Consumer complaint received 2016-05-05
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: WI
Product: Credit card
Issue: APR or interest rate

Complaint:
I got a credit card from Capital One, then due a variety of unexpected events I ended up with a higher balance than I intended. I understood when I got the card that I would have 0 % interest until XX/XX/2016, after that I would start paying interest on any balance after that time. Because of this I began pursuing other methods of paying my balance in a more manageable fashion than dealing with the oncoming high interest rates of this card. I then received an offer from Capital One regarding balance transfers. I called to ask questions about the offer and to see if it would affect my current balance. The person I talked to said the offer would n't affect my current balance, but that was irrelevant because I would never have to pay any interest on my balance anyway. This was news to me so I had him further clarify. He then told me that only purchases after XXXX XXXX would incur interest, and that any regular purchases I made before that date would not ever incur interest. I then stopped perusing other methods of paying off the balance, and made other purchases on the card. 

However, after XXXX XXXX I saw I had a substantial interest charge on my account. I called Capitol One to dispute it because I had n't made purchases on the card from XXXX XXXX onward. The person said that it was the interest on my entire balance. I explained what had been told to me during my last call and she thought I simply did n't understand what my terms were, but I made it very clear that I did understand how my card worked. I said that if they were to go back and listen to the conversation I had with the representative, they would clearly hear him explain that I would not be paying interest on regular purchases before XXXX XXXX. She said there was nothing she could do, so I asked to speak to a manager. The manager said that he would waive that interest change, then the call dropped. When I called back they said I would n't be able to speak to that manager again, but they could get another manager for me. When the new manager got on the phone she also claimed that I simply misunderstood how credit cards worked and tried to explain it. Again, I had to make it clear that I did in fact understand how it all works and that before talking to the person in my original phone call, I thought that was how my card worked. It was only after I was clearly told by this representative of Capital One, did I understand it differently. I took the representative 's word because I should be able to assume that a representative of Capitol One would have a better understanding of how my credit card works that I do. If I was in fact mislead by your company, I, the victim, should not be the one responsible for that mistake. She said she understood I had been misinformed by the company, but that the only thing she could do at this point would be to take off the single interest charge, but it had already been done. She said there was no way to remove or prevent future interest charges, even if I had been mislead. I asked for the recording of the original conversation and she said they do not give the recordings to the customers. I then asked if could at least have a lower interest rate, and she said no. 

Because a representative of Capital One grossly mislead me, my original plans to pay off the balance have fallen though, I made purchases I would have never made had I still had my original understanding of my terms, I have to make much higher payments than expected, I might not even be able to make a dent on my balance because of interest charges I am now stuck with, and my plans to return to school in the fall could also fall through. They did almost nothing to correct their company 's mistake. On top of all this I was repeatedly treated like a dumb girl who does n't understand how credit cards work.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation