Consumer complaint received 2021-04-30
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NV
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I opened up a 360 Checking account with Capital One bank. I then proceeded to go about standard banking actions over the course of the years ( ACH and cash deposits, check deposits, ATM withdrawals, Capital One credit card transfer payments, bill pay orders, miscellaneous bill payments, etc. ) On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Capital One Early Warning Services stating that they'd noticed unusual recent activity on my account and that my account had been restricted until I called in to verify some details. I immediately called the number provided, concerned that some type of fraudulent charges had posted to my account or something. When I called in, the representative began asking me questions regarding recent transactions, most specifically why I had been making an increased amount of withdrawals in the last few months. These withdrawals were a result of my attempt to withdraw a SBA disaster loan I had received in XXXX for my business that was shut down because of the pandemic. However, because there are no physical branch locations in my city, I was forced to make repeated ATM withdrawals, over the course of weeks, in order to gradually get the money out of my bank account. I had even called Capital One to see if my daily withdrawal limit could be temporarily raised so I could withdraw it all at one time, but I was told I could not.

Anyways, so I was doing my best to answer her questions, particularly why I had to make so many withdrawals and why I had received a government loan in addition to unemployment payments. Meanwhile, I was still not sure why these transactions had triggered them to stop me from making withdrawals from my account. However, during the course of our conversation, I received a call from Capital One, that I switched over to answer, just in case it was in regard to my account as well. Unfortunately, after I asked the other representative to call me back and quickly switched back, the original Capital One agent had hung up. After calling back several times, I was eventually able to speak to another agent. However, after undergoing the whole process of questioning and justification regarding my banking habits again, this agent now informed me that, based on the information I had provided, my account was under review and would be closed upon completion of the internal review. I was informed that my the remaining balance after the review would be mailed to me once the closure of my account was complete. However, I was also told it was unlikely that any money would be returned to me, despite my current balance being {$680.00} ( all accrued from unemployment ), unless my total balance totaled the full amount of the loan amount I had previously received. The explanation I received for this was that the SBA might try to reverse the deposit, despite the fact that I had received no correspondance from the SBA to this effect. When I asked how long this review and closure process would take, I was not given any timeframe. When I asked for a point of contact, who could provide a timeframe or updates, and I could provide documentation to prove the legality of my account activity and incoming deposits, I was told there was no one. 

The next day I received another email telling me that my account was restricted and that pending the review, my " account ( s ) may be closed and your balance - plus all interest earned - will be transferred to your linked external checking account. '' After this, I did not receive much more correspondance, until on or about XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that my account balance had gone from {$680.00} to XXXX. When I called Capital One to find out what address they had mailed my account closure balance check to, I was informed that my balance had been withdrawn and sent back to the SBA instead. When I requested a transaction ID or some identifying information on the deposit, to reference when I contacted the SBA, I was provided nothing except for the SBA to contact someone in Capital One Customer Protection. That same day, I contacted the SBA help line, to verify if the bank can send back a deposit to the SBA, and I was told no. I was told that the only way to make a payment toward a SBA loan is through the specific portal and payment website. I have monitored my SBA balance and payments posted and is record of any amount posting to my account. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I received my actual account closure check amount, totaling {$0.00}, which was interest accrued on the prior month 's balance. On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Capital One once again to determine where my {$680.00} had gone, since the SBA clearly never received it. After being transferred back to Customer Protection, I was informed that my payment had not been sent to the SBA, as previously stated, but to the Treasury. The representative then claimed that it was the Treasury 's responsibility to disperse the funds to the appropriate department. However, the agent could not provide any evidence of who exactly the money was sent to or how the process worked. She simply claimed that it was their procedure to do it that way. I explained to her that the SBA, nor the Treasury, asked Capital One to make a payment toward my loan or return the loan payment, so why would they randomly send my money to the Treasury, with no explanation? She claimed that if the Treasury had not dispersed my money to the SBA, it probably was in their " Uncollected Funds ''. I asked if my payment had been sent with my account details, my name, checking account number, or any other type of identifying information to guide the Treasury on where to send the money. The agent once again did not provide any information, simply stating over and over that they don't do anything with the payment once it is sent. I then asked the agent to which Treasury the payment had been sent to. Was it the US Treasury? A state Treasury? Where exactly had my money gone? If Capital One is actually randomly sending money to government departments, I need to know exactly where it was sent, so I can call someone to get this straightened out myself.

I once again asked for a deposit ID or a transaction number that I could reference when contacting the Treasury ( whichever one it was sent to ). I was told that Capital One does not have that information. I told her that obviously someone has that information, since someone in Capital One is sending the money to the Treasury. Finally, after continuing to press her, the representative put me on hold to find a contact number for someone at the Treasury that the money was sent to. When she returned to the line, she provided a contact phone number of XXXX, which I confirmed with her when writing it down. This same number is seen written on the statement attached. The agent then stated to me that she had confirmed that my payment had either been sent to the Treasury or the Secret Service, she wasn't sure. Upon calling the number provided, it is a disconnected phone number, or at least does not ring through to anything. I have now been on hold for a total of 16 hours, waiting for an operator at the Department of the Treasury, in order to try to speak to someone who can locate my funds and either return them to me or properly route them to the proper destination. If Capital One wants to take people 's hard earned money, and money that the government is providing to small business owners to keep them from going bankrupt, they should at least keep track of where they're sending that money, unless they're simply unjustly enriching themselves/their government counterparts, with mine and I'm sure many other 's money that we need to survive. I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX owner and this is unacceptable during a pandemic and in this current day and age. Regulate these companies. They are out of control.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation