Consumer complaint received 2025-07-28 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: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
Dear CFPB Officer : On XX/XX/XXXX, our family booked a " beachfront apartment '' in XXXX, XXXX on XXXX for the same date. It was a non-cancellation rate of {$660.00}. 

We arrived at the property and it was barely recognizable, but the most troubling issue, was the lack of a finished bathroom. The bathroom was literally under construction, the tile on the floor was held in place by spacers because there was no grout. The left wall was unfinished board and there was no wall on the right side, just kraft paper hanging. Pipes were jutting out of the makeshift walls. I sent photos of the under-construction bathroom to both XXXX and Citi during the course of this dispute. 

After showing us the bathroom, the owner offered to cancel the reservation and when I immediately agreed, she refused and became combative. We have XXXX small children and were not staying the night in an active construction site. We left within minutes of arriving, but before we left, she said " Good luck getting your money back from XXXX. They won't give it to you. '' Having held credit cards for 27 years ( and exceptional credit ), I was confident Citi would support us in this dispute, where the property had undisclosed, material defects because this was nothing short of fraudulent misrepresentation. 

We contacted Citi immediately, and they advised us to work with XXXX first, and to wait until the charge posts to dispute. Booking.com, however, clearly supports and benefits from these fraudulent practices. Their reps blamed me for not reading the reviews and stated the owner did nothing wrong because the showerhead technically worked, despite the unit being uninhabitable, likely illegal to rent out, and not matching the photos in the listing. I spent days being lied to, hung up on, and insulted by XXXX agents. Ultimately, XXXX  offered us a XXXX XXXX wallet credit ( attached ), that they raised to XXXX XXXX  that I refused because we were due a full refund. Please consider whether XXXX would have offered us anything had they truly done nothing wrong.. 

After exhausting that channel, we worked with Citi, calling them several times over the next few months ( on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX ). Although Citi unexpectedly closed the dispute prematurely, finding in XXXX 's favor, without requesting information from us, they reopened the dispute to allow us to provide evidence. We had been repeatedly assured by Citi representatives that this kind of issue was not uncommon, and given the circumstances, we would be made whole. 

XXXX  claims we were a no-show. That is untrue. Not only do I have photos of the property, I also have a response from the owner to my review of the property demonstrating that we did, in fact, show up. In addition to my review, I've also included a review from another guest who had the same complaints the same month of our intended stay. XXXX  also unreasonably claims that a list of phone calls and text messages made by me to them to resolve the matter are somehow indicative of malfeasance on my part. 

Given the notice of resolution of the dispute in XXXX 's favor, without any request for evidence of our version of events, we called Citi concerned -- but a Citi agent assured us that once we submit our evidence ( photos of unfinished bathroom ), it should be a clearcut case. I asked what would happen if XXXX refused to refund us and the agent said that in those cases, Citi can go to XXXX 's bank and retrieve the payment that way. This conversation let us rest assured for the next month until we got a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from Citi stating : " We attempted to resolve with the merchant but were not successful. The merchant will not honor our request for credit based on the information you provided us. Every effort has been made to secure credit for your account. Since we are unable to obtain compensation from the merchant, we now consider this investigation complete. 

We previously issued a conditional credit to your account for the amount in question pending the outcome of our investigation. Now that the investigation is complete, we have rebilled your account for this charge along with any related fees and interest charges. '' This outcome is disappointing on several fronts : ( XXXX ) The owner illegally rented out uninhabitable property as the unit did not have adequate sanitation facilities, per XXXX housing code. 
( XXXX ) XXXX condoned fraudulent misrepresentation of this property with undisclosed, material defects. 
( XXXX ) Out of accordance with the stated process, Citi closed the dispute before requesting evidence on our part. 
( XXXX ) After submitting evidence, Citi reassured us that we can be refunded without XXXX 's approval, then sends the XX/XX/XXXX refusal letter stating, " The merchant will not honor our request for credit based on the information you provided us. '' ( XXXX ) We received the letter dated XX/XX/XXXX via email XX/XX/XXXX and called Citi immediately requesting the case be reopened, and were told the case would be reopened within XXXX days. As of XX/XX/XXXX, the case is still not reopened. 
( XXXX ) Assessing interest and fees on this fraudulent charge seems categorically unfair. 

This has been a three-month saga where a conwoman is not only being shielded by XXXX 's strategically lax and exploitative practices, but also by Citi 's failure to require fair dealings with those doing business with their customers. 

Our family was defrauded out of {$660.00} by XXXX on our family vacation and Citi is standing by and allowing it. You are our last hope for a fair resolution of this case. 

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

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