Consumer complaint received 2025-05-09 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: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CT

Complaint narrative:
My husband and I attended a presentation at a XXXX XXXX in Connecticut by a company that called themselves XXXX XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX, XXXX, a company supposedly started by XXXX XXXX and now XXXX of the largest global travel services companies in the world. The presenter instructed us to turn off our phones during the presentation and made a convincing case that XXXX XXXX had special insider access to travel deals. We used our Bank of America ( BOA ) small business credit card to purchase a membership for {$7400.00} from XXXX XXXX, supposedly affiliated with XXXX XXXX, that also requires an annual renewal fee of {$290.00}. After looking up XXXX XXXX on our phones, we immediately became concerned and ended up doing hours of research on our computers and realized that the presenter misrepresented the company. We contacted Bank of America ( BOA ) that same day to express our alarm that the company was bogus. The agent said we could either file a fraud claim or a billing dispute, which we thought was unusual, so we hung up and called back. The second BOA agent told us we had to file a billing dispute since the card was in our possession at the time of the charge, but the dispute office was closed so we had to wait until the following XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX. When I called on XXXX, I was advised that a fraud claim had already been filed, an agent assigned and was told to " wait and see ''. We received a letter on XX/XX/XXXX that our claim had been denied and the charge was being put back on our card. When I called about the letter, I was told again that we should have filed a billing dispute even though we suspected fraud, but we were not able to file a dispute at that time because the fraud case was still " in the system ''. Another delay. We were able to file a dispute claim on XX/XX/XXXX with the agent who took information over the phone and told me it could take up to 90 days to review. I received a letter on XX/XX/XXXX from BOA stating that they had cancelled my claim. When I called about it, XXXX, the BOA agent, was not able to offer an explanation as to why my billing dispute claim had been cancelled but reopened the dispute on XX/XX/XXXX. I called on XX/XX/XXXX to check on the status and was advised by XXXX that it was still pending. I expressed concern and asked if I could send additional information to support our case, since I had ample information that showed the company was a scam, including an email from the Connecticut Attorney General confirming there was no company known as XXXX XXXX at the address they provided in Arizona. I was told we would receive an email from BOA with instructions for sending documentation. We sent in XXXX emails, the last XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called to check on the status and was told that our case is still under review. I expressed concern since the charge had occurred in XXXX and the agent offered to put me on hold to explore why it was taking so long. Instead, I was transferred to another agent, XXXX, who was very noncommittal and kept telling me his computer was going to shut down at any moment. In the 111 days since this transaction occurred, we have received a combination of bad advice, cancellations of claims, and delays from Bank of America, despite calling the same day to express alarm that we had been defrauded. This charge is still on our account, and we have been making minimum payments since we are reluctant to pay a bogus charge. On top of it, we are being forced to pay interest on this charge, which adds insult to the injury, because as a small business BOA customer for XXXX  years, we have an impeccable record of making on-time payments in full.

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