Consumer complaint received 2019-09-04
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NJ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
These people don't value their customers or their relationship with them. I disputed XXXX XXXX dollars worth of authorized charges on my credit card account back in XX/XX/XXXX from a lawyer who ended up scamming me after we paid for his services. I went through the whole disputes process, and the Capital One Disputes department didn't accept my proof of me being scammed which is in black and white. I showed them several pages from the court transcripts, showing by the attorney 's very own words that he was unprepared, and did not file a motion prior to court which had he done, the case very well may have been won. It also showed that what he claimed he didn't know, all the sudden after getting my last dollar, he very well did know, because the prosecutor and judge stated it twice in the court room ... And even with all that, they said I didn't submit enough proof and they needed a second opinion ... Ok -- So I provided them with a second opinion. And THAT wasn't good enough!! All because, get ready for this ... it was in the form of an email, and not a written notarized letter!!! Another lawyer wrote his email that I had showed them free of charge for me. Obviously if he took the time to write a physical letter and get it notarized, he would've charged me. And I already paid {$600.00} for this dispute. I wasn't about to pay more money ... For what?? For them to just say yet again that they needed more information?? Ridiculous!! The court transcripts were plenty of proof, but that wasn't good enough. Seems as though they automatically favored the merchant, as all he stated was, " She agreed to our terms and conditions. '' That was apparently enough for them to deny my claim.. Seriously?? A vague statement like that??? Here I am paying XXXX XXXX dollars for actual court documents, and taking the time to explain everything and point out my proof in the transcripts.. And this XXXX responds with a measly few words, putting no real effort into his rebuttal at all, and they just go in his favor??? XXXX!!! I left a bad review on Capital One 's XXXX page. The person running the page claimed they sent my information over to their partner team within Capital One, whatever that means ... Someone called me alright. And as usual, got absolutely nowhere with my blood boiling and precious time wasted. Told me the reason they denied my claim was because the charges are " too old '' ... XXXX. I've been sent several letters regarding my dispute, and they all say it's because they need a " second opinion '', which I've already provided them with. All of the agents I would get on the phone would tell me the same thing as well. And the charges apparently weren't too old back when I filed the claim months ago, or they would've never processed my dispute to begin with! They would've just told me right then and there that the charges were too old to dispute! It's clear that Capital One will come up with anything they can to not do their job when it comes to helping and protecting their customers. 

The company stated they began a so-called " reasonable investigation '', despite the dispute being outside the timeframes in which they can charge back the amount to the merchant.. as if they had done me a favor for allowing me to file a dispute. Yet, under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act, for disputes under the claims and defenses category, the cardholder can file a dispute with the card issuer at any point up to one year from the statement listing the purchase ... Additionally, it was not clear that I was scammed until I paid the merchant 's lawyer the very last bit of money I was billed. That is when the lawyer told us we no longer had a fighting chance. Where as before collecting all my monies, he told us that our chances of winning the appeal were very good. I had spent the better part of the month trying to get my money back from the merchant, but was unsuccessful. It was shortly after that when I had contacted Capital One to dispute the charges. Due to the circumstances of the type of transactions I was opening a dispute for, even if I was outside of the timeframe ( which I wasn't ), I should have been given the right to file my disputes without being felt like the company was doing me some kind of favor. And according to the federal Fair Credit Billing Act, they weren't ... In response to the company mailing me letters regarding the dispute in which they were not receiving responses to -- I had just moved into my new house back on XX/XX/XXXX, which happened to be around the date that Capital One mailed me their first letter, and I was not receiving all of my mail for the better part of a month, because after speaking with the post office, they had come to the conclusion that one of the two mail carriers was unaware that people were occupying the home at first, and it took the carrier a good few weeks to realize it. It was on a recorded line on the company 's end, that I have told them several times during the month of XXXX that I was not receiving any of their letters they had told me they sent me during the end of XXXX and all through XXXX, minus the two remaining days of the month. The first time I told them back in XXXX that I was not receiving any of their letters, they should have either sent their correspondences to me via XXXX or XXXX special delivery, or emailed me all their correspondences -- Which going by all their emails to me in the past, they are quite capable of doing ... But instead, they just kept mailing me letters via regular U.S. mail, regardless that I told them I was not receiving any of their letters ... The correspondence in which the company is speaking of that I sent them on XX/XX/XXXX, was a phone call that I had made to them after finally receiving a letter from them in the mail on that same day. I was responding to their letter dated XXXX XXXX, which was the first letter I received from them at the new address ... During the phone call, I requested the company to email me a secure link, where I would be able to click on and upload supporting documentation. They did so, and I submitted my documentation ... It was the actual court transcripts, specifically the pages that show the merchant 's lawyer admitting that he did not file a written motion for probable cause, and was unprepared at the trial ( in which case the transcripts actually show him apologizing to the judge for not being prepared. And then ... Well you know the rest, because it's already in my initial complaint against the company ... But apparently, as stated by the company in the first paragraph of the second page, they were " unable to assist further, as my response didn't include information needed to validate my dispute. " ... I don't know about you, but I think court transcripts, which show words coming straight from the horse 's mouth, which only cost me {$600.00} to obtain from the court, is plenty of information needed in order to validate a dispute ... In response to the company 's statement in the second paragraph on the second page, I did provide a valid second opinion -- on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, as admitted by them. But they had concluded that their so-called " original decision was valid '' and would not be changed ... So, the company notably admitted right there that after me already spending {$600.00} on court transcripts, and then going through the hassle of calling lawyers trying to get a second opinion because they had requested it, they yet again refused my supporting documentation ... I said it before and I'll say it again. Capital One is horrible, and clearly does not care about their customers or their relationship with them. The company completely mishandled my dispute in every aspect, and mistreated me -- as opposed to the merchant 's lawyer, who after all the documentation that I worked so hard to get together, responded to the company with one simple statement -- " She agreed to terms and conditions. " ... Seriously?!? I tried. I tried very hard to make the merchant pay me back -- directly and via a dispute claim with my card issuer ... But after all this, in which case I really hope you see what's happened here -- I believe Capital One should now be the ones forced to reimburse me ... Because again, they treated me unfairly, and mishandled my dispute in every aspect.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation