Consumer complaint received 2025-05-01 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: NJ

Complaint narrative:
Best Buy Dispute On XX/XX/XXXX, I placed an order for pickup at the Best Buy store in XXXX XXXX XXXX, where the XXXX XXXX XXXX was listed as in stock. While driving to the store, a Best Buy employee informed me via phone that the item they had at the store was an open box. I declined the open box item, and the employee offered to change my order from pickup to shipping, assuring me it would arrive in XXXX days. I accepted the change to home delivery. 

The store employee changed the order from pickup to shipping with a delivery date of XX/XX/XXXX. Given the high value of the item, I took the day off from work on XX/XX/XXXX to be present for the delivery. The package arrived at XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, upon opening the package, I discovered that it contained a XXXX XXXX  and battery among other XXXX camera components, but the XXXX camera itself was missing. I immediately photographed the contents and took the box to the XXXX, NJ Best Buy. 

At the XXXX Best Buy, I spoke to the operations XXXX present on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX, explaining the situation. He called the XXXX XXXX XXXX store to check if they could find a new camera for me to pick up but noted they only still had the open box camera available. XXXX advised the XXXX XXXX XXXX store to update the item 's status to open box since it was still listed as new on their website. The intention of this call was to see if I could still get a new camera at Best Buy. 

XXXX XXXX then requested that I call Best Buy Customer Service from my phone on speakerphone. My phone records show we called XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX. The customer service representative understood the story regarding the package and issued a refund with email confirmation by XXXX XXXX, all of which were conducted on speakerphone with XXXX XXXX present. The refund amount was {$4100.00}, the full cost of the camera. 

After the refund was completed, XXXX asked the customer service representative what to do with the package. The representative stated that the transaction is completed at XXXX XXXX of refund, and the package did not need to be returned to the return center since the transaction is closed at this point. She even mentioned it could be discarded. XXXX was still concerned that he could not keep the package at the store or throw it away and requested a return slip for shipment to the return center. The representative then sent a return slip to my email to give to XXXX. I forwarded this slip to XXXX and subsequently left the store to purchase the desired camera at Unique Photo in XXXX, NJ, using a different credit card ( XXXX XXXX ). 

Of note, I have been a Best Buy customer for more than 20 years and a Best Buy VISA Citibank card holder since about XXXX. I always try to buy products from Best Buy to support the company and use their card to get reward zone points. For the last XXXX years, I have paid for their membership program and before that, I have always been a Reward Zone member. 

XX/XX/XXXX The package that I left at the store on XX/XX/XXXX, was delivered to my house by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Inside, there was a letter from Best Buy stating the return was rejected due to missing major items and my credit card had been charged again. I immediately contacted XXXX. The Best Buy customer representative reviewed my record, assured me of another refund, and apologized for the inconvenience, promising resolution within XXXX hours and an email confirmation. Note that the package did not need to be returned according to the communications between the XXXX with Best Buy customer service on XX/XX/XXXX and the package was sent back to Best Buy by XXXX XXXX ( Operations XXXX ) and not myself. I left the open package at the store. 

After hanging up, I contacted XXXX ( Best Buy VISA Citibank Customer Service ) to explain the situation of the return package and the charge being posted back to the credit card after it had been refunded. I was advised that if no refund appeared by Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I should call again and consider filing a dispute with the credit card. 

XX/XX/XXXX I called Best Buy Customer Service to inquire about my refund. They informed me that Best Buy would not issue a refund again, flagging the return as fraudulent because the package contained a XXXX  controller and battery instead of the camera. I explained we all knew the contents of the package at the time of the return/refund and the package was sent back by the store XXXX despite instructions not to. They suggested visiting the store and speaking with XXXX about the situation. I mentioned that my demanding schedule as a physician would make this a challenge to coordinate. 

I visited the XXXX NJ store and spoke to a XXXX named XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ext XXXX ) since XXXX was not working that day. He reviewed the case, noting the mistake made by returning the package after the refund was issued. He explained that sending back the package was unnecessary after the refund given that the transaction is considered as CLOSED, but XXXX was trying to " do the right thing. '' He confirmed that Best Buy flagged the return as fraudulent due to incorrect components returned. Best Buys XXXX XXXX also believes that the package was sent by me instead of the store XXXX given that the return label provided to XXXX XXXX had my name printed on it. 

XXXX XXXX spoke to another supervisor on the phone. They say that they will try to investigate internally but that the best course of action is for me to file a dispute with the credit card company just as the credit card representative had suggested if a refund was not given to me by XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I began the dispute process and submitted all the documentation I had available at the time. This included the photo of the delivered package, proof of the refund at the store, proof of the order initiated as a pickup but changed to delivery, etc. 

XX/XX/XXXX : The dispute result was sent electronically by the Best Buy Citi company to the online credit card website dated XX/XX/XXXX. I did not see the notification until XX/XX/XXXX while at work in the hospital. The notification states that they determined there was no error on the charge because The merchants cancellation/Return Policy was not followed and Merchant has denied our request for credit on your behalf. Merchants arent required to accept return or cancellation requests... Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the customer to be completely aware of what they are purchasing and the merchants return policy. 

These statements are completely false. Firstly, the return was completed and accepted by the Best Buy store on XX/XX/XXXX in the presence of an operations XXXX and a customer service representative. The package was already opened, and all parties knew that the reason for the return was that the camera was missing. The return policy was honored by the merchant in this situation and refund given to me at that time. That should have been the end of this. Secondly, Best Buy ACCEPTED the return and provided a refund in person. Both statements provided to me are untrue since the return and refund was completed at the store following their own procedures and policies. 

Since XX/XX/XXXX, I have contacted the Credit Card company multiple times and spoken to the managers at the store to get my money back. There is no way to directly contact the Dispute Department to discuss all the evidence and materials that I had uploaded for the dispute. I feel that all that evidence has been ignored. 

This situation has caused stress, frustration, and considerable time spent on an issue thought to have been resolved on XX/XX/XXXX.

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 non-monetary relief