, the original charge of {$57.00} failed, and so they could not issue a refund. On XX/XX/XXXX, even after I provided documentation that the charge did indeed exist, XXXX told me that XXXX could not help me and I must contact my bank ( which I took to mean open a dispute ). He said " We can see that the order has failed in this case. Since this order has failed we do not have the option to offer you a refund in this case. Hence, I request you to please contact your bank for further clarification. '' The entire email chain including my responses is XXXX. 

-- XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, following instruction from XXXX themselves, I opened a dispute with my Discover credit card for the transaction of {$57.00}. 

-- XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received documentation indicating I lost the dispute ( dispute.pdf ). Upon reading the information that XXXX provided to Discover, they made numerous materially false ( and easily provably false ) claims to Discover. Among them were that I opened this dispute without contacting XXXX Customer Service first ( see dispute.pdf pg. XXXX ). As my documentation proves, I did contact Customer Service first, and they were not able to help me due to the previous explained reason that, for them, it didn't even seem like the {$57.00} transaction went through. Thus, not only did I contact XXXX Customer Support first before contacting my bank, it was actually XXXX who told me to open a dispute. XXXX also provided documentation to Discover purportedly showing my refund was already issued through " XXXX XXXX, '' but this is also not true, as no XXXX Bucks were ever credited to my account ( No_Groupon_Bucks.pdf ). 

-- XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX I placed calls to Discover Customer Support about how to proceed. I was advised by Discover both times that since XXXX provided documentation that they credited my account with XXXX XXXX, they could not re-open the dispute unless I went back to XXXX and got them to say, in writing, that I was actually not credited XXXX XXXX. They stated that me providing proof I was not credited XXXX XXXX  would not be sufficient, it would need to come from XXXX. 

-- XXXX. Starting on XX/XX/XXXX and ending XX/XX/XXXX, I communicated with XXXX countless times, with the extremely simple request of them to just confirm I never received XXXX XXXX. I was essentially stonewalled and despite providing bank documents, XXXX did not even acknowledge that the {$57.00} transaction existed, the same thing they did months ago. They claimed that according to their system, the transaction failed to go through in the first place, thus there was nothing to refund. Refer to XXXX for one of their responses and my subsequent reply. I will spare you guys of their previous XXXX emails gaslighting me that the transaction didn't exist. Finally, we went back and forth until I was escalated to a higher-tier support who finally did acknowledge the transaction existed, but flatly refused to help because I already opened a dispute with Discover. When I pointed out that the dispute was already closed and I was simply asking for documentation to re-open the dispute, he continued that " Instead of resolving the issue with us, you should work with them [ the bank ] directly to discuss a resolution. '' See XXXX. It was already clear to me at this point that XXXX would not help. 

-- XXXX. As one final attempt to resolve this before contacting a third party, I placed a call to a Discover supervisor on XX/XX/XXXX. I stated that me contacting XXXX was not productive, and presented the fact that I can easily prove that XXXX provided false information to Discover in order to win the dispute. I requested that Discover re-open the dispute, as I believed that if we could get a chance to have XXXX simply check my XXXX Bucks balance it would easily prove I was never refunded. I also offered the other option of XXXX simply closing my XXXX account and refunding my credit card, then they don't even have to admit they were wrong about issuing XXXX Bucks. However, I was again informed that without more written communication with XXXX ( which I have already demonstrated, is impossible to get ), they would not reopen the dispute. 

-- -That brings us to today where I feel I have exhausted all options and must involve a third party. XXXX refuses to help me with any documentation, and Discover refuses to move forward without me receiving documentation from XXXX. I am seeking intervention from the CFPB to help mediate and resolve this ongoing issue. I believe that I have been subjected to inconsistent and potentially misleading practices by XXXX, and despite my best efforts to resolve the matter amicably and directly, I have been met with continuous obfuscation. I appreciate your attention to this matter and hope for a swift resolution. I would be happy to provide any more documentation that is requested.