Consumer complaint received 2026-02-09 00:00:00
Product: Credit 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
State: NV

Complaint narrative:
I purchased XXXX clothing items from the online retailer XXXX XXXX. Upon receipt of the order, several issues were immediately apparent : one jogger was missing entirely, two pairs of pants arrived with holes, and multiple jackets were significantly oversized relative to the sizes advertised. 

I promptly contacted XXXX XXXX via email to request an exchange or resolution. At their request, I provided photographs of the damaged and missing items, as well as screenshots documenting technical difficulties I encountered while attempting to initiate a return through their website. These materials were sent both to XXXX XXXX and to Discover for documentation. 

Despite submitting all requested information, I did not receive a response from XXXX XXXX for approximately two weeks. When I followed up again, I still received no response until I sent a more formal and urgent request for assistance. At that point, I was informed without prior notice that XXXX XXXX enforces a 14-day return window and that my eligibility had expired. This policy had never been disclosed to me by the prior representative, nor was I aware of any 14-day limitation, as I reasonably understood their return policy to be 30 days. 

Because XXXX XXXX delayed responses directly caused the return window to lapse, I contacted both Discover and XXXX XXXX to dispute the transactions. XXXX XXXX conducted an investigation and ruled in my favor. Discover, however, denied my dispute. 

After Discovers denial, I contacted Discover customer service and was instructed to submit additional documentation, which I did in full. Despite this, the dispute was denied again. During a subsequent phone call, a Discover representative stated repeatedly that their role was to pay the merchant and that the dispute was denied based solely on the merchant asserting that the charge was valid. I was explicitly told that no further independent investigation was conducted beyond contacting the merchant. 

The representative repeatedly instructed me to resolve the issue directly with XXXX XXXX, despite my explaining multiple times that the retailer is not reachable by phone and had already failed to respond adequately via email. My concerns regarding the lack of a fair investigation and the merchants failure to act in good faith were dismissed. 

I believe Discover failed to conduct a reasonable, impartial investigation as required under the Fair Credit Billing Act. The decision appears to have relied entirely on the merchants statement, without meaningful consideration of the extensive documentation I provided or the circumstances caused by the merchants delayed responses. 

I am submitting this complaint to request a formal review of Discovers dispute handling practices, as well as corrective action regarding the denied charge. I am also concerned about Discovers apparent prioritization of merchant interests over consumer protections guaranteed by federal law.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation