Consumer complaint received 2024-12-16 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Getting the loan — 
Company: Block, Inc.
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
I was looking for a power backup since I had lost power several times recently. On XX/XX/XXXX, I found a XXXX XXXX XXXX online that had specials on XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. I went to purchase it but I was immediately directed to Afterpay ( no other payment options offered ). I set up my Afterpay account and Afterpay set up 4 installments of {$14.00} every two weeks. The first charge hit my account on XX/XX/XXXX, the day of purchase. The supposed time of delivery from the XXXX XXXX XXXX site said XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX. The dates came and went and nothing was delivered and there was no communication from the XXXX XXXX XXXX. When I tried to open the site I saved, it stated could not be found. I immediately filed a dispute with my credit card company on XX/XX/XXXX. I tried contacting Afterpay to dispute the payments but there was no way to call. I logged on the Afterpay site to file my dispute but there was only a XXXX option drop down and nothing was listed for merchandised not received. I also saw reviews online where consumers using Afterpay were forced to pay the installment amounts even if they could prove they did not receive the merchandise. Afterpay pays the merchant up front for the full price but makes money by assessing merchant fees. I question how Afterpay checks out prospective merchants prior to approval? I found a contact email on Afterpay for the merchant called XXXX XXXX. I emailed them at XXXX ( also googled it and saw it had very low ratings and is likely a scam site. I got a email from a XXXX ( no last name or background ) from XXXX saying my order just shipped a minute ago! She sent me a link to XXXX which I googled and saw it has very low ratings and lots of complaints. The tracking information was in XXXX and the product supposedly comes from XXXX. XXXX only acts as a logistic company. There is no real tracking of any carriers or verification of deliveries. I filed a XXXX XXXX XXXX complaint on XX/XX/XXXX on Afterpay. I was surprised they had an XXXX rating but had nearly XXXX  complaints in the last XXXX years closing only XXXX. I noticed a second charge of {$14.00} hit my credit card XX/XX/XXXX. I also filed a dispute with my credit card company that day. Afterpay contacted me via email on XX/XX/XXXX after receiving the XXXX  complaint and indicated they would investigate the issue and get back to me. On XX/XX/XXXX Afterpay emailed me again and stated In reviewing your account, Afterpay can confirm that the refund has been processed to your order. On XX/XX/year>, a refund was issued to the card on file. The funds will clear in XXXX business days depending on your financial institution. I also checked the Afterpay site to make sure that the last XXXX installments were eliminated as well. It showed a zero balance. I closed my Afterpay account on XX/XX/XXXX. I see that the XXXX debits of {$14.00} on my credit card have been credited. 
I believe this is a sophisticated scam. Especially easy to perpetuate since everything is online. The scammers used a trusted company name of XXXX to lure consumers. I also question Afterpays policy on approving merchants since their revenue is generated by charging merchant fees. XXXX is the perfect tool to help execute the scam by uploading any merchant information on delivery without verification. I believe many people have been defrauded and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should investigate all aspects of the parties involved.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief