Consumer complaint received 2018-02-28
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: DE
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2018 @ XXXX XXXX Est I contacted Capital One application dept. and was told by representative XXXX that I could either go online or upgrade my existing Capital One card to the Venture card and the terms were as expressed in the promotion I had seen online ; XXXX  miles per {$1.00} spent, XXXX bonus miles if you spend {$3000.00} in the first 3 months of having the card, 0 % APR for 14mo., 10x miles if pay at XXXX & {$95.00} annual fee. She stated there was no difference other than I would have two Capital One cards if I applied online. I applied for the Venture card and was denied. I called back to Capital One at XXXX XXXX Est immediately after this happened and spoke to XXXX in customer services who transferred me to XXXX in the application department. According to XXXX, XXXX gave me incorrect information and since I applied for the XXXX card online this would show on my credit report as a hard inquiry. I was not informed by XXXX that applying online was going to affect my credit because I was already approved for the XXXX card. In our conversation credit inquiries were not discussed, even though I should have known so being I was processing an application, and it is within the disclosures. XXXX provided me with the telephone numbers to the 3 credit bureaus : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and advised me to call and ask if a hard inquiry had been made by Capital One today, XX/XX/2018. She asked me to do this because during our conversation I told her I forgot to remove my security freeze on my account. I stated I would call, however prior to doing so could she please go over the Venture card terms with me again so I could make sure I had them correct because she told me that applying online was different than upgrading my credit card. She stated the difference was when I applied online I would have been eligible for the 50,000 bonus miles if I made {$3000.00} in purchases in the first 3 months of obtaining the card and there was no Apr. for 14 mo., along with all the other options. She said but if I upgraded my current Capital One card I would not be eligible for the XXXX bonus miles or the no Apr. for 14 mo., however all the terms of my current card would remain the same to upgrade to Venture ;  those terms are no annual fee, interest rate same as it is now and then I would get the other XXXX benefits, XXXX  miles per 1.00 spent and I could use hotel.com/venture and get 10x miles per 1.00 during this promotion. She did put me on hold and check on these terms with someone prior to stating them to me. I hung up and the only credit bureau I could contact was XXXX and I was told there was no hard inquiry today by Capital One. I had to request a copy of my credit report from the other two bureaus and check them after they are mailed to me. When I called back and spoke to XXXX at XXXX XXXX Est to upgrade to the Venture card she started to give me different terms than XXXX had and I requested a supervisor, and XXXX subsequently answered. When I expressed my frustration to XXXX about being told all the different information about the terms of the Venture card and if I applied for a new one versus upgrading my existing card and all the different answers the representatives  had given me he was less than sympathetic and unwilling to help me resolve the problem. I stated all I wanted was the Venture card promotion through upgrading my card, I had never asked for a new card or wanted another credit card or different one. XXXX went on to tell me I could not upgrade my existing card and receive the promotional features ( 50,000 miles if you spend {$3000.00} in the first 3 months and no annual percentage rate for 14 mo. ). When I explained to him that because of Capital One 's representatives giving me misinformation I may have a hard inquiry on my credit report, which could possibility lower my credit score and in order to now get the Venture card I must either further reapply for a second Capital One card ; which comes with the risk of being denied, taking another hard inquiry on my credit report, and a possible effect on my credit history, or upgrade my existing account and according to XXXX to have the Venture card ; pay {$95.00} annual fee, receive 2 miles per {$1.00} spent, no 50,000 bonus miles, no 0 % Apr. for 14 months and I can use the hotel.com/venture and receive 10x miles for every {$1.00} spent. When I asked what will Capital One due to compensate me for the fabrications and inconveniences told me by their representatives now that I may have a hard inquiry on my credit report and even though I can upgrade to the Venture card I get none of the bonuses i.e. XXXX   miles if spend XXXX in first 3 months and 0 % Apr. for 14mo. or even the misinformation from XXXX and no annual fee of {$95.00}. He stated nothing that Capital One has no responsibility and went on to ask if I would like to upgrade or not. I did upgrade my existing Capital One card to the Venture card after being read a disclosure by XXXX. I was not given any bonus features.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief