Consumer complaint received 2022-09-10
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: NC
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Trouble using your card
Sub-issue: Can't use card to make purchases

Complaint:
I am a current cardholder for a Capital One Platinum Card that was issued to me after I applied in XXXX of XXXX. The card was issued to me with a {$500.00} credit limit. This specific card targets individuals who have a past and current history of poor credit due to problems in the past. In my case while residing in XXXX XXXX  - I, like many people during the XXXX - XXXX downturn in the economy and housing crisis- lost my job and became behind in many debts. 

I applied for the card that I was solicited for through a Email by Capital One. After being approved for the Card - I was issued one. After a couple of weeks of not using the card, I decided to use it and charged several items. After making several purchases - I elected to make a Payment. I waited several days before following up with a telephone call. Upon checking my bank charges - I learned that Capital One had removed my payment from the XXXX  XXXX XXXX one day after the payment was made. However, after checking my my available credit several days later I learned that my payment was not reflected in the available credit on my card. After learning this, I contacted Capital One by telephone. I was told by the customer relations staff that my payment- as well of those of other holders of the this type of card, which could add up the tens of thousands of consumers here in North Carolina. The customer relations specialist I dealt with first informed me that as a matter of policy with this specific credit card, a Hold for seven days was placed on my checking account in order to allow my payment to give my bank the time for my payment to clear. I pointed out to the representative that I already checked with my bank and that Capital One had already taken the payment out of my checking account. I requested that this artificial hold be lifted immediately. The representative related that Capital One would not lift the hold on my payment until it had actual proof that it had cleared. I objected to this policy and requested to be connected to a supervisor. I was transferred to the supervisor who gave me the exact same story about giving the payment a 7 day period to clear - even though my payment had already cleared and was taken out of my checking account several days earlier. I requested too make a formal complaint regarding this matter. I made a complaint regarding this 7 day hold issue. Approximately two weeks later I received a telephone call from a female staff at Capital One who identified herself as part of the dispute resolution unit at Capital One. I explained to her that such an arbitrary hold for 7 days - even after the funds had been withdrawn from my account- created an incorrect profile of my available credit and potentially could damage my credit score. After explaining this matter to her and its potential negative impact- she ended the conversation. I never again heard from her. I my specific case Capital Ones conduct resulted in a significant adverse impact on my credit score because the faulty information that they received ( The Credit Bureau ) from Capital One. 

Shooting ahead to XXXX - XXXX of this year - Capital One solicited me through an Email to apply for their Capital One Bass store branded credit card. I applied and was approved for a {$6000.00} credit limit. I started using the card. Just prior to leaving for vacation I went to use the Capital One Bass store card again and discovered that my charge was Declined. At this point I had already left for vacation. I contacted Capital One and was told that a problem occurred and that my card was suspended until I could identify my identity. Capital Ones Fraud Unit gave me a list of ID items that I could submit. I went forward and uploaded various copies of my ID. When I called back the next day I was told more info was needed to verify my identity. I again submitted the additional info as requested. The next day I called Capital One again and was told that more ID was needed related to establishing my identity. Again I submitted the requested ID items. I then called back to confirm that my info was received. They confirmed that it was but it was still not sufficient to establish my identity. At this point in time I had already spent nearly two hours on the phone with 5 different customer relations representatives as well as 3 different supervisors from the fraud unit at Capital One. 

After great frustration- It dawned on me that the suspension of my Bass Master Credit Card was likely a form of retaliation It dawned on me that this suspension coincided with my complaint with Capital One about my Capital One Platinum card. 

Its clear to me that Capital One was engaging in a farce and that I was being punished for complaining about one of their credit cards. Just to review - Capital One is holding cardholders payments and receiving interest on these payment funds and not paying any interest to card holders. On a much larger scale - this could involve tens or even hundreds of thousands of consumers who have such a card. I truly believe that this practice may involve Capital One with a deceptive policy that could involve Millions of Dollars. This could be a Class Action matter. It may also rise to criminal conduct by Capital One to the extent that it may defraud cardholders.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation