Consumer complaint received 2023-06-20
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 (WI)

This is a complaint about Discover dispute process ( dispute number XXXX ) and how they determine disputes for charges that are not fulfilled. 

I used a credit cards to pay for the down payment for installation of a solar panel and battery back up system at my home. I did this mainly for the purpose that if there are issues with the merchant, credit cards provide a way to dispute charges. If things happen during the installation and I can not resolve these issues with the vendor this is another option based on the credit card agreement. 

In this case, XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX collected the down payments from my credit cards, in this case both a Master Card and a Discover Card, for installation of solar panels and a battery back up. 

The Solar company XXXX XXXX XXXX never installed my solar system. The original transaction for Discover occurred XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$10000.00}. Originally the date of completion was set to end of year XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX later stated that they could not get the work done before the ground froze in XXXX, so delayed the installation until the Spring of XXXX. In the spring of XXXX we began to hear rumors that the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX was not longer installing systems. We tried to contact them and they are no longer responding. 

At that time we reached out to our Credit Cards both Discover and my XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX through their charge dispute system and provided documentation of charges and that nothing was ever installed. We could not dispute within the normal 90 days due to installation delays, but are well within the 2 year deadline that they allow for disputes and within 90 days of when delivery was expected. 

We provided the original invoices and additional communications from XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX that explained why we did not dispute the charges until the Spring of XXXX, along with our attempts at contacting the merchant. I am not sure what additional information we could have provided, as we sent all of the information that was requested. 

My XXXX XXXX XXXX based on the overwhelming evidence that XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX was not fulfilling their contracts refunded my charge as a fraudulent charge. Discover received similar documentation. 

Discover attempted to contact XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX about the charges and of course since XXXX XXXX XXXX is either out of business or not responding to any attempts to be contacted did not respond. Discover responded to my claim that since they could not contact the merchant to obtain transaction records that they consider the charge to be valid. In their own words : " We've completed our investigation of this transaction. During our review, we considered all information and documentation we received from you and we attempted to obtain transaction records from the merchant. We regret that we are unable to validate the details of your claim. Accordingly, we consider the charge to be valid. The charge will remain on your account and the temporary credit we previously applied to your account will be reversed. '' Speaking with others in a similar situation it seems that most people are having the same experience with Discover. That while other Credit Card companies are finding these charges invalid based on the evidence that can reasonably be provided by the card member, Discover is not. 

Discover seems to be of the opinion that if someone buys something from you using a Discover card, and you as a merchant refuse to respond to Discover, they consider the charges to be valid. This seems to invalidate the card agreement and any real attempt by Discover to refund fraudulent charges.