Consumer complaint received 2025-11-03 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: Affirm Holdings, Inc
State: IN

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this complaint against Affirm , Inc. regarding their refusal to cancel a loan and refund my down payment despite the merchant releasing their authorization and the purchase never being completed. 
On or around early XX/XX/year>, I attempted to make a purchase using Affirm financing. The transaction was declined by the merchant ( XXXX XXXX ) despite Affirm authorizing the payment and charging my card. The order never went through, and the merchant has since released their authorization. I was informed by Affirm that this was Loan ID : XXXX with a total amount of {$1000.00} and a down payment of {$540.00}. 
When I contacted Affirm support to request cancellation of the loan and refund of my down payment, I encountered responses from multiple agents that demonstrate a systematic refusal to resolve this issue despite having the ability to verify the merchant had released their authorization. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX initially verified my account information and confirmed that the merchant authorization had been released. However, he stated : " I am so sorry that we don't have the option to cancel ths loan. I know how important this money is. I wish I could do extra mile for you since you are one of our great customer. Rest assured that the loan will fall off once it falls off you will be refunded. '' When I indicated I would escalate this to the CFPB, Agent XXXX XXXX responded with : " I understand even I as a customer myself would feel the same If I were on your shoes. Your emotions are valid and acceptable. '' Rather than providing a solution, the agent focused on emotional validation statements. 
The chat was then transferred to Agent XXXX XXXX, who confirmed the critical information : " Thank you for the confirmation XXXX, I really appreciate it and I can confirm you are right, I can also see on my end that the authorization placed by XXXX already dropped, however, I would like to explain why we can't cancel the payment plan. As much as I would love to as I understand you need this downpayment back, we don't have the option to manually cancel an Affirm card payment plan, it can only cancelled automatically by the system on plan processing cut off date. This is to avoid a transaction to go through as a pay in full a second and payment plan is cancelled and generating a situation for our customers. I understand this funds to be refunded as soon as possible, on our end we would need to wait until XX/XX/year> for loan to be cancelled by it self and system will automatically issue a refund for it. '' This explanation confirms that Affirm 's systems are designed to hold customer funds even when no valid merchant authorization exists. XXXX XXXX XXXX 's statement that manual cancellation could result in a " pay in full a second '' scenario suggests their internal systems place the burden of system limitations on customers rather than resolving technical issues internally. Both agents acknowledged they could verify the merchant had released the authorization but claimed they lacked the tools to cancel the payment plan. 
The authorization from XXXX XXXX was confirmed to have been released and refunded around Friday evening ( approximately XX/XX/XXXX- XX/XX/year> ). I tried the purchase with three different cards, and the funds were released on my debit and credit cards, but my third card being Affirm continues to hold my money despite no active merchant authorization. 
This situation is particularly concerning because Affirm previously had the capability to handle such situations through their support team. I have been a long-time customer of Affirm and have used their services for years without issue. However, the agents explicitly stated they no longer have the tools or authority to manually cancel payment plans, forcing customers to wait for an arbitrary system-generated cancellation date of XX/XX/year>. 
The pattern of responses from both agents demonstrates a deliberate policy to delay refunds through emotional validation tactics rather than actual problem resolution. The agents were trained to acknowledge my frustration while providing no substantive solution, which I find to be a deceptive practice designed to discourage customers from pursuing legitimate complaints. 
I am seeking the immediate cancellation of Loan ID : XXXX and a full refund of my {$540.00} down payment. This delay in accessing my own funds, when no valid merchant authorization exists, creates an unnecessary financial hardship and represents poor business practices that appear designed to benefit Affirm 's cash flow at the expense of customer rights. 
I have complete documentation of the entire chat conversation with Affirm support agents ( XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX demonstrating their refusal to manually cancel the loan despite having the ability to verify that the merchant authorization was released. 
I request that the CFPB investigate Affirm 's practices regarding loan cancellations when merchant authorizations are released, examine whether their system limitations are legitimate technical constraints or designed barriers to refunds, and ensure that consumers are not forced to wait arbitrary periods to receive refunds for failed transactions. The specific statements and names of agents are provided for public transparency and accountability. 
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation