Consumer complaint received 2022-04-21
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: TX
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive notice of right to dispute

Complaint:
In late XXXX, I learned that my Barclay 's credit card was months behind. I had absolutely no idea that I was behind on this card. I havent used it in a while and thought it was at a XXXX balance. Looks like there was a {$3.00} fee automated charge in XXXX and then an additional {$11.00} in automated fee in XXXX. All of the statements were going into my email junk folder. I only found out I was delinquent because I was clearing out my junk email file and saw some items from Barclays. I have had a credit score over 800 for about 15 years and this {$14.00} incident has destroyed it. 

If these companies are going to solicit customer to go " paperless '', they should still have the responsibility to perform debt collection efforts. Apparently since it was such a nominal amount, they didn't bother to call me ( not even once ) or use standard mail. They just let an account that was paid well for years continue to collect late fees and interest charges. If Barclays ' representatives had performed even minimal collection activities, I would have been made aware of the oversight and cleared it up immediately. I'm sure if I had owed {$20000.00}, not only would I have received calls, but my relatives and neighbors would have been called as well. 

When creditors see a 120 day late on a credit report, the impression of that is that collection practices occurred and the card owner refused to pay. That is not the case. They did not perform normal collections practices. I think Barclays owns some of the responsibility for not caring enough to make me aware of the delinquency. The only letter that I received from Barclays came around XX/XX/XXXX, and was dated late XXXX. All of this was after I called their collection team, found out how much I owed ( {$100.00} ) and paid the account. 

I wrote Barclay 's Customer Service area on XX/XX/22 and asked that Barclays update my credit report and remove the delinquencies. They responded and refused. I then wrote Barclay 's Office of the President on XX/XX/22. They responded on XX/XX/22 and also declined to remove the delinquencies. I received a voicemail from the XXXX XXXX, Executive Specialist, and called her back. She was sympathetic, but stated that their Collection Department can choose to attempt to collect or not. 

So, I am writing you. There is an all-out effort to move consumers from mailed statements to digital. It saves the companies money. But then, when the email ends up in your junk file and the company doesn't care enough to attempt to contact you - you end up like me. I'm not even sure I knew I was switching to digital when I did so for Barclays. The companies have their methods where you log into your account and your presented with options ( that you didn't ask for ) regarding how to receive your communication from them. But, if they are going to push us to digital mail, they need to be responsible, especially during a Pandemic to perform basic collection practices. 

Thank you, XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation