Consumer complaint received 2024-08-30
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION (MA)

On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I was notified via a text message from Capital One that they blocked a transaction for about {$1000.00} from XXXX as it was flagged as possible fraud. The transaction was indeed fraudulent and was the last of a number of attempts in the month of XXXX to utilize my debit card without my consent. The text message from Capital one instructed me to call their fraud hotline with my case number. I did so at XXXX that day once it opened. 

I was supposed to travel out of state that day- my train was to depart the station at noon. As I do not have access to significant lines of credit, if I didn't have my debit card, I was not going to be able to fund my travel. I called Capital One at the number provided, provided the case number, confirmed the activity was fraudulent, and asked for options for quickest resolution possible as I was due to leave the state that day. I asked if there was an option to unfreeze the card and accept liability for any fraudulent use- my hope was that i could utilize the lock/unlock card feature in the Capital One app to use my card for my own purchases during my weekend of travel. The customer service representative told me this was not possible and that my only remedy was to either to go a branch to take out cash every time I needed to use money for the weekend, or wait for the card to come in the mail. They told me that the debit card was " already cancelled '' and there was no ability to utilize it for purchases once cancelled. They told me the account was also " restricted '' but were not able to give me a clear understanding of what that meant. I was told the card would be expedited in the mail and that I would receive it within three business days. Due to these issues, I decided not to travel that weekend and await my new card in the mail. 

By Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, over a week later and well past the three business days they told me it would take, I called Capital One again. They told me that I " refused '' authorization to cancel the card and therefore they did not mail me a new debit card. At this point, it is the end of the month, and there are bills I have to pay that rely on my debit card as they don't have an option for me to pay by account transfer through a routing number. I am a doctoral student and needed to be able to order my textbooks for the semester that had started that week. I was told that if i was now " able to authorize '' the cancellation, they would process the card and it would ship, again, in 3-4 business days. Due to the fact that it is a bank holiday on Monday, that means my card is estimated to be here next Friday, XX/XX/XXXX. They would not transfer me beyond one manager higher than the initial customer service representative that I spoke to.

Two hours later, I received a call from someone in the dispute resolution department at Capital One who told me they reviewed the calls and found " no malice '' and that the fact that I ended the call without authorizing a new card to be sent to me ( I was unaware they needed more authorization - I had provided all my verification info including name, address, phone number, SSN, date of last transaction, card number, account number and was told the only remedy was a new card, so I assumed a new card had been issued ) that this was my fault and the only remedy would be to wait another week for a card to arrive in the mail. I asked for another remedy and was told there are no other remedies. I said that while I can own that I was frustrated in my initial conversations with Capital One, I felt the lack of communication from the customer service agents on the process was the key issue, as they did not tell me they required my explicit authorization to mail a new debit card. Of course I needed a new debit card- they had cancelled mine! I felt that went without saying, especially given the subjective nature of the conversation where I made it clear that I needed a debit card in order to make purchases. 

I asked numerous times for someone to speak to regarding the experience with customer service - because of their inability to understand my concern, they forced me into a position to accrue interest on my one line of credit, incur fees on bills that required a debit card for payment or force me into a position to pay credit card fees to put them on a line of credit. Either way, I'm out more money because of Capital One 's negligence and inability to rectify this issue. The fact that all operations are offshore forces customers into financially challenging positions due to their inability to expedite any concern from XXXX soil or from a branch location. I live in a major city - I should be able to rectify the majority of my banking issues in-person at a branch. I even asked if I could pick a card up at the branch, and would go out of my way to go get it if it meant saving a day in the timeline so that I could pay my bills. Capital One was unable to accommodate me in any way and forced me to be without a debit card for two weeks. I've incurred interest on my credit cards, been unable to pay bills, had subscriptions connected to my debit account turned off, all because Capital One did not send me a new card.