Consumer complaint received 2017-11-18
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MD
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Overdrafts and overdraft fees

Complaint:
I am a customer of Capital One Bank, and I was charged {$560.00} in overdraft fees for 16 transactions over the course of 13 days without the bank reaching out to me in a way one would expect. As a XXXX XXXX, this clearly is an amount that is unaffordable. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, my rent check was cashed, resulting in an overdraft of {$180.00}. I overdrafted due to a mistake, where my fianc accidentally requested my half of the rent, and I also sent a check for half of my rent, essentially, double paying. 

From XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX, I accumulated {$310.00} in overdraft fees for 10 automatic debits averaging of {$44.00} per transaction. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I went on vacation to XXXX, Virginia, over 150 miles away from where I live. I continued to overdraft and accumulate overdraft fees. Over the course of the vacation, my account reached a low of - {$1200.00}. 

After my fianc realized she had a bunch of extra money in her account, she realized the mistake, and sent me what she had, minus some money for bills. She sent me back {$970.00}, which I deposited on XX/XX/XXXX. 

However, it was n't enough. It bought my account to - {$290.00}. Of course, by that point, I racked up {$450.00} in overdraft fees, so had they been lowered, or had this been caught earlier, I would n't have continued to accumulate. 

After that, I accumulated {$100.00} more in overdraft fees, resulting in a final total of {$560.00}, over half a grand. I had still not received notification about the overdrafts. 

If it were n't for two things, I would have accumulated more. First, the semester started for me, and I received student loans. Second, there was an enormous flood of mail, over 16 letters.
I finally realized the problem around the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX when I checked the mail. 

As soon as I received my mail and checked my statement, I called Capital One to figure out what the heck happened, how the bank could allow me to go down to - {$1200.00} ( off {$820.00} worth of overdrafts ), what would make them think I would want to pay {$35.00} for nickel-and-dime transactions of {$5.00}, why, even though I have the app and the bank has my email and phone number, I was n't notified, and, most glaringly, how they could continue to allow my account to decline to such a negative balance when there was evidence that transactions were occurring far away, something I would expect would raise suspicion. The gist of the answer I received was that these were automatic payments, I therefore approved them, and that 's that. 

They said they could offer me {$35.00} back once a year ( or maybe it was {$70.00}, I do n't remember ). To make my point at my displeasure, I asked how I could close my account, and the customer service representative told me, without hesitation, that he could close the account over the phone, which of course just made me angrier. I did not keep records of the conversation because I was, yes, mad, and still trying to wrap my head around it. 

I then wrote two letters. One to XXXX XXXX, SVP Card Customer Experience at Capital One, and one to XXXX XXXX XXXX, Chief Card Customer Experience Officer, which were to me the closest I could get to a sympathetic ear, as I could n't find an executive for personal banking beyond the president. I have not received a reply. 

My main complaints are the following : 1. I do n't like overdrafts, I do n't want to overdraft, I did n't know I could overdraft. I had overdraft protection, which I thought meant it would reach into my savings until there was none left, and then stop payments. It 's clear if you have overdraft protection, you do n't like overdrafts. There may have been an issue of opting in, but I got my Capital One account in XX/XX/XXXX, and I did n't really know what I was doing back then. It was the first account I opened, and was only two years after the CFPB opened. 

I do n't know how Capital One Bank conduct business ; whether new personal bankers automatically allow overdrafts, if it 's opt-in to overdrafts, or if overdraft protection is also an opt-in to allow overdrafts. In any case, you 're CFPB, so you probably know better, but you also released a report on opt-in overdraft protection. Either way, it feels like I was behaviorally nudged into this disaster waiting to happen. 

2. Any consumer banking institution should be aware of potential fraud or abnormal spending behavior. As an XXXX XXXX, I know how easy it is to make systems that can track consumer behavior and raise red flags. I had two. First, I never carried a negative balance more than {$100.00} in my 4 years banking. Second, who in their right mind would spend {$5.00} on a small transaction when their account is already - {$500.00} and it 's a {$35.00} overdraft ( and do it repeatedly would be clear evidence of not knowing they 're overdrafting ). Third, one transaction occurred over 150 miles away at an ATM. 

This is evidence to me that Capital One does n't care about the financial security of their customers, because why spend money to check in with customers when you can make {$560.00} in overdraft fees? 

3. On a similar note, the way that I was notified was completely unsatisfactory. I have the Capital One app with notifications enabled, and the bank has my phone number and email. Instead, the way I found out I overdrafted was through the mail. This is absolutely unacceptable, given that my 1.2 transactions a day yielded an average of {$43.00} in overdraft fees a day. Given the speed of mail, that 's {$86.00} to {$210.00} dollars, and that assumes that I check my apartment 's mailbox every day in the lobby ( for reference, I just opened XX/XX/XXXXs statement ; it 's XX/XX/XXXX ). 

It was a real kick in the head to open my mail and see the ominous stack of 16 capital one letters, all saying the same thing " You overdrafted! Here are ways to prevent it from happening again! '' Given all the ways that they could communicate with me, even a feature built into the app that would push a notification for each overdraft or when your balance reaches - {$500.00}, they chose the slowest method of communication when I had money I could have easily moved around. 

4. Specifically a message for Capital One, my experience clearly shows failure to adhere to the corporate value of " Do the Right Thing, '' from silently letting me overdraft to being ready to set me free. Capital One has all the tools and information they need to prevent things like this from happening, and they do n't use them because, hey, they just made over half a grand in a month on a XXXX XXXX  trying to get by. 

The personal banking system is built on trust, the belief that your money is safer with a bank than at home. I definitely do not feel that way with Capital One.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation