Consumer complaint received 2020-05-27
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MI
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I have 3 credit cards with Capital One. Two are general credit cards and one of them is a Walmart credit card ( store specific ). I have been with Capital One for many years - for, at least, 10 years and I have an excellent history with them. I usually pay my bill in full every month and I always pay on time. Absolutely always. Never late and 99.9 % of the time in full or almost in full. My credit score is  somewhere in the mid-700s depending upon the credit check website that one uses. 

I have had my Walmart card for several years. In fact, it was originally with XXXX XXXX  when I opened the account. Over the last couple of years (? ) - not exactly sure it has been that long as time seems to blur - Capital One took over this credit card from  XXXX XXXX. I thought : " Okay. I am familiar with Capital One and they are familiar with me. No problem. '' I received my new Walmart card several months ago - the Capital One version. Now, when I go on the website to check my other Capital One cards ( two others ), I can see my Walmart card account at the same time. Convenient. Except this month I noticed that the Walmart card account was greyed out and it said " Account Closed. This account has been restricted. '' WHAT??? Completely out of the blue. 

Again, I am not 100 % clear as to how long XXXX XXXX has had the account but not that long, it seems. But, they have known my excellent history with credit for 10 years. So, I called them to ask why was this account closed. 

I was told that it was closed due to inactivity. I can not go through my statements as the account is greyed out but I do use the card. Specifically, it is a card that I was looking forward to using on my next trip to Hawaii ( where I know that I used it a lot the last time that I went ) because my son lives there and I use the card a lot to buy him things and help him out. I am waiting for all of us to get through this COVID 19 pandemic before I can see him again - hopefully, in the near future. 

I tried to explain this to the representative and stressed that this card is very important to me. Also, as an older woman who is alone, it is very important to me because Walmart has affordable groceries and, most importantly, they can deliver their groceries and - god forbid - should I become seriously ill, I am completely alone and without family or support. Therefore, I have always taken a lot of comfort in having this credit card. 

I did some research on the internet as to why my account was closed beyond what they said that I did not use it recently. After reading further, I realized that - of course - credit card companies have a finite amount of credit that they are allowed to give out at any one time. Of course. Makes perfect sense. But, I do use the card - there has just been a lull. 

In fact - if my memory serves me correctly - I think that I lost the card when I went on the website a few months back to order some udon noodles. I reported it promptly and I believe that I got another card but in the interim, I needed the udon, so unfortunately, I used another card to buy the noodles ; otherwise, I would have preferred to use the Walmart card because of the perks of using a store-specific card. However, it seemed to take a bit for me to get the replacement card. That was just a few months back. 

My credit limit on the card was {$4000.00}. Okay, so, I understand that they closed my account because they were not making enough business off of me and they wanted to take that credit elsewhere. How disloyal. They could have easily lowered my credit limit - cut it in half, for example. {$2000.00} saved and a satisfied loyal customer maintained. 

I was told over the phone by their customer service that if I wanted the card, that I could apply for it again. What??? Yes, I really wanted the card. How silly is that to close someone's account - with a pristine record - and have them apply again for credit? Well, I did. I was DENIED. Absolutely ridiculous and frustrating beyond belief. My credit score is even better than when I opened the original account with XXXX XXXX  several - yes, several - years ago. So, my account was closed ( which does not help my credit score ) and then I was counseled by their not-so-knowledgeable customer service that if I really still wanted the card that I should re-apply for it and I did ... another hit on my credit score - and I did not get it. 

I am very upset and I deserve much better treatment than this. I deserve to have my Walmart credit card back, functioning.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation