Consumer complaint received 2018-11-01
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CA
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:
Regarding my capital one mastercard : Capital one has repeatedly and egregiously violated mastercard 's policy regarding dispute handling, resulting in a cost to me in time and money to pay for invalid charges and/or endlessly pursue a just outcome. I am a merchant of more than a decade as well, and I would never get away with the unethical behavior these merchants have been allowed to participate in, and capital one has helped them to carry out. 

There are 2 major recent incidents to report, though there are actually other past problems too : 1. I was billed for items on an order that I did not request/purchase, and by the merchant 's own admission, never received.I even had indisputable documentation that I contacted the merchant about the error before the date of service, and that they told me they would take care of it. 

The merchant was XXXX XXXX, and the service they charged me for was a checked bag. I did not request it, but it was added to my order either by human or computer error. Well before the flight I contacted them by chat ( transcript provided to Capital One and available to this agency by request ). I was told the charge would be refunded, so long as I did not check a bag. After the flight, XXXX refused to refund despite no bag being checked, their previous promise, or the fact that I never asked to check a bag ( I never do, not an option I even consider ). The charge amount was {$90.00}. In six months and more than 30 hours of my efforts, Capital One never resolved the dispute properly by debiting the merchant. They did eventually refund me the {$90.00} from their funds, but I received no compensation for my time and trouble. 

2. I disputed a charge at a NYC hotel, because of the condition of hotel ( XXXX XXXX ). The floor was soaking wet in half of the unit. I was chasing roaches around ( have photos ), and the door/llock/handle were so loosely attached it was in no way secure. I visited the desk where the person there offered no remedy, dismissing me for the next customer ( yes seriously, right in my face, disregarded my complaint ). I then left the hotel. To this day capital one has not processed my dispute properly and re-billed me for the transaction. 

The worst part of this one is how capital one has teamed up with the merchant to help them defraud me. They claimed there was a merchant response that I needed to reply to, but only notified me after the reversal, and then said it was too late to respond, but that I could still " try '' if I wanted to. They claimed to have mailed me a copy of the merchant response with a letter. I received nothing, so either the mail failed or they lied about sending it. They then said they sent it again, and refused to send expedited or tracked. After a month that one also never arrived. Upon requesting they send it again either electronically or by some trackable service, they simply refused, and informed me that now that even more time has passed making my case almost unwinnable. So, they have demanded a timely reply to something I've never received. The first reply was expected before I was notified by any method. This must be illegal? and certainly violates the protections I am supposedly offered by using a card with the mastercard logo.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief