Consumer complaint received 2026-02-20 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: PA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased merchandise from the online retailer XXXX ( merchant descriptor : XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA ) for {$63.00}, charged to my Citi XXXX XXXX XXXX via a virtual account number. The order number was XXXX. 

When the package was delivered, I opened it to find it was completely empty no merchandise was enclosed. On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed XXXX 's customer support to report that the package contained nothing. I explained that the item was intended as a XXXX gift for my wife and that I would need to find a replacement. 

XXXX did not respond until XX/XX/XXXX XXXX days later. Their representative asked me to send a photo of the package " including the contents ( or lack thereof ) and the packaging. '' On XX/XX/XXXX, I replied explaining that I no longer had the packaging, as it had been discarded during normal holiday cleanup after discovering the box was empty. I offered to provide any other helpful information and specifically suggested that XXXX investigate using their own shipping weights or internal packing records a reasonable and readily available avenue for them to verify whether the package had been properly fulfilled. 

XXXX did not respond until XX/XX/XXXX thirteen days later. Rather than address my suggestion to check their internal shipping and packing records, their representative simply repeated the same request for a photo. XXXX never acknowledged or acted on the option of checking their own fulfillment records, never provided any evidence from their end that merchandise was placed in the package, and effectively stonewalled my claim by demanding the one piece of evidence I had already explained I could not provide. 

I then filed a billing dispute with Citi. Citi issued a conditional credit while they investigated. On XX/XX/XXXX, Citi sent me a letter stating it had " completed its investigation '' and reversed the conditional credit. The sole basis cited was that " the merchant provided evidence/documentation that merchandise/goods were delivered to your address. '' Citi failed to conduct a reasonable investigation as required by the Fair Credit Billing Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1666 ). My dispute was never about whether a package was delivered. My dispute is that the package was empty it contained no merchandise. Proof of delivery ( a tracking number and a doorstep photograph ) does not constitute proof that the package contained the goods I purchased. These are fundamentally different issues, and Citi 's investigation failed to distinguish between them. 

The merchant 's own communications support my claim. Over the course of our email exchange ( XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX never denied that the package was empty, never provided any evidence that merchandise was actually placed in the package ( such as packing slips, warehouse fulfillment logs, package weight records, or photographs of the item being packed ), ignored my specific suggestion that they verify the shipment using their own shipping weights and internal packing records, and responded only by repeatedly requesting a photo of the packaging which I had already explained was discarded. 

Despite this, when XXXX submitted its response to Citi 's chargeback investigation, it apparently provided only proof of delivery. Citi accepted this at face value without evaluating whether the evidence actually addressed my claim about the package contents. Citi made no apparent effort to evaluate whether the merchant 's evidence addressed my actual claim, request content-specific evidence from the merchant, or contact me for additional information before closing the case. 

I have retained my order confirmation and all email correspondence with XXXX, which 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 monetary relief