Consumer complaint received 2023-01-29
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Charged too much interest

Complaint:
STATEMENT AGAINST CAPITOL ONE BANK XXXX : Account ( now closed ) On XX/XX/2022 I was routinely scheduling new bill payments online from XXXX Bank XXXX XXXX checking account when I noticed a shocking error Id made re an upcoming Capitol One credit card payment normally due on the XXXX. Normally, I schedule payments XXXX or XXXX days before the due date, sometimes earlier if the due date is on a Sunday and, while inspecting my upcoming bill payments I saw an odd date : XX/XX/XXXX for Capitol One, and we were still in the XXXX bill stage. Id apparently clicked the wrong months button by mistake. ( XX/XX/XXXX statement attached ) It was a XXXX late afternoon, and, though I immediately attempted to change the XX/XX/XXXX date, my bank wouldnt permit payment until XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, as XX/XX/XXXX was on a XXXX  and therefore not a business day. 

I quickly telephoned Capitol One, remember it was still XX/XX/XXXX, and when I explained my dilemma with the Capitol One agent, given my long association and solid history of on time payments, the agent reassured me saying there would be no problem so long as the payment reached Capitol One on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. 

The payment in full for {$580.00} indeed posted on XX/XX/XXXX, but I noticed when I checked online that the banks computer automatically charged a past due fee of {$25.00}, as it was presumably programmed to do when a payment is made after the calendar due date even though it was a Sunday. 

I called Capitol One and the agent with whom I spoke read the notes written by his colleague when Id called on XX/XX/XXXX and refunded the late charge, and I figured that was that. However, when I noticed my next bill on line ( I was traveling in XXXX ) I saw that there was an interest charge of {$13.00}. I thought it was strange in consideration of the fact that the agents with whom Id spoken were fully cognizant of the circumstances, the first one assuring me thered be no problem if the full payment was posted on XX/XX/XXXX and I called and spoke with yet another agent, who reviewed the notes, agreed the bill was paid and he reversed the interest charge. ( XX/XX/XXXX statement is attached ) The next full bill amounting to {$650.00} was paid on XX/XX/XXXX, which included the {$13.00} interest, which the agent suggested I pay in full, so that there would be no computer-response to a lesser payment, and he assured me that the {$13.00} interest on the XXXX bill would be adjusted in the XXXX statement, which it was. 

XXXX, then, my surprise when the XXXX XXXX arrived, and although the {$13.00} interest was adjusted there was a new {$8.00} interest charge, even though the most recent bill was paid on time and the earlier XXXX bill was paid in full on XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, per the agents XX/XX/XXXX assurance, as XX/XX/XXXX was on a Sunday, a non-business day. ( XX/XX/XXXX statement is attached ) I called Capitol One and spoke to numerous agents, including supervisors in different departments, all of whom could see the history, including the original XX/XX/XXXX notes, and their response, almost robotic was that they could not reverse an interest charge twice within a twelve-month period. 

I persisted, explaining that the one-time mistake, which had been cheerfully understood on XX/XX/XXXX before the payment was due, had not been repeated, that the XXXX payment and the XXXX payments were paid in full, that the past due and interest charges had been reversed, so how could a second interest charge be applied on a subsequent bill with no further errors on my part? 

The response was quite confusing, and in fairness some of the agents seemed understanding and tried to apply the reversal, but all came back telling me the system wouldnt permit them to do it. To my astonishment at this further charge, they said that sometimes the interest accrues over subsequent bills, which to me seemed bizarre, considering my repayment of everything Id charged, and also the fact that, as the error was understood and forgiven, shouldnt this have been reflected and programmed into the billing cycle? 

I got nowhere and told the final agent that if she did not reverse the {$8.00} charge, I would cancel the card. Was it worth it to the company to lose a longtime customer, whose charges benefited the bank as it made considerably more than that in the fees it exacts from the vendors I frequented? It seemed not to be so, and therefore I canceled the card, telling the last agent I would not pay the {$8.00}, only the amount Id actually charged ( minus the cash back reward due me of {$47.00}, scheduled before I canceled the card ) and I paid the remaining balance of {$430.00} on XX/XX/2022, XXXX days early! 

The next bill came with the {$8.00} interest charge remaining and indicated my full payment and the credits from the prior statement. I ignored the bill, ( XX/XX/XXXX statement attached ) but was intrigued to note that when I saw the online XX/XX/XXXX statement ( included as a .jpg ) there was not only the {$8.00} interest charge but also an {$8.00} past due fee, which is almost 100 % of a disputed interest charge non-payment, making me wonder what kind of shenanigans Capitol One was up to? 

I called the Complaint Department number and spoke to a supervisor, XXXX, the XXXX name I remember. She reviewed my history, going back to the XX/XX/XXXX notes when the agent had assured me all would be fine if I had the full payment posted on XX/XX/XXXX, which it was. She was patient and courteous, but again I was told there was nothing she could do about the interest, refusing my request to speak to her supervisor. She did, however, reverse the {$8.00} past due charge. 

I politely informed her that I would not pay the {$8.00} disputed interest charge, and wondered whether more past due fees would be added and added until it was conceivable after, lets say, a year or more that my debt would be in the hundreds of dollars? To that, she had no clue and we ended our chat. 

I am not really concerned about my credit report being damaged by a continuing charge of fees by Capitol One, based upon a disputed {$8.00} interest charge, as I presume the various agencies will see that I pay large amounts in full on time on a regular basis. However, I am concerned about whether Capitol One is operating on a legal basis and/or whether it is exploiting credit card fine print, not to mention how it is possible that a problem brought to their attention before a bill was due and seemingly forgiven, witness the immediate reversal of the computer-generated charges, would nonetheless generate further fees even after multiple bills were paid on time or early and always in full. 

You might wonder why all this bother and preparation? Its the principle, clear and simple. You might also wonder the same about XXXX Ones intransigence.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief