Citi Inadequate Sears Citi MasterCard Dispute Department New York New York

I found the dispute department at Sears Citi MasterCard to be wholly inadequate to my needs as a customer. They were unable to reasonably filter through the information I gave them, and what they discovered on their own, in order to resolve my dispute in a logical and correct manner. They have refused to issue a credit back to my Sears Citi MasterCard in the amount of $244.77, which was fraudulently debited from my card from Infynity's Rent A Car at Ramon Villeda Morales International Airport in La Lima, Honduras.

The information on my dispute is as follows: My wife and I rented a car from Hilda at Infynity's Rent A Car on the afternoon of June 8. The car was a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, an older vehicle for rental purposes, but it was the only vehicle they had available, and it appeared to be in good condition. We were told that the amount we were being charged included insurance. So, we decided to rent the vehicle. However, when we were near our destination, over an hour away, we experienced grinding of the rear right frame on every speed bump, no matter how slow I went, or how large the bump was. I know from experience working on cars, that that would be due to a serious suspension issue, and possibly a tire/rim issue as well. But since we were already an hour drive from the rental car location, and they had stated that our vehicle was the only one they had available, it was not feasible to try to go and return the vehicle; so we made due with it, as best as possible. The car also had very slow acceleration.

On the night of June 10th, around 9 pm, we experienced a flat tire on the same rear right side as the major suspension/tire/rim issue. I installed the donut spare, and we continued driving for 30 minutes, when the spare also went flat. Thankfully, we were within city limits this time, however, still an hour from our destination. We got the full size tire filled with air, but when I was removing the spare tire, one of the lug nut studs broke off, leaving only three remaining; because both rear tires only had four of the five lug nut studs to begin with. Only having three lug nut studs then made the vehicle even more mechanically unsafe to drive. I re-installed the full sized tire, and started driving , but we only made it 10 minutes until the tire went flat again. We again took the tire to a shop to have it and the spare refilled, but this time, the tire could not be refilled because the rim was too damaged for the tire to hold air. My wife, who speaks Spanish, called Hilda at the rental car office and spoke to her. Hilda was not concerned with our safety, being that we are Americans in Honduras, a Country known for violence against tourists at times, especially at night; Hilda was only concerned with the safety of the car and that we kept it in a secure location and kept an eye on it. She was not concerned at all with our safety. My wife had to explain to her several times about the safety issue with the lug nut stud breaking off, in order to get her to agree to bring us a replacement vehicle the next morning. We slept in the vehicle that night. The next morning, the spare still was holding air, so we continued to drive and made it to our destination.

Around 1 pm, Hilda came with her mechanic. She tried to convince us to let her change the tire/rim, and to keep the original vehicle, so my wife once again had to explain to her that because of the missing lug nut studs, the original vehicle was unsafe to drive. Hilda did not apologize for us being stuck on the side of the road, at night, in a violent country, or for the inconvenience of having our vacation interrupted, and was trying to make us drive an unsafe vehicle. Being that there are a lot of potholes and other unsafe road conditions in Honduras makes it all the more crucial to have a safe vehicle to drive in. Reluctantly, Hilda allowed us to take the replacement vehicle. The replacement car looked identical to the original car, but did not have an issue with acceleration or suspension/tire issues. So, it was obvious that the original vehicle had been improperly and inadequately maintained. Who knows how long it had had serious suspension/tire and rim issues before we rented the vehicle? Infynity's Rent A Car shows by their inadequate maintenance and inadequate customer service and disregard for customers needs and safety, in trying to force customers to drive a vehicle that they know are mechanically unsafe, that they should not be operating a customer service oriented business. We returned the vehicle at 5 am on June 13, 2016. Hilda had promised she would be at work early that day to receive the vehicle, but she was not; so we returned the keys to an airport employee. Therefore, she was not there to talk to us, or tell us that she planned on charging us for two tires. Hilda, upon replacement of the vehicle on June 10th, did not state her intention to charge us for the damage. Furthermore, only one original tire was damaged, due to normal wear and tear, most likely a preexisting issue on that rim, due to the numerous pot holes and hazardous road conditions in Honduras which the vehicle had undergone in the previous six years, since it was a 2010 model. The spare donut, was not damaged, but was simply improperly maintained and not filled to the proper air pressure or inspected for leaks. Hilda, is the sister of the owner of the company, and only looking out for the needs of the company and of her sister, and in our experience, not completely and adequately invested in the needs of the customers.

I noticed the charge of $244.77 on our Sears Citi MasterCard, and I asked my wife to call Hilda to find out if they had mistakenly double charged us. Hilda was very combative and would barely let my wife speak; she was not interested in resolving the dispute at all, simply kept repeating that she had to charge us for two tires, and that she would not reverse the charge. So, my wife was unable to, in any way, resolve our dispute, or ask Hilda any further questions in the matter. Infynity's Rent A Car never sent us, or attempted to sent us a bill, however, I was told by Sears MasterCard Customer Service, that Infiniyty's told the investigator investing our dispute, Kevin H, that we had received a bill, and that we had resolved the issue with them. They had sent him a copy of a bill, which I immediately requested. I sent a letter back to Kevin, to dispute Infinity's fraudulent statements that we had received a bill and that they had resolved the dispute with them. If I had a bill from Infinity's, then why would I be requesting the bill that they sent the investigator; and if I had resolved the dispute with Infinity's, then why would I be continuing the dispute with Sears Citi MasterCard? Sears then sent me a copy of the bill sent by Infinity's, but it is simply a copy of the agreement I signed upon rental of the vehicle on June 8th, 2016. It includes, on the bottom, an amount of $3500.00 Lempiras as a deductible, which is about $159 US. We were told by Hilda that the vehicle was insured, so at the most, we should have been charged the insurance deductible of $159. But Hilda did not tell us that they planned to charge us when she dropped off the replacement vehicle; or call us later on June 11th or 12th to explain to us that they were going to charge us; or show up to receive the vehicle and explain the charges; or attempt to call us after she arrived at the office on June 13th, or attempt to ever send us documentations of the charge. A rental car company can not simply charge whatever they want to a customer for normal wear and tear mechanical issues, especially involving inadequate maintenance, and furthermore involving an agreement detailing an insurance deductible.

They are attempting to make us financial responsible for their aging vehicle fleet's improper maintenance issues, which is in no way our responsibly. Their responsibility is to abide by their agreement and provide properly maintained and safe vehicles for their customers; and to be sufficiently concerned about the safety of their customers on the road. If they are not concerned about safety, then they they should not be in a business so intertwined and involving customer safety. I have detailed all of these details in two letters to the investigator, Kevin H, investigating our dispute, but he was not willing to thoroughly and logically investigate the claims and details of the case, and chooses to take the side of the Infinity's, who is making fraudulent statements, as stated above, and not abiding by the signed agreement in regards to the deductible, as stated above. Therefore, my credit card should be immediately credited in the amount of $244.77, which was fraudulently debited from my account, and later issued a conditional credit and later re-debited to my account, following an inadequate and illogically investigated dispute.

I have fully detailed the unsafe business practices, hostile and fraudulent customer service dealings of Infinity's Rent A Car, and the mishandling, irresponsible and incomplete investigation of my dispute by Kevin H of the Sears Citi MasterCard dispute department. Furthermore, because I was faithfully relying on the dispute department to responsibly and ethically find in my favor and permanently credit back the amount to my account, I did not attempt to file an insurance claim with MasterCard, which must be filed within 15 days. However, I fully expected the dispute to be quickly resolved in my favor, since all the evidence is in my favor, and because of the utmost respect that I formerly had in Citi Credit Cards, since I had never had an issue with Citi involving a credit card matter before. I did not expect the dispute department to be an arduous process and severely misaligned in the favor of the companies, and not on the customers side. Therefore, I expect a permanent re-credit of my Sears Citi MasterCard, card number ending in 7792, by September 25, 2016, the date that my next payment is due, in order to avoid any late payment or interest charges to my account.