Consumer complaint received 2024-10-15 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: HI

Complaint narrative:
To whom it may concern : This is regarding a refund that wasnt delivered to my account. 

I am a small business owner. My business is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. As such, I am an authorized dealer of XXXX products, the industry XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX At the time of the original purchase, I was using my personal Bank of America Alaska Airlines credit card when XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a purchase from XXXX using my Bank of America credit card totaling {$4900.00}. A XXXX XXXX XXXX accounted for {$3200.00} of that purchase. A credit card receipt in the amount of {$4900.00} was emailed to me by XXXX ( an accounts receivable XXXX at XXXX ). According to my Bank of America account statement, the transaction date of this purchase was XX/XX/XXXX, and the posting date was XX/XX/XXXX On XX/XX/XXXX, my Bank of America credit card was changed to a new card number due to fraud I discovered ( unrelated to this case ). Multiple Bank of America representatives confirmed that this change wouldnt have affected XXXX 's ability to refund back to my account using my old card number. 

The XXXX XXXX I had ordered and purchased was unavailable, so XXXX initiated a refund to me. On XX/XX/XXXX, a credit card refund request receipt in the amount of {$3200.00} was emailed from XXXX ( XXXX ) to me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX from XXXX issued the refund credit for the XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$3200.00}. This refund was issued back to my original Bank of America credit card ( with the account number before the discovery of fraud caused the change ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the refund of {$3200.00} left XXXX bank account, and was processed by XXXX XXXX ( XXXX credit card processor ), and was sent to my Bank of America credit card. However, the refund never arrived. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, a credit card refund approval receipt in the amount of {$3200.00} was emailed from XXXX ( XXXX ) to me. It was at this point that I realized something was wrong. 

From this last week of XXXX to the first half of XX/XX/XXXX, I made a lot of calls. In phone conversations, Bank of America representatives repeatedly directed me to take the issue up with the merchant ( XXXX ). XXXX would then reaffirm that the issue was on Bank of Americas side. After several rounds of calling back and forth between Bank of America and XXXX, in early XXXX of XXXX, a Bank of America representative directed me to dispute the original {$4900.00} purchase made on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained in detail to this Bank of America representative that my problem was regarding the missing refund and was not with the original purchase. He was also made fully aware of the date of my original purchase, and yet I was still instructed to file this dispute. I obliged, and on XX/XX/XXXX, I sent an email to XXXX and to XXXX with the subject line, Missing credit, incoming dispute. 

I later received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from Bank of America, stating that they were working on ( my ) claim. According to internal notes from Bank of America ( provided by employee ID # XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ), a case # XXXX was created for my {$3200.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Bank of America then closed the dispute they had directed me to make, without even contacting XXXX. By means of a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, they conveyed the following : We've completed our investigation of the {$3200.00} charge ( s ) you're disputing from XXXX XXXX. We're unable to determine that a billing error occurred based on the information or documentation available to us At this time, we're unable to assist with your inquiry for the following reason ( s ) : The notification of your dispute fell outside the timeframes to retrieve the funds from the merchant ( s ) or their bank ( s ). We're required to work within certain dispute processing rules, which include specific timeframes to initiate and process disputes, your efforts to resolve the dispute directly with the merchant, and the physical location of the transaction. Since these requirements weren't met, we're unable to process your credit card dispute. 

Through later frustrated phone conversations with Bank of America, I learned that I have 90 days from the date of a transaction to dispute said transaction. And yet, I was instructed by a Bank of America representative to start a dispute approximately 150 days after the transaction date. Meanwhile, less than 30 days had transpired between my refund leaving XXXX account, and my follow-up with Bank of America because it hadnt arrived. Yet with every attempt to rectify this situation, Bank of America has consistently dismissed my case and hid behind this same irrelevant reasoning. 

XXXX and I conference called Bank of America. XXXX writes, On XX/XX/XXXX, ( the customer ) and XXXX did a conference call with XXXX with Bank of America, We were told Bank of America did not receive the funds and there wasnt anything they could do farther for you. He suggested that we contact XXXX XXXX ( our credit card processing company ) to confirm that the funds were sent to Bank of America. We asked that he kept this case open so we could follow up. He refused and said that he would have to send it to the XXXX XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted XXXX XXXX as directed by Bank of America to confirmed that the fund was issued back to card ending ( redacted ). ( The customer ) and XXXX again contacted Bank of America again to give them this information. We again spoke to XXXX who told us there was nothing he could do for us. I asked to speak to a supervisor. We were given XXXX. XXXX instructed us to fax the all backup to XXXX. 
XXXX is providing Bank of America with proper documentation showing everything has cleared on our end. Enclosed is the credit card refund transaction receipt along with the transaction report from XXXX XXXX showing the refund has issued back to the Back of American card ending in ( redacted ). The outgoing reference for this transaction was XXXX. Also provided is the report showing fund were taken out of XXXX account. Please locate these funds and return to XXXX XXXX accordingly. 

Should you need any additional information or have any questions, please feel to contact me at ( XXXX phone number ) or ( XXXX  email ). 

The above excerpt is from a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX that XXXX wrote and faxed to Bank of America, along with transactional proof that the refund left XXXX bank account, was processed by XXXX XXXX ( XXXX credit card processor ), and was sent to my Bank of America credit card. Due to XXXX office safety protocols, there was a delay in this being faxed. Bank of America never confirmed receipt of or responded to this fax. Despite later resending this fax multiple times to different departments, no one from Bank of America has ever contacted XXXX regarding my missing refund. 

For the rest of XXXX, I dont have much notes. But as a result of further phone conversations between myself and Bank of America, I again faxed over XXXX letter along with XXXX and XXXX  XXXX transactional information to ( XXXX ) XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I dont have access to a fax machine, so I paid to do this from my nearest XXXX  store. On every page faxed I included my case number. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Bank of America again responded by letter : Weve re-examined your recent inquiry of the {$3200.00} charge ( XXXX ) from XXXX XXXX, and regrettably, we're unable to obtain credits ) to your account from the merchants )... We're unable to assist you further with your inquiry for the following reason ( XXXX ) : The notification of your dispute fell outside the timeframes to retrieve the funds from the merchants ) or their bank ( XXXX )... 

I called Bank of America again. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was directed by XXXX ( ID # XXXX ) to again fax the information. The next day, it was sent to ( XXXX ) XXXX. On every page faxed I included my case number. According to internal notes from Bank of America provided by employee XXXX ID : XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX, a case # XXXX was created for {$3200.00}, and my case was reopened for review. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Bank of America once again responded by letter : As you requested, we completed a re-evaluation of your credit card dispute for the following charge ( XXXX ) - unfortunately, our decision to decline your claim hasn't changed Our research included the information you provided with your claim, your account history, and if available, information from the merchant, such as a signed receipt or contract. We confirmed the following : The notification of your dispute fell outside the timeframes to retrieve the funds from the merchants ) or their bank ( XXXX )... 

There are internal notes of me making additional calls on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, Bank of Americas wrote internal notes : Inform claim decision still remains the same. Advise he will need to continue claim outside of the bank. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I talked with XXXX and XXXX XXXX Bank of America. These two employees provided me with some of the Banks internal notes regarding my situation. 

I informed Bank of America representatives that I would be pursuing legal action. Unfortunately, I ran into two issues that have prevented me from doing so. The first is that my case is too small financially for a lawyer to take on. So it was suggested to me by a lawyer that I pursue a case in small claims court. However, I live on XXXX, and to properly file a small claims suit against Bank of America, the address of their registered agent requires that I would have to file my suit in XXXX small claims court. I do not have the financial means to fly between islands for hearings, so that rules out any sensible option of legally pursuing my money. 

In review : In XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased XXXX products, including an XXXX XXXX for {$3200.00}. When it became unavailable, XXXX issued a refund on XX/XX/XXXX. That refund never made it to my Bank of America credit card. 
A Bank of America representative misled me into filing a dispute well past their allowed timeframe. Meanwhile, less than 30 days passed between XXXX sending the refund and my initial follow-up with Bank of America XXXX Despite XXXX and I submitting documentation multiple times and enduring countless calls, Bank of America has refused to even contact XXXX, hiding behind irrelevant technicalities while ignoring the fact that my refund was clearly sent. 
After years of following Bank of America 's directions and exhausting every possible avenue, Im left without my {$3200.00} and no way to get justice. Its been an infuriating, draining, and deeply unfair experience.

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