Consumer complaint received 2022-03-31
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
Dear CFPB, At about XXXX on Sunday, the XXXX XXXX  XXXXXXXX XXXX, I logged into the Capital One App, and I saw that, I had been Pre-Approved for a XXXX XXXXXXXX Credit Card, which was stated in the App to be based on my well-kept credit. So, I went ahead and accepted the offer. Please note that I was not pre-selected nor was I pre-qualified. I was pre-approved! A few seconds later, I received an email from my credit monitoring service that there had been a hard inquiry on my credit. 

There was no indication anywhere that there was going to be a hard pull on my credit and I had no idea that a hard inquiry was going to be made to my credit record for a card I was already approved for based on my credit which they checked and knew was great ( XXXX score ). I did not consent to a hard inquiry on my credit report. I called Capital One, rejected the credit card, and asked them to remove the report. The phone agent asked me to send in a letter. 

The next morning ( a Monday ) I sent the complaint letter to Capital One via registered mail on the XXXX XXXX  XXXX, and then I followed up with another complaint via email on the XXXX XXXX  XX/XX/2022. 

On XX/XX/2022, at exactly XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX, a Capital One agent reached out to me on the phone and I explained to her that I accepted the pre-approved card on the app, and that there was no indication or disclosure anywhere that there was going to be a hard pull on my credit. That all I saw was that I was pre-approved which literarily means, already approved. Then I requested that the hard inquiry from my credit be removed. The Capital One Agent declined my request and re-emphasized that " in the eyes of Capital One, 'pre-approved for credit ', and 'pre-qualified for credit ' both mean the same thing ''. 

CFPB, please how are consumers expected to magically see " through the eyes of Capital One ''? I have received other pre-approved credit cards from other institutions and it only results in a soft credit check ( XXXX XXXX for example ). 

I explained to the Capital One agent that acts like this, that will result in significant impact on a persons pecuniary interest, based on words that differs from their ordinary common usage, require clear and informed consent, and should not be misleading. I explained that obtaining consent using misleading words in contexts that are understood only " through the eyes of Capital One '', is not consent. It is misleading and is an unfair and/or deceptive practice. 

I emphasized to the Capital One agent that I was not preselected for credit. That I was not prequalified for credit. But that I was pre-approved for credit! And that there was no indication anywhere on the application that my " pre-approval '' will result in a hard pull on my credit. No mention of hard pull anywhere. 

The Capital One agent declined to withdraw the inquiry and also refuse to provide me with any evidence ( even a screen shot ) of the supposed acceptance page where I supposedly consented to a hard pull on my credit. 

CFPB, I strenuously dispute this inquiry to my credit and my request to Capital One to remove the false hard inquiry from my credit report with all the credit reporting agencies has been to no avail. 

I did not consent to a hard pull on my credit and I am requesting that Capital One removes the false hard inquiring from my credit report. 

Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation