Consumer complaint received 2020-04-17
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
The short story they discriminated against me using my geographical data and by seeing my family members and my ID 's. I live in the hood which any proper data would show is full of mostly poor XXXX people. 

On about XX/XX/20 I called capital one to add XXXX of my family members to 1 ( XXXX ) of my 2 ( XXXX and XXXX ) accounts to help with their credit score. I checked capital one rules online about an authorized user " An authorized  user is someone you add to your account without any additional application or credit check. They'll get a card with their name on it and share your line of credit. As the primary cardholder, you'll still be responsible for all charges and, if you have a rewards card, you'll earn on every dollar they spend. 
Adding a user wont impact your credit scoreonly the usual factors like payment history and available credit do that. As long as you use your card responsibly and make payments on time, these actions can have a positive impact on your users score. '' XXXX XXXX XXXX When I called the agent seemed helpful and everything went fine. I asked him about the rules of authorized users and made sure I submitted my family members properly. I told the agent my goal was to help them with their credit score. 

The next day both my cards ( XXXX and XXXX ) were suspended and I went into a month of XXXX with capital one. When I called I got told I need to submit IDs and social security cards for me and all my family members. I asked why I'm being investigated and they told me they can't tell me until the investigation is over with. I quickly sent them all of my family 's ID 's and social security cards except for one of my brothers. We had to wait for an updated driver 's license and a new social security card since he lost his old one. 

Every time I called I would be told that all the pictures were too blurry. I would then retake the pictures and was told by the agent that my photo was now fine. Next time I'll call I would be told all my pictures were blurry again and I needed to retake them. I probably sent each family members picture at least 10 times. 

On XX/XX/20 my last brother 's ID and social security card arrived and now they finally had everything. I was waiting for this nightmare to be over. 

On XX/XX/20 I missed a call from capital one at abut XXXX XXXX  when I was at work. I listen to the voicemail and it said to call them back when I get a chance. I tried to call them back immediately but when I did the automatic operator said the call volume was too high due to covid 19 and said for me to call back later and it hung up on me. I waited for my shift was over and called back at about XXXX XXXX. When I called I got an agent who talked down to me. She told me since I didn't call back immediately my account was permanently closed. When I told her about the covid 19 messages and how it hung up on me she told me I was wrong and didn't know how to use a cell phone. I asked for the reason my account was under investigation and now closed since the investigation was over. She was rude and made it quite clear that I wasn't going to get that information since I was no longer a capital one customer. I asked for her full name so I could make a complaint since she was being so rude. She began to laugh and then she hung up on me. 

I gave them everything they wanted and they still closed my accounts XXXX and XXXX. There was no reason by there own rules to check my family members ' status let alone closed my accounts. They would have been an authorized user on my account in which I'm responsible for the bill. I can't see a scam in which I would benefit from making them authorized users on my card. 

The only reason I can assume my account was under investigation and closed was due to me adding authorized users in a poor XXXX neighborhood. That's the only thing that makes sense. My account was in great standing. No missed payment and I paid off the card with my tax money so I had a balance of {$0.00}. 

I have a really bad case of XXXX  and I'm on XXXX XXXX XXXX medication. I have a calm personality and rarely curse but the rudeness of some of the agents got me so mad that I had to curse at them. I worked 17 years in XXXX XXXX and I would never treat a customer the way they treated me. Most of their agents need to be retrained. You're supposed to deescalate not escalate. There were times I was shaking after getting off the phone with these people. 

I have no doubt they broke the law when it comes to race using my geographical data and by seeing my family members and my ID 's. They saw a poor XXXX family and decided to get rid of them all. 

I have no criminal record. I'm sure that would surprise capital one.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation