Consumer complaint received 2024-07-28
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Problem with rewards from credit card
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION (OK)

My husband, a Capital One Venture XXXX primary cardholder, passed away unexpectedly in early XX/XX/XXXX. I was an authorized user on his account and am the executor/beneficiary of his estate. Although we hold several other high end cards, the Capital One was our go-to card for our household purchases and we were banking miles for a much-anticipated family vacation with our XXXX sons. Upon his passing, our sons and I decided to continue with the trip as a way to honor him. 

Reading the XXXX XXXX  XXXX of our card, I understood that the miles we had accrued ( XXXX, a value of $ XXXX $ XXXX for flights on our preferred airline ) could be transferred to another household member 's account. On XX/XX/XXXX, I confirmed with XXXX " XXXX '' ( on a recorded line ) that I could transfer the points from our account to XXXX in my name. I then obtained my own Venture X card ( at an expense of {$390.00} ) to receive the miles. 

On XX/XX/XXXX ( +/- ), after reviewing the XXXX & XXXX on my newly arrived card, I called the XXXX Department XXXX XXXX " XXXX '' XXXX to transfer the miles and was stunned to hear that the miles could not be transferred. I was told the only way to transfer miles was if we had been " joint '' account holders, analogous to holding a joint bank account. Ironically, such an account type does not exist at Capital One per content on their website.. To add insult to injury, those miles were gone from the account screen within the time I was on the phone with the agent! When the agent would not address the issue of erroneous info I had been initially given, I requested a XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, " XXXX '' ( Supv. in the Estate dept. ) returned my call. She initiated an inquiry in which she reviewed the account notes and listened to my initial ( XX/XX/XXXX ) call. 
In subsequent conversations during the review of her findings, she stated that 1 ) the initial CSR gave me incorrect answers on household transfers ; 2 ) that the Estate CSR team is trained to only offer 50 % of the credit allowed for mile valuation ; and 3 ) that she felt I had a very good case ; so much so that she temporarily reinstated the miles to the account. : After multiple " check-ins '' with XXXX, XXXX shared that her recommendation to reinstate the miles had been overruled at a higher level. She had, however, been able to increase the mileage valuation amount -- still a small fraction of the value that the miles would be when transferred for our flights. 

I immediately emailed the Customer Service Executive Team to appeal this decision. I sent the same information by post. No response was received for either inquiry. A former Capital One employee suggested I reach out to additional management contacts. They responded to my inquiry by saying that they had passed on my concerns. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call from " XXXX '' who said, with the implication that it was a legal requirement, that they could only issue a credit not the miles. When pressed for what law dictated that, she would not respond. 

In closing, I wish to state that I did all the " right things '' with regard to his account : I assured that no one used his card for any purchases ; I immediately changed all autopays ( our household expenses ) to my new Venture XXXX  card to avoid any additional debt on his card. 
I did not try to work around the system by accessing his account and moving the miles myself or having someone pretend to be my late husband and move the miles over the phone. 
I paid off the card in full despite the fact that I had no legal obligation to do so. 
I acted honorably and expected Capital One to do the same by following through on what I had been told about household mile sharing I respectfully asked that our accrued miles be transferred to my Capital One card as I was told they would be instead of the credit they are offering which represents a fraction of the value of the miles.