Consumer complaint received 2020-07-05
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: CITIBANK, N.A. (MD)

Complaint:
Good time of day, On XX/XX/2020, at XXXX EST, I made an online booking for three business class tickets, for a round trip Washington - XXXX - Washington , for XX/XX/XXXX. I paid a full amount for said tickets with my Citibank MasterCard, with a total amount being {$9900.00}. Prior to booking with an airline completely new to me, I had thoroughly researched all of their policies, ensuring that, in case of our inability to travel due to Covid-19 or any other reason, I would have some means of obtaining a refund. The XXXX XXXX refund policy at that time, available on their website. specified, in part, that any cancellations made within twenty-four hour period from booking are eligible to a complete and full refund. 
Later that same day, I found out that the tour operator, XXXX, will be cancelling all tours, including mine. So at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a cancellation request for this booking with XXXX XXXX, receiving an email confirmation of my action. At that time, the web site stated that all refunds are done after 21 days, which seemed outrageous to me, given my cancellation nine hours after booking. But I waited, and waited, and waited. After almost a month went by, I tried contacting XXXX XXXX. There was no telephone service available, with the only telephone contact being two tickets offices - XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX  Both have proven fruitless. So I sent email after email to any address i could find, which turned out to be at least six different contacts. Most have gone unanswered, with some generating an electronic auto-response email. Despite repeatedly asking to be contacted about this issue, no contact was initiated and no refund followed. 
On XX/XX/202, I received an email from the airline, stating that our flights have been cancelled and advising us to contact the airline. How? I tried more of the same email routes. No answer. 
Finally, on XX/XX/XXXX, I fled a dispute for the full amount of charge with the credit card company, Citibank, citing breach of contract. I have complied with the 24-hr cancellation policy and did not get a refund, as I was supposed to. Moreover, the airline itself cancelled the flights and still did not refund the money. Citibank requested me to sign an affidavit and provide supporting documentation. I did so in a couple of days. The Billing Dispute department of Citibank gives no ability for me to speak to the investigator, so the only information I have is what is posted under documents on the web site. That section claimed an investigation is progressing, until XX/XX/XXXX, when a letter was posted, declining my dispute. Using the same email, provided by Citibank for billing dispute contacts, I sent a letter of protest, directly demanding to be contacted by the investigator on my claim. It was ignored, as I received no response. 
Several documents, supporting my claim and documenting the course of dispute, are attached.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation