Consumer complaint received 2021-08-19
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: FL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem using a debit or ATM card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2021, after many hours of looking, at XXXX XXXX, I decided to buy a flight ticket for me and my family from XXXX XXXX from XXXX to XXXX to visit a sick relative. 3 hours after buying the ticket, I learned of their death. So, 7 hours after buying the ticket from XXXX, I called and let them know the situation and they decided to give me a refund for the XXXX $ which would arrive within 10 business days. After waiting about 7 business days and no refund, I decided to call Capital One to let them know by filing a dispute. They immediately credited my account with a temporary credit of XXXX $ and said they would resolve the issue within 90 days. 
A few days later, they emailed me asking for proof that XXXX owed me a refund ; proof I did not have since it was all handled over the phone. And that's when the nightmares started, literally. After responding that I had no such proof, I got an email from them with a document from XXXX stating that they do not owe me a refund as it was a nonrefundable ticket. 
I then called XXXX XXXX and they said the refund was issued XX/XX/XXXX however, it was stuck, and it would be reissued again the same day, That was in XXXX, and we are now in XXXX. Thinking this was my smoking gun, I recorded the conversation and sent it to Capital One as proof that they owed me a refund. They then replied asking for more proof and when I called them, they said there was no way to authenticate that audio. 

The next email from them stated they have denied my claim and would withdraw the temporary credit from my account on XX/XX/XXXX. I called them, explained everything, letting them know the airline is lying because they are telling both of us divergent statements, they did not budge. At that point, I had lost many hours of sleep because this kept me up at night, and had lost many hours of work due to spending so much time on the phone with both XXXX and Capital one. 
My parents ' home in XXXX was burnt down in XXXX and this money would go a LONG way towards rebuilding it. So I needed that money back. 

Since they said my audio was " unauthenticatable '' XXXX XXXX XXXX, I decided to call them to appeal. I was transferred to a supervisor who was very nice and allowed me to call XXXX again on the phone as she waited to hear what they would say. She heard with her own two ears that they sent the payment but the bank has not accepted it yet. It was a 15-minute call that I recorded and sent to Capital One as part of an Appeal. Their next message to me was the following : " Re : Claim XXXX for account ending in XXXX [ Capital One Member ], We finished looking into your dispute ( s ). Based on the information we have, your claim ( s ) has been denied because we didn't find any errors for this amount after checking the docs the merchant provided. 

Please note, XXXX issued credit ( s ) to your account totaling {$1600.00} on XX/XX/2021. '' So, EVEN AFTER THE AIRLINE ISSUED THE REFUND, THEY STILL DENIED MY CLAIM based on some shady paperwork the airline sent them. That paperwork was all that it took for them to rule in the airline 's favor, while I have sent them countless documents to try to prove that I was owed a refund. I was even going to take both of them to Small Claims court had the airline not issue the refund when they did. 
A bank is there to protect both merchants and consumers, not just merchants. The burden of proof on merchants is a whole lot less than the one for consumers and that is very sad. Who is keeping these banks in check, to make sure they don't abuse their customers as Capital One did to me? I honestly wish this does not happen to anyone else and that is the reason why I am filing this complaint.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation