Consumer complaint received 2019-07-09
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: VA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Struggling to pay your bill
Sub-issue: Credit card company won't work with you while you're going through financial hardship

Complaint:
I was past due on all my credit cards and began working with each lender on payment plans. Each bank, except Capital One, was easy to work with and I'm fully complying with their payment plans. Each time I called Capital One the rep tried to force me to pay thousands to catch up and would say there wasn't anything they could do. Each rep on each call would talk about how I was already on a plan and I kept stating that I wasn't. All of this would be on their recorded lines. Capital One just refused to help. 

On XX/XX/2019, I started an online chat ( see attached ) at XXXX with representative XXXX XXXX. On page 5 you can read Mr. XXXX telling me that I am already enrolled in a program and I once again respond, " I don't know why it was. I didn't ask for that. '' Five sentences later Mr. XXXX says, " It shows that your account is also eligible for our long-term payment program. '' We discuss the monthly payments, interest rate, the terms of the program. On page 7 he asks, " Do you accept this offer? '' I respond, " The only question I have is the 'The Long-Term Payment Plan does not reduce the balance or obligation to Capital One. ' That sounds to me like I'm throwing money away and it doesn't actually go towards paying off the account. Can you please clarify? '' Mr. XXXX responds, " Please be rest assured, in the 'Long-Term payment program. '' " The full balance will get pay down with monthly payments of {$390.00} for 60 months. '' Two sentences later I respond, " Alright. Sign me up. I appreciate your being able to work with me. '' On the same page I agree to make a payment of {$410.00} at that moment which I do. On the very next page, page 8, Mr. XXXX writes, " This payment will not bring the account current, however, it WILL PREVENT THE ACCOUNT FROM FURTHER DELINQUENCY and will stop the phone calls during that period of time '' ( Emphasis mine ) Further down on page 8 I provide him with the confirmation code of XXXX that confirms I had just paid the {$410.00}. 

The chat ended at XXXX. 

I received a letter from Capital One, see attached letter, dated XX/XX/2019, which confirms my enrollment in a " Workout Program '' but otherwise seemingly in line with what I agreed. This is NOT the name of the program I was told I had been enrolled in on the chat. Also, on this letter, point 10 says that being in the Workout Program does not  guarantee that the account won't be charged off. This is contradictory to the online chat agreement which I have in bold above. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I made a payment, in accordance with the agreement, of {$400.00} which is more than was owed. See attachment of email confirmation of payment. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I tried to use Capital One 's online system to make my next payment and was barred from doing so because the account had been charged off. I called the number provided on the website and spoke to a woman who agreed that I was enrolled in the LONG-TERM PAYMENT PROGRAM and that this was most likely a mistake and that she would send my account over for review. I made the {$400.00} payment over the phone. See attached letter that confirms the payment. See attached letter dated XX/XX/XXXX verifying that I had contacted Capital One to dispute the charge off. 

Today, XX/XX/2019, I received a letter from Capital One dated XX/XX/2019. The letter states the charge-off status is correct. 

I have several issues. First, Capital One was horrendous to work with from the get-go. They just do not want to set people up on payment plans and don't want to reduce interest rates in order to get people back on track. Second, I consider the online chat to be a legal agreement as XXXX XXXX is a collections specialist with Capital One and is therefore authorized to make such agreements. Third, I upheld my end of the agreement but Capital One charged off my account any way. Fourth, every time I had called Capital One to try and work out a payment plan I was told I was already in a plan which was not true. I had at no point agreed to any other plan. It's my contention that Capital One preys on consumers who are not savvy enough to know they are being manipulated. Fifth, the letter they sent to me verifying the details of the agreement contradicted the agreement I had made with Mr. XXXX in terms of program name and that I was to have no further collection action taken. But I, un-savvily, decided to assume that Capital One was going to honor the original agreement. Sixth, since I have been charged-off, the $ 1000+ I paid to Capital One since the agreement was made is basically money thrown away should they decide to sell the loan off.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief