Consumer complaint received 2024-01-31
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: Chime Financial Inc (TX)

On XX/XX/XXXX I made a purchase using my Chime Credit Builder Account at XXXX for {$140.00} for a 2 night stay. Things didn't turn out exactly the way they were suppose to so on XX/XX/24 I opened up a dispute with Chime Bank about the charges. They then opened their investigation into the matter on XX/XX/24. I inquired about a provisional credit to make up for the money that I was out of. They told me that since the matter was a credit card, not my debit card that it fell under different rules so there would be no credit given on the account until after 10 days, 20 days at the latest. During this time I read on the laws and what happens under Regulation Z about a credit being applied after 10 days etc etc. I have no contacted the bank on 3 different occasions the latest left me on the phone with them for 2 hours 29 minutes, transferred 6 times. Some of the representatives were rude and almost hostile towards me for questioning the lack of funds being given for the credit. They kept trying to shift the blame to the merchant which I told them is not the problem, the problem is the credit given to the customer while the investigation is ongoing. Again they cited Regulation Z and that because it was a credit card, not a debit card different rules apply. My understanding is that I do not have to pay for the charge on my credit card until after the investigation has concluded. I explained this to several representatives that I have indeed already paid for this charge because when I made the purchase, I had transferred money from my checking account to my credit card account and then made the transaction. You can not make a purchase on the credit builder account unless you have the funds available and you move them to that account and you no longer have access to them. In my statements from Chime, they show the transfer from the checking to the credit builder account on the XXXX. They then show that the money was paid to XXXX on the XXXX. I then opened my complaint on the XXXX XXXX  XXXX and then Chime shows to have paid the bill to the Credit Builder Account on XX/XX/XXXX. The bill has been paid and they say they are giving me a credit on the next billing cycle. That is all fine and dandy except for the fact that they have already taken that money out of my checking account. If I was writing a check to them for the amount, they would not be able to charge me for that amount and it would therefore remain in my checking account and I would have access to those funds. I have asked them to credit my account back for that amount until the investigation is done which is scheduled for XX/XX/XXXX. They have a repeated history of holding on to any and all funds possible whenever there is any kind of hold or whatever put on the accounts especially holds from hotels for incidentals. This isn't the first time they have done something like this. A previous time I transferred the money from the checking account to the credit builder account and then made my reservation. The money some how disappeared between the two accounts but the hotel saw the hold put on the account. They refused to pay for the bill even though they had the funds because they were not showing up in my account. Several days later they blamed everything on the hotel and said it was their fault which at that point didn't matter anyway because I had been forced to sleep in my vehicle that night. I stay at that particular hotel every month and have never had a problem with them only when I use the Chime Credit Builder Card. Just like now, I am in a different city and need to get a hotel room but I can't because I am short on the amount needed which would easily be taken care of if they would provide the credit to my account. At the bottom of every Credit Builder Account Statement it says regarding any disputes : We will investigate your complaint and will correct any error promptly, if we take more than 10 business days to do this, we will credit your account for the amount you think is in error, so that you will have the use of the money during the time it takes us to complete our investigation. That statement apparently means nothing.