Consumer complaint received 2021-02-16
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: You never received your bill or did not know a payment was due

Complaint:
Summary : Barclays never tried to notify me before sending negative reports to the three Credit Reporting Agencies and ruining my credit rating. If they had, the issue, caused by simple miscommunication, would have been immediately resolved. 

The Background : In XX/XX/XXXX, I received a new Barclay 's Ring Mastercard with a credit limit of {$30000.00}. The high credit limit is due to the fact that I have always had a stellar credit rating over the last 40 years. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I tested out the credit card and made four nominal charges totaling {$170.00}. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a USPS letter from Barclays ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ) stating that my account was three months past due. This was the first notification that I received from Barclay 's for the XXXX charges since no invoices were received. Within an hour of receiving this letter, I called Barclays and had an eCheck issued to them for the {$170.00}, plus {$6.00} in interest, plus {$87.00} in late fees. Total = {$260.00}. 

The promptness of my response to paying off the debt once I became aware of it, is indicative of my previously established habits that have resulted in having a stellar credit rating. I always pay my credit card charges promptly. 

During the conversation with the Barclay 's representative, they informed me that Barclay 's had already submitted negative reports to the three Credit Reporting Agencies ( CRA 's ) in regards to the nonpayment of the initial charges. This is the crux of my CFPB complaint. Barclays never tried to notify me before sending negative reports to the three Credit Reporting Agencies and ruining my credit rating. If they had, the issue, caused by simple miscommunication, would have been immediately resolved. 

The Problem : The root cause of the problem was that Barclay 's submitted the credit card invoices via email instead of regular USPS mail. The invoices were never received by me, because Barclay 's never verified a proper email communication link with me.

When Barclays sent the physical credit card, they established and verified a valid USPS mail communication link with me. When I called in to Barclays to activate the credit card, a valid Telephone communication link was established. However, Barclay 's did not utilize either of these validated communication links to provide the invoices. Instead, they used an unverified method, email, which did not have an established bidirectional communication link. In later conversations with Barclay 's escalation manager, she speculated that the invoices probably went into my email spam folder. That is probably what happened, but she also said that it was my responsibility to check the spam folder for the invoices which is a completely unrealistic expectation. 

The Follow-Up : When I was speaking with the Barclay 's representative on XX/XX/XXXX, he provided me with the address to dispute the credit agency claims - Barclays Credit Bureau Dispute Department. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a letter to Barclay 's Credit Bureau Dispute Department explaining the problem ( as I have noted above ), and requesting that they reverse the negative CRA reports as they were a communication mistake. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a short form letter back stating that, " ... our investigation confirmed that your account is being reported accurately ''. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a second letter to Barclay 's Credit Bureau Dispute Department stating that their initial conclusion of, " ... reported accurately '' is technically correct because Barclay 's did not receive payment. But that was not the the reason I appealed. My appeal was because Barclay 's is culpable for the miscommunication that caused the late payments. Because of that, they should take responsibility for their error and reverse the negative CRA reports. I also emphasized that they had the means to communicate with me via USPS letter BEFORE they sent the negative CRA reports, but they chose to report me first and then send me the letter I received on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Barclays sent the exact same form letter to me that they sent on XX/XX/XXXX with the same words that, " ... our investigation confirmed that your account is being reported accurately ''. No acknowledgement whatsoever of what was in my letter or any recognition of XXXX 's culpability. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I posted a message on Barclay 's website asking for help. I was contacted by phone a couple days later and explained the situation whereas I was given a Manager 's name to contact. After speaking with her, she said that she couldn't do anything but reopen my case, and referred me to an Escalation Manager. I spoke with the Escalation Manager and she said that she could not remove the delinquency because Barclays had not received an " undeliverable email '' notification when the invoices were sent to my email. Thus, they assume the emails went through and if the invoices went into my spam folder that it was my responsibility to find them there. She then provided me with the address of the Office of the President to escalate the matter to. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a letter to the President of Barclays explaining the situation and the simple miscommunication, pointed out how the internal policies prevented the Managers from removing the CRA delinquency reports and requested that he have his team retract the negative information that was sent to the CRAs. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the President 's Assistant called me and left a voicemail on my phone with her name and extension. I promptly returned the call but was sent to voicemail. No return call. I called twice the next business day with no return call. Three times the following day with no response. 16 additional calls were made over the next several weeks leaving messages for both the President 's Assistant and the Office of the President 's voicemail, with no responses. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted a second letter to the President of Barclays informing him of the several unanswered calls that have been made and requesting that he please address my concerns. No response has been received. I have made several calls to the Office of the President over the last couple of weeks and all went to voicemail with no call-back responses. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, out of total frustration on what should have been a very simple issue to resolve, I am submitting this complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

Thank You for your help.

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