An NBC 5 viewer turned to the NBC 5 Responds team for help after spending several months trying to get their money back for a flight they said they didn’t take or purchase.
In February, Allison Checkoway learned someone used her Chase credit card to purchase three plane tickets. Two for Delta Airlines and another for United Airlines.
“I noticed a couple of flights, I marked them as fraud,” said Checkoway. They immediately took it off which was great.”
But fast forward to mid-April. While Chase credited her back for the two Delta tickets, they refused to credit back the one ticket for United saying Checkoway received a benefit from that transaction insisting she took the flight.
“I did not take a one-way ticket from LaGuardia to Houston on a Sunday night, first-class for no reason,” said Checkoway who lives in Plano.
Checkoway spent weeks trying to reach someone with Chase.
“The phone number said due to COVID they're not in the office and the voicemail is full. I can't tell you how many chase numbers I called,” said Checkoway.
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When she finally reached someone with Chase corporate security, they even thought the charge was odd.
“They said yeah this doesn't sound right because there were two other purchases from Delta on the same day that they had flew. I mean, hello, this doesn't make sense,” said Checkoway.
Checkoway could also prove it wasn’t her. She had tolls from driving around north Dallas and a dinner receipt from a meal she had with her husband. But Chase still refused to issue her a refund.
So she did some investigating and contacted NBC 5 Responds for help.
“The fact that I've had to do all this investigation and Chase wouldn't is pretty unbelievable to me,” said Checkoway.
NBC 5 Responds confirmed with United Airlines a ticket had been purchased and used on the same day using Checkoway’s name. They also said a mileage account was created at the same time the ticket was purchased.
“They were able to send me a copy of the ticket. They were able to tell me it was a June birthday. My birthday is not in June,” said Checkoway.
She filed a report with the Plano Police Department and FBI. The TSA told NBC 5 too much time had lapsed for them to investigate who flew that day.
NBC 5 Responds reached out to Chase to see why they wouldn’t reverse the charge despite evidence Checkoway didn’t take that flight. And within a few days, they issued her a refund.
In a statement Chase said, “As soon as the customer notified us of potential fraud we canceled the card, issued a temporary credit and began an investigation with the airlines. Based upon their information, we reimbursed two flights. When we learned more, we reimbursed the third flight."
"Thank you NBC 5 Responds! I'm getting a refund from Chase in the amount of $588.40 and I could not have done this without you guys. I really hope they still catch the people that committed this fraud and identity theft," said Checkoway.
NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our Customer Complaint form.
