Consumer complaint received 2023-07-14
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: IL
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:
I arrived in XXXX, XXXX on XX/XX/ at around XXXX XXXX for a 5 days vacation to stay in XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX. As I as walking out of the XXXX XXXX XXXX I was approached by many people offering me transportation and taxi services, one of them solicitors was this woman who had a ID card and a handheld point of sale machine, to be used for card transactions. She appeared to be a genuine taxi services provider, we agreed on a deal of {$30.00} USD for my ride from the XXXX XXXX to my hotel in XXXX XXXX XXXX. She offered me the option of paying by card so I gave her my CapitalOne REI Co-Op card which she swiped at her mobile XXXX machine, she said she charged me {$30.00} USD but after swiping my card she told me that she her XXXX machine had ran out of paper earlier in the day so she can not give me a paper receipt. She did not inform me about that before running my card. I was a little apprehensive after hearing that, so while the taxi was driving out of the airport I immediately checked my CapitalOne app on my XXXX and noticed the charge of {$310.00} USD, by this time the taxi was already on the way out of the airport, so I told the driver to turn around and take me back to that woman. I was being rushed through this fraud quickly by the driver and the woman. The driver called that woman on the phone, and we met in front of the airport terminal again, she said it must have been a mistake on her part so she will refund to my card and send me an email as receipt of that refund. Credit card refunds don't reflect on your online account right away as compared to regular transactions, usually refunds take a couple of business days to show on my online statement. In a couple of minutes I received an email from the email address XXXX confirming that they have processed a refund of {$310.00}. The woman asked me if I can pay {$30.00} USD cash to the driver instead of using the CapitalOne card that this would be a new transaction with only cash. So the first card transaction was cancelled and then we agreed to a new deal with just cash. I agreed to pay the driver in cash after reaching my destination which was the hotel. After receiving the refund email, I thought the issue had been resolved so I went on my way to the hotel in XXXX XXXX XXXX and paid the driver cash {$30.00} USD. However, I was still feeling a little uneasy about the whole thing, so I called the Capital One customer service the next day XX/XX/XXXX and reported this incident and checked with them if they see the refund amount in their system. CapitalOne customer service asked me to wait a couple days until the refund is processed and shows on my account. So, I waited and then on Saturday XX/XX/XXXX, I saw there was a refund of only {$17.00} USD ( which is XXXX XXXX pesos ), instead of {$310.00} USD as confirmed in the refund email from the merchant XXXX XXXX. I tried contacting the merchant XXXX XXXX XXXX but was unsuccessful following which I contacted CapitalOne customer service and reported the incident as fraud, the fraudsters defrauded me twice, first when they charged me {$310.00} USD instead of {$30.00} USD to my Re-Co Op card and then when they said they are going to refund me the whole {$310.00} USD but instead only refunded {$17.00} USD. I did not authorize or sign this transaction in any way digitally or on paper. She took my card and swiped it for a much greater amount than what we agreed on without my knowledge. I have tried to contact the merchant many times but have been unsuccessful. CapitalOne is refusing to create a dispute case inspite of me calling them many times right from the beginning and providing all the necessary documents like email screenshots, copies of airline boarding pass, hotel reservation. CapitalOne is insisting that they will not open a dispute case with the merchant unless I can provide a copy of the receipt of the cash payment I made to the driver. I have explained to CapitalOne repeatedly that the cash payment was made as part of a whole separate transaction and that the fraudsters did not give me a receipt for that either, quite simply put they made me fall into their trap while I was expecting I would be provided with a receipt. The fraudsters did not mention that they are out of printing paper in their POS machine before swiping my card. CapitalOne has insisted that they will not help me further with this case and I am liable to pay for the charges. They have advised me to contact the merchant which I have tried multiple times with no success. CapitalOne has been thoroughly unhelpful and disappointing. 


I am attaching the copies of the following documents in support of this case : 1.CapitalOne credit card statement 2.Capital One Dispute update letter 3.Screenshots of refund email from the merchant XXXX XXXX 4.Airline Boarding pass 5.Hotel reservation

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation