Consumer complaint received 2017-01-06
Company: PNC Bank N.A.
State: NY
Product: Credit card
Issue: Other

Complaint:
I had a PNC Bank Credit Card that went missing overseas ( on traveling back to the XXXX from XXXX XXXX ). When I noticed it missing I promptly reported it as lost or stolen to PNC Bank. 

The bank ( PNC Bank ) prepared a replacement card to be mailed to my previous address ( XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX NY XXXX ). However, the online banking portal ( brand named 'PNC XXXX ' ) did not reflect the new card as active. 

The online portal also did not display the new credit card account as accessible, effectively not allowing a payment to be submitted so as to pay off the previous balance ( the balance on the card prior to it having gone missing ). 

On this discovery and in an attempt to pay the previous balance off and on-time, I called PNC Bank to ask when I would have access to the credit card account to pay off the previous balance completely and on-time. 

I was assured by the representative that the credit card account would become active once more, to wait until that happened, and not to worry about the previous balance becoming delinquent as the new credit card account with the previous balance would not become active until it has become accessible within the online portal. 

I was told that this is routinely what happens when credit cards are stolen or go missing, so as to protect the account holder from fraudulent charges. 

From the day of that call, I monitored the online portal ( checking it about once a day ) so that I might pay off the previous balance in full and on-time. 

Over 30-days later the credit card account still had not become active on the online portal, effectively not allowing me to pay off the previous balance. 

I continued to follow the bank representatives specific instructions to continue to monitor the online portal until the credit card account has become active and accessible once more. I then received a call from PNC Bank notifying me that this was an attempt to collect a debt. 

I explained the situation with the missing card and reiterated what I was told by the representative with whom I spoke when originally reporting the card as missing. 

I was told by the representative on this phone call that due to the circumstances I had just explained, if I payed the balance in full over the phone the bank would forgive the late payment and it would not be reported to the credit bureaus. 

I agreed to pay the balance in full over the phone and I believe the late fee was waived. However, I now see that the bank mistakenly reported the late payment to the credit bureaus ( which I was explicitly told would not be done ). ( NOTE : On the phone call today ( XXXX/XXXX/2017 ) the rep told me reporting to the credit card bureaus is automated. This is likely why the aforementioned mistake occurred. ) I called PNC Bank today XXXX/XXXX/2017 XXXX to explain the above. After reviewing their records, the bank rep with whom I spoke today corroborated the above information and tried to help me remedy the situation ( i.e. Have the credit card revokement and late payment removed from my credit report ). He stated that his supervisor explained that unless they can prove it 's a bank error, they can not help. I asked them to pull up the records for the call I received in collection of the remaining credit card balance, where I was told that if I pay off the balance on that call, the bank would not report to the credit bureaus. The rep today told me that they do not keep records of outgoing calls. They explained that only incoming calls to the bank are recorded/documented. The rep today verbally agreed that it sounds like a bank error, but he can do nothing about it because he can not retrieve a record of the aforementioned call. I also asked about the other, incoming calls, I made to the bank ( also mentioned above ). Unfortunately they found no records on those calls either, even though I was told these are recorded.

Company response to consumer: Closed