Consumer complaint received 2023-06-01
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
I am disgusted with my experience with Capital One ( Venture card ) and its claim of XXXX fraud liability protection. This was NOT at all my experience with Capital One. I imagine Capital One employs an entire department of people dedicated to fraud protection and lawyers, and yet, I was left to defend myself against this case of fraud with NO help from Capital One over a period of months. Capital One was of no assistance and is refusing to consider this case as fraud, despite the fact that the price I had agreed to pay was not the amount I was actually charged by the merchant. 

I provided countless documents, screenshots, emails, etc, providing evidence of my claim and supporting documents to support my dispute. Each and every time, I was told Capital One then needed different documentation. I would then provide that documentation, and Capital One then stated they needed something else. I was left to research the merchant and repeatedly contact them on my own. I found numerous complaints on the XXXX website when I went to file my own case with the XXXX against the merchant. I discovered a class action lawsuit against the same merchant, from XXXX, citing the same six complaints that I described to Capital One. None of that was sufficient for Capital One to help me. I have been in repeated contact with Capital One for the past month ( since XX/XX/XXXX, the date of the adjustment reversal ) providing documentation, calling to clarify exactly what documentation they would need, then providing that documentation, and then asking why my claim was rejected. This process repeated for an entire month, until yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) when I was told the newest reason for the rejection of my claim was that the deadline had passed, and despite my having provided the documentation that had Capital One requested, I had needed to submit that documentation by XX/XX/XXXX. Never before yesterday had I heard about a deadline from Capital One. And, I do not understand how a deadline would have passed if they had only reversed the purchase adjustment and requested documentation on XX/XX/XXXX. That would have only allowed me a few weeks to respond. 

Please listen to the recorded conversations and review the multiple sets of notes I requested to be put into the system regarding this case, as well as the numerous documents I have uploaded to support my case. Initially, I had a lengthy conversation with a Capital One employee named XXXX during the recorded call that I made on XX/XX/XXXX, ( the very same day that I both booked and cancelled this reservation, once I realized this was a fraudulent company impersonating the actual XXXX XXXX XXXX official website ), I explained the entire situation to the employee and then asked her to stop/block the transaction from posting. She informed me she was not able to prevent the charge from going through I explained to her that I had multiple screenshots of the entire experience that I was able to include as documentation. She informed me that was not necessary at the time, and that Capital One would initially refund the money and contact the merchant on my behalf. 

On XX/XX/XXXX. Capital One made a purchase adjustment for the total amount of the purchase ( {$5400.00} ) despite my only requesting {$4400.00} ( as I had already receive a refund from the merchant in the amount of {$970.00} ). At this point, I thought everything was fine, and I was not asked to submit any supporting documentation. 
Then, on XX/XX/XXXX, almost an entire month later, the purchase adjustment was reversed for the duplicate refund amount ( not contesting that transaction ), and a second transaction for the amount of the remaining balance ( {$4400.00} ). Since this reversal of the purchase adjustment, I have provided Capital One with numerous documents. screen shots, emails, and various other types of evidence to support my claim. 

Every time Capital One rejected my claim, they would say that if I had written evidence from the merchant agreeing to refund me the entire amount, that would be sufficient ( please listen to Capital Ones recorded phone calls ). Despite me believing this was impossible, because the merchant is a fraudulent, predatory company who would never put that in writing, I was so persistent that I actually got the merchant to send this documentation. When I submitted the very documentation that Capital One had been requesting, I was told by XXXX a Fraud and Dispute Manager with Capital One, that, while they had been requesting this exact documentation, the deadline had expired and I should have submitted it by XX/XX/XXXX. So he was once again not able to help me. 
The date of the initial purchase in question was on XX/XX/XXXX. The date of the purchase adjustment reversal was XX/XX/XXXX. I submitted the documentation Capital One had repeatedly requested on XX/XX/XXXX. From the date of the purchase adjustment reversal on, XX/XX/XXXX, I have lost hours of sleep stressing about this situation and losing a significant amount of money. I have spent many, many hours researching, contacting the merchant myself, contacting Capital One, contacting the FTC, contacting the XXXX, contacting Georgias Attorney General, and even contacting the XXXX XXXX XXXX to inquire about my case. Capital One will admit that this merchant is not legitimate, that this transaction does not sound legitimate, that there are many cases similar to mine, but Capital One then claims that it is not considered fraud and they can not help me. They would then ask for additional documentation, provide a link for me to submit that documentation, and then deny my claim for a different reason. 

Capital One claims to have zero fraud liability. However, when I dealt with a fraudulent, predatory company, Capital One did not protect or even attempt to help me. Again, there is an entire department dedicated to fraud and purchase disputes, there are lawyers retained by Capital One, and I am the one spending hours upon hours of my time, with nowhere near the resources available to Capital One. 

Initial Transaction Specifics : Guest Reservations is a third-party booking website that then uses another third-party booking service, XXXX, to actually book the reservation. Their information showed up as " XXXX XXXX '' on my credit card. ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXX, the very same day that I both booked and cancelled this reservation, once I realized this was a fraudulent, predatory company impersonating the actual XXXX XXXX XXXX official website, and I was unknowingly charged almost {$2000.00} in fees. These fees were not made known until AFTER I submitted the payment. On XX/XX/XXXX, I believed I was booking a reservation on the XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX ) official website. I found a hotel room for about $ XXXX night for 7 nights ( booked for the dates of XXXX XXXX, 3 months in advance ). It was not until AFTER I had entered my credit card information, and I had submitted my payment that a surprise service fee of almost {$2000.00} appeared on the receipt. I IMMEDIATELY contacted the company and requested a cancellation stating that I refused to pay a service fee that almost equaled the cost of the entire trip. The website stated that there was NO cancellation fee, or, at most, a {$25.00} cancellation fee ( see screenshot of policy stated on their website ). It was not until I cancelled my reservation that I received the cancellation email stating that there would be a {$4600.00} cancellation fee. Total, I was charged {$5400.00} and I was refunded {$970.00} instead of the entire amount. I had immediately realized this was a scam by a fraudulent company. As I am researching this company to dispute their charges, I have discovered there are HUNDREDS of identical experiences of customers getting a scammed by this company on the XXXX  website. They impersonate an official hotel companys website, apply hidden charges that are not disclosed until after the transaction, and then charge an insanely inflated cancellation fee when the customer disputes the predatory booking process used by this company. Additionally, there is and has been a class action lawsuit against XXXX for their fraudulent and predatory practices. this company impersonates a legitimate hotel website when it is not one, this company does not disclose fees until after the fact ( as is what happened when I purchased the tickets ), this company has a history of misrepresentation, hidden fees, omission of information and fees, and other fraudulent practices specifically regarding their cancellation policy ( which is also fraudulent and predatory ). I have uploaded the entire class action lawsuit against the company. There are six different counts against this company.. I booked and cancelled the reservation in the same day because I immediately realized I had been scammed and taken advantage of by this company. An undisclosed {$2000.00} service fee is unacceptable, but a {$4500.00} cancellation fee is even worse. I did receive a refund amount of {$970.00} from the merchant, so I am requesting the remaining balance of {$4400.00}.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation