Consumer complaint received 2023-10-19
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
Back in XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX of XXXX, I received a call from Barclay 's Bank asking me to make a payment on the account. I asked them what they meant by that? They said I hadn't made a payment, and I was two months past due. When I asked them why I was late since this card was on autopay for nearly two years and on top of that I would manually go in there on occasion and make an additional payment, they didn't know how to answer me. 

The representatives tried to turn it around on me and asked me if I had changed bank accounts. I told them I've had the same bank account for years, so that wasn't the issue. They asked if maybe I didn't have enough funds to cover the payment, but again, I told them that wasn't the issue. More so since the minimum payment on this card has always been low. Somewhere around {$30.00} to {$75.00} max. Again, they tried to make excuses, but they couldn't really answer me. While on the phone with them, I tried to get into my online account, but it wasn't letting me login. I tried numerous times, but I was unsuccessful in logging in. I asked them how I could log in because their online system was giving me problems. The representative said she would help me, then said she would come back as soon as she found out how, but she hung up on me after a long hold period. 

I didn't give up because I am a responsible person, so I called back immediately, and I explained to the next representative that I had just been on the line with someone trying to get assistance in logging in so I can make a payment. The same thing happened with the second representative. This second time was a bit more blatant, however. She didn't put me on hold, she just said she would help me but ended up hanging up on me as well. The third phone call finally had some success. The third representative listened to me and told me this was the easiest thing to help me with, so she isn't sure why I wasn't being helped or why they hung up on me. She manually reset the password from her end, and I was finally able to log in and make a payment. None of that explained why my autopay ceased to function, or why their online website just decided to stop working for me. After that happened, I went about my way as I thought the matter had been resolved, but lo and behold, nearly a year later I am getting turned down for a mortgage loan because I had a 30 and a 60 day late payment reporting on my credit report for the same time which coincided with this situation. 

After I was told by the lender that this is preventing me from buying a home, I called Barclays to find out why they are reporting me late. This was around XXXX of XXXX. Please keep in mind that I am now only speaking with foreigners and their English was rough. They told me what I already knew. They said in their broken English, " Oh the system must have been down. '' They also gave me numerous excuses, but in the end, none of them could help me. I then sent letters to Barclays as well as to the three credit bureaus on XX/XX/XXXX, informing them how their system was down and how I was mistreated by several Barclay 's employees while trying to address this issue. The only thing I got back from this is a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX saying the late payments are accurate, but they will place a dispute notice to the credit bureaus. 

I don't believe this is right, nor is it fair. Understandably, the credit bureaus are supposed to reflect accurate information so lenders can determine who is responsible and who is not. But just because something was " accurately '' 30 or 60 days late, that doesn't mean that it was 30 or 60 days late due to me not attempting to pay them on time. It doesn't show how an account being 30 or 60 days late could actually be a fault of the creditor itself. If a creditor 's auto billing is faulty, or their system is broken, how can the consumer be blamed for it? How about the fact that I wasn't actually notified about this until I was already 2 months late. Not by text, e-mail, mail, calls, nothing. I shouldn't be blamed for their auto billing system malfunctioning one day after it had been working fine for nearly two years by that point. And I definitely should not have to suffer credit damage for the next 7 years because of it. AND I absolutely should NOT be suffering credit denials due to this. 

Can you please talk to Barclays and have them fix this problem they helped cause? I'm losing out on opportunity after opportunity on homes because of this problem they helped cause.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation