Consumer complaint received 2015-08-18
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: APR or interest rate

Complaint:
I was contacted by phone by a company ( which I initially believed to be Capital One calling ) claiming to lower the interest rate on my Capital One card. During the process I was asked to agree to a fee which they explained would take the place of my existing interest charges on the account, however when they were unable to negotiate with Capital One and I realized they were not actually my credit card service I requested to cancel my transaction. The man on the phone became very hostile and threatened me with collections on the amount k had agreed to pay before. I asked to speak to a manager and demanded that everything be cancelled because I was no longer interested. I was then told that the previous man I had been speaking too would process my request to cancel and during this process he asked questions that I was uncomfortable answering and when I asked why he needed it he said it was so he could complete the cancelation request. I was then told that I was denied a cancellation but had been approved for a card through XXXX at 0 % interest. I became enraged and told them I did not want a XXXX XXXX and had not been told earlier in the interaction that they would be applying me for another credit card. I was told again that I had no choice and could not cancel the transaction. They then called XXXX and instructed me to tell them I wanted a balance transfer. At this point, believing I had no choice and would be charged anyways I did what they asked and ended the transaction. I did not provide them with my bank routing number as they requested and they said they would call back. Immediately upon ending the phone call I contacted XXXX and told them what happened and they transferred me to the Fraud department who assisted me in cancelling the card and balance transfer. Over the next few days I was called consistantly by a blocked number but did not answer the calls. I then received a message on XXXX that on Friday my bank account would be charged approx {$800.00} for their services and was given a phone number to call the manager back. I called back and spoke to the manager who told me that I had no choice but to pay even though I had cancelled the cards and received no benefit. When I told him that I had tried cancelling at the time because I had not been told previously about having to get a XXXX XXXX and did n't want to continue if that was the process. He basically told me it was n't their fault I did n't understand the process and I had no choice because I had made a verbal contract. He said then that my mandatory payment would be sent to a collection agency and would negatively impact my credit score. I have placed fraud alerts on my accounts but do not want to be negatively affected. I believe I was misled into agreeing to pay for a service when they did not dislose the entire process to me initially. I had even been told verbatum that my credit card number would not chance which I why I did not expect a different credit card account to be created. In addition to this I learned after that legitimate companies will not contact you regarding interest reductions like this and I was involved in a scam.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation