Consumer complaint received 2017-12-28
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: WA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
To whom it may concern, My name is XXXX XXXX. I am a resident of Washington state.  Back in XX/XX/XXXX, I opened a credit card account with Capital One and received my card shortly thereafter. When my first bill was due, I attempted to pay my bill at a local Capital One ATM Machine. I however was unsuccessful as the machine could not locate my account. I attempted a few other ATM machines to only receive the same results. I contacted Capital One and I was told some unsettling news. Capital One does not have a single branch Anywhere in the state of Washington, nor can any Capital One ATM in the state of Washington permit me to access my credit card account. 

I was further told in order to maintain the account that I had opened, I would be required to use the services of a third party ( my local bank account is one such option ) in order to pay my bill. I consulted with the consumer handbook that came with my card which also included the Terms and Conditions and the credit card agreement that I had agreed to when I first opened my account. Nothing in either agreement or the Terms and Conditions had disclosed the fact that Washington State residents would be required to use third party services in order to pay their credit card bills. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau about this fact and stated in my complaint to the BBB that this lack of disclosure is dishonest and misleading. 

I have also been told on several occasions conflicting stories in regards to the methods of finance charges and late fees. On some previous calls I have been told that late fees are applied if the monthly payment is later than the due date of the payment. On some calls I have been told that the finance charge is applied if I do not pay the minimum monthly payment and yet on other calls, I have been told that both of these cases are not true and I was told that I receive monthly finance charges if I do not pay the credit card bill off in full by the time of the due date. The stories are consistently conflicting and never the same from one phone call to the next. I believe these practices are misleading to the American Consumer - especially to the consumers in the states that do not host any Capital One branches. 

Here 's an example. Currently my credit card bill is due on the XX/XX/XXXX. My minimum payment due is {$25.00} ( per the email I received from Capital One ) However, my employment pay date happens to land on XX/XX/XXXX. In order for me to pay my bill, and not receive a late fee, I would need to drive 1,642.6 miles to the address of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX. The reason I would receive the late fee is because XXXX XXXX XXXX takes up to 3 days to process my payment and Capital One will take up to 2 days to receive and post my payment ( per various conflicting statements from XXXX XXXX XXXX And Capital One ) And yet, there are more than 15 Capital One owned ATM 's within 10 miles of my home, and yet I can not access my Capital One account at ANY of these Capital One ATM 's. 

Since Capital One is headquartered in the State of Virginia, I thought it best to reach out the AG of Virginia as I have received minimal results from both the BBB and Capital One. Until something is done to force Capital One to make necessary adjustments for all of the Capital One consumers that are affected by these practices, Capital One will continue to make profits from dishonest non disclosed facts about the lack of available services to the American Consumers. 

Sincerely XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation