Consumer complaint received 2019-01-21
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: OH
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:
My complaint against Capitol One is below : I filed a dispute and was denied due to time. 
If you read the timeline below, I attempted multiple times to establish a delivery date of my item. Each time a delay was posted by the company. I agreed to the terms. It was only after the XX/XX/XXXX that I requested a refund from the merchant. Not hearing anything via email or phone I promptly filed a dispute with Capitol One. 
Capitol One provided a refund promptly and an agent left a message on my phone. Several attempts to return the call went unanswered by that agent. 
Capitol One then charged my account for the same amount that it had refunded and cited the reason for being lack of documentation. Although, this was provided to them within the given time frame. Agents for Capitol One would not attempt to locate the paperwork that I sent to them. The agent for Capitol One, instead required me to resubmit documentation and provide an additional letter. Each time the agent would respond to my questions with To be honest with you and continued as if this agent had already determined I would not be able to dispute my charge. The agent also told me that the first call that was made to my home phone was a scripted call, and the agent was not expected to call me back. 
I attempted to resolve issues with the merchant. I attempted to receive a refund from the merchant. Once denied I filled a dispute with Capitol One in a timely manner. 
I found no documentation within my CAPITOL ONE CONSUMER AGREEMENT indicating any time frame with regard to not receiving merchandise. 
I filed the dispute in a timely manner after having made an attempt with the merchant for the refund. 
As a consumer how am I able to determine a time frame on disputes if not given the information? 
Capitol One boosts protections for using their card. Yet, fail at providing those protections or providing information to its consumers. Capitol One did allow the merchant to accept a visa as deposit. As a Capitol One consumer I should have been allowed the dispute. Furthermore, the agent that first called me with a scripted message leaving a callback number, was not, and would not be returning my calls. 
This was confirmed by the second agent a talked to. I feel strongly that this was a deceptive business practice to induce the failure of a disputed transaction. Additionally, at the end of my final conversation with the agent I was not provided with any other dispute resolution or ways to have an additional review of the disputed item. 

Disputed charge timeline : During XX/XX/XXXX I made contact with a company, XXXX XXXX XXXX. During this time I had made arrangements for the purchase of a camper. After several emails I received a final contract and was required to place a deposit of {$7000.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email indicating from the merchant that the deposit could be made using several methods including a credit card. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a confirmation that my credit card ( Capitol One ) was charged for the full amount. At this time my expected delivery of the item was XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent an email regarding the status of my item. A return email indicated that the time for delivery was now XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. I agreed to the wait. 

XX/XX/XXXX after a couple of emails I was advised that my item would be ready in XX/XX/XXXX. There were several emails and a general email sent to waiting customers that indicated reasons for the delays. 

In XX/XX/XXXX I inquired about my item and included a somewhat complaint within my email to the company. On XX/XX/XXXX I received the following reply : Your points are well taken. I appreciate your well-worded feedback. I will share your thoughts, especially re : communication, with XXXX so that we can better plan and staff for ongoing communication. Your math ( XXXX - XXXX ) is right. We build all our campers in order - no moving or skipping. I would only add that at the time of that XX/XX/XXXX email, you were actually # XXXX on the list as we were finishing up 3 campers that shipped a few weeks later in late XXXX. I was trying to be positive at the time noting that your order would be # XXXX after those 3 shipped. However, even counting those 3 campers does not dramatically change the rate - i.e. 17 campers vs. 14 ). 

I hope you can hang onto the end of the rope you mentioned. The investment we are making in production re-tooling and staffing this summer ( mentioned in XXXX 's video update ) will help us get your camper built faster than our historical pattern you noted. 
With this response I decided to give it a little longer. I really wanted my item and the delays were somewhat reasonable until now. The company had also posted videos on XXXX to support the things they were telling customers. On XX/XX/XXXX the following was provided : XXXX XXXX XXXX Friends, I personally want to share with you an update on our company. As many of you already know, XXXX XXXX joined us in XXXX of this year to re-tune our manufacturing. By early XXXX, after digging into all that we do and then dividing it into small steps, we concluded that a plant re-work & some outside capital would be required to execute and to increase the production rate. By early XXXX, we had our plan outlined, we were moving things around and we began work on a relatively modest capital campaign. 
The plant is now largely ready and were working with a group of angel investors to finalize the funding. I am happy to share that this is moving along well and were confident that the funding will close fairly soon, barring any external upsets. 
This new capital will allow us to fully execute the manufacturing plan and enable us to reach a point where the business will hit production goals & timelines. Our hope was to have the capital available prior to XX/XX/XXXX, but unfortunately that has not happened - largely due to summer timing ( investor 's vacations, etc. ) and the legal structuring required. Its a lengthy process that is more complicated than we anticipated. 
As a result of the timing and our limited cash-on-hand, XXXX XXXX, XXXX has reduced operations for a short time. We are operating at a minimum level, with principles only, and our focus is on closing the investment. We are all-in and diligently working to get the business over the present hurdles and to the next level. 
Once the funds are in the bank, things will move fast. We have multiple campers ( more than 10 ) in varying stages of build and the completion of those units through the new line will happen quickly. Suppliers are primed and materials will be readily available to start filling the front half of our assembly line as well. 
As always, production quality is our # 1 priority and we expect to ramp-up intelligently to build >10 campers per month. We fully expect to have every unit now under deposit ready to ship over the winter and all campers are being built in-order, with no exceptions. 
We fully realize that the delays and long build-times have been frustrating and disappointing and we live with this pain every day. Many of you have missed trips and postponed plans because of this and a few of our customers have cancelled their orders. Our past inability to nail-down a delivery schedule has been tied to the overall production situation - preventing us from sharing updates/schedules that were anything other than broad estimations. This ongoing struggle was certainly not our plan and we apologize that we have not met our own goals. We are excited to begin operating with set timelines and predictable schedules as we move forward. 
We hope that you will hang with us. A ton of updates and improvements have been made to the campers since those early units - and everyone will get the latest and greatest. Simply put, we believe we build the best campers and that you will ultimately be happy that you stuck with us. 
That said, we are offering a full refund to those of you who paid your deposit in XX/XX/XXXX,  should you choose to cancel. This refund will be made at the earliest possible time after our financing closes. Sales to new customers will be reopening once the plant is running well and our updated price and options list will be made available soon. We have bundled many options into packages - similar to trim levels in the automotive industry - and certain features are now only available ( on new orders ) as part of those packages. 
Its easy for us to say its worth the wait, but we know this wait is not what you expected. Do know that we will provide updates to you every two weeks and well continue to be be upfront and transparent. Your patience deserves nothing less. 
Thank you for understanding. 
Sincerely, any copies thereof. Thank you. 
-XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX , XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX , NC XXXX XXXX At this point I decided to wait until the end of the year as XXXX XXXX had promised the delivery of all items. 
On XX/XX/XXXX and email was sent indicating that the items order were not going to be delivered at the end of XXXX. However, the owner was still working on funding. But, it appears as if he was not returning deposits and there were indications that my funds had been along with others obtained what I feel through fraudulent means. 
After determining that I would not be receiving my item and feeling that my deposit had been obtained fraudulently. I contacted I contacted Capitol One in order to file a dispute in early in XX/XX/XXXX I filed the dispute with Capitol One over the phone ( Case number XXXX ) I was contacted by an Agent from Capitol One via telephone, and a message was left on my answering machine advising me of her name and extension ( XXXX Ext. XXXX ). I called that number four times and left a message with my contact information on XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. I received no call back. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter indicating that my account was credited and I needed to submit documentation and sign a letter. 
Around the XX/XX/XXXX I sent all documentation to the listed address in XXXX XXXX XXXX to include the signed letter. This was sent via the XXXX XXXX XXXX and was tracked and the items were received. A copy of the letter from Capitol One was included with the packet. This letter required my signature and included the case number. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter indicating that my case was closed because of the lack of documentation. 
I promptly called Capitol One and once again talked to people ( XXXX, and XXXX ) regarding my situation. 
I called Capitol One on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with XXXX and then XXXX. XXXX advised me that my case was denied because I did not provide documentation. I advised what I sent and after a while XXXX stated that the documentation may have been lost at the facility in Utah. I was then told to submit the documentation again along with a letter indicating I had not abandon my dispute. 
This was done. 
Another letter was received from Capitol One indicating that my dispute was beyond the time period.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief