Consumer complaint received 2019-02-13
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
Dear Sir / Madam Im writing to officially complain about an issue that has been ongoing since XX/XX/XXXX. Please find below a breakdown of events that have occurred over the last year. I have made multiple attempts to try and resolve the issue but have continued to receive incomplete, inaccurate and inconsistent responses from your team. 

Please document my strong compliant against Barclaycards unfair treatment towards me a longstanding customer that has paid all my bills on time and maintained an excellent credit score. 

Time line of events : XX/XX/XXXX I made an on-time payment made towards the balance on my account using the online portal. Confirmation of payment receipt was received by email and the account was subsequently closed. I assumed that no further action was needed as all payment were made in full and stopped monitoring the account. Once the account was closed, I had no access to my card statements. 

Q1 XX/XX/XXXX Noted that emails requesting payment of overdue accounts were being sent to junk email folder. Reviewed emails. Called Barclaycard and attempted to make the payment again. The charges didnt go through. Requested clarification on mechanism to make payment from an international bank account. No direction was provided. 

Q1 XX/XX/XXXX Called Credit team and requested that all fees and charges be waived as they were unfairly applied. Payment had been processed on time in XX/XX/XXXX and subsequently rejected due to Barclaycards process not supporting an international payment. Barclaycard employee agreed to waive all charges and requested that payment be made by demand draft to cover card purchase charges only. They also confirmed that all fees and charges would be waived and no additional fees or charges would be incurred. 
Based on information provided by Barclaycard Credit team over the phone I had a demand draft drawn up for {$220.00}. The draft was then insured for the full amount and mailed with international tracking to Barclaycards XXXX XXXX . This was not an easy process and I had to work with a number of providers and pay a substantial additional amount to get the draft drawn up and sent over safely. 
Please note : Following multiple requests for statements to be sent to me by email, I have finally been given access to some of my statements on XX/XX/XXXX. On review of my statement covering the period XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, I have now noted that the amount owed once all fees and charges were waived, i.e. the amount that was eligible for interest charge calculations and was also the full amount of card purchases outstanding on the card, was {$220.00}. The demand draft I sent through in Q1 of XX/XX/XXXX has covered this amount in full. 

Q2 XX/XX/XXXX I was notified by Barclaycard of receipt of this payment by email. I assumed this was the end of the issue. 

Q3, Q4 XX/XX/XXXX I received additional emails saying my account was overdue again. I made two separate phone calls to Barclaycard to address the issue. After multiple requests to lodge an official complaint, which were ignored, I finally managed to speak with XXXX  ( Badge XXXX ) on the credit team and was assured by him that the issue would be resolved and no further action was required. This was after a 54 minute call running through the history of the case ; something I had done multiple times due to the poor conversation logs maintained by Barclaycard. He confirmed that balances would be XXXX out and no further action was required. Resolution of the issue would take 7-10 working days. Again, I assumed this would be the end of the matter. 

Q1 XX/XX/XXXX On receipt of emails saying my account was overdue and urgent action was required, I called Barclaycard again. I spoke to two individuals and received different numbers for the remaining balance once all fees and charges were waived. None of the numbers provided for the outstanding balance amount ( including an amount of {$29.00} ) appear to make sense based on review of the statements provided. Per my review of statements shared, the card purchase amount that I owed was paid in full by way of demand draft in Q1 XX/XX/XXXX. I have now been asked to send a second demand draft to pay the balance of {$29.00} because the original amount that was provided by the Barclaycard employee I spoke with in Q1 of XX/XX/XXXX was incorrect. I am disputing that the amount originally provided was incorrect following my own review of the statements shared. However, if the amount originally provided was in-fact incorrect, I feel that this is an error on Barclaycards part and not my fault. 

The company continues to FAIL to take responsibility for their : 1 ) poor handling of the issue, 2 ) lack of information on the mechanism I could use to pay my bill, 3 ) inconsistent and inaccurate information sharing over the phone ( which is all I could rely on as I no longer had access to my statements ), 4 ) failure to update my contact information in spite of me sharing my new details multiple times, and 5 ) constant steam of aggressive communication in spite of me doing my best to resolve the situation. 

The arduous process of trying to resolve the issue has put a severe strain on my mental health, my wellbeing and has also had an adverse impact on my credit. I would like this issue resolved in a manner that is fair and expedient. I have asked that Barclaycard XXXX  the balances, as agreed on my call with them in Q1, Q3 and Q4 XX/XX/XXXX and restore my credit. 

Requesting your urgent action. I am happy to share any emails referenced in my note. Please let me know if these will be helpful. I assume Barclaycard will also have records of these emails.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation