Consumer complaint received 2020-12-16 00:00:00
Product: Credit card or prepaid 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: PENTAGON FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
I have a posted charge of {$74000.00} that I never authorized and should not be on my account. 

It is even more puzzling how this could happen as I was told by PenFed customer service that the charge was made manually to a canceled card. 

Furthermore, the charge goes well beyond the credit limit on my card. 

I called PenFed multiple times last week starting from Thursday XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke with several departments as well as a couple supervisors. I was told to wait a few days to have this mistaken charge removed. I was told things like " this is the most outrageous charge I have ever personally seen '' and " this is clearly a mistake. '' A few other things that were discussed on the phone were questions of how could such a large charge post? The charge was not even pending. It just immediately posted. 

Why would the credit union approve such a large charge from an airline? Why would it be approved, and not be immediately removed from the account after the dispute started one week ago? One supervisor joked that " unless you rented the entire aircraft how could there be a {$75000.00} charge. '' The {$74000.00} charge has been present for a week now. I feel distressed whenever I log into my account. would like to know what is being done to address this and take steps to rectify it. 

I have no recent purchases with XXXX XXXX. I only have a {$35.00} baggage fee that I paid in early XXXX. I had a purchase with XXXX XXXX from early 2020. This purchase was refunded by XXXX XXXX because of COVID-19 and the pandemic it was impossible to use the ticket. PenFed told me on the phone that that transaction was already closed out several months ago. 

Another problem I am facing is that PenFed cancelled the current card that I was using on a daily basis. This puts me in a bit of a rough spot. To PenFed 's credit, I will say that the staff sounded very empathetic on the phone when I called back to explain what happened. They also offered to rush a new card to me. However, I am not certain when I will receive it. I was told that the {$74000.00} was posted to the old, cancelled card so that charge should not have affected the current card that I was using. The service reps were surprised that the charge was pushed through to the current card, as well. I am not sure why the current card was canceled but it was cancelled without asking me first and I was only told afterward that it was closed. PenFed changed from XXXX XXXX to Visa in the early summer of 2020. This closed the old XXXX XXXX account. My understanding is that XXXX XXXX charged the old ( closed ) account information. 

It is possible the {$74000.00} charge stems from misuse within XXXX XXXX or theft of the old card information or a data breach of the servers that XXXX XXXX uses. 

I am requesting that this charge be immediately reversed. My understanding is that the charge is currently in a dispute process, however, I would kindly request that the charge be removed as soon as possible. I am also curious how a closed account could be manually charged " {$74000.00} '' when that goes well above the credit limit on the card. I would like to reiterate that I did not authorize XXXX XXXX to charge my card this amount. There also have not been any recent transactions that I have made with XXXX XXXX. I am curious how XXXX XXXX would be able to manually put through such a charge and how that charge would make sense on a personal card and why the charge is still posted on the account. 

Thank you

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