Consumer complaint received 2024-04-02
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION (FL)

On XX/XX/2024, I was vacationing on a cruise to the XXXX. We stopped at XXXX and ran across a little stand referred to as The XXXX XXXX. I was with some family members and some of them wanted XXXX tattoos, so we stopped so they could get some. My little cousin who I care for wanted one, but we spent all of our cash, so she told me I could pay with a credit card, so that is what I attempted to do at the end of the service. The machine kept giving a " connection failed '' error, so she told me my bank was not accepting the charge, I told her I did not think that was the case, because " connection '' usually refers to wifi or cellular reception. So after trying multiple times with the credit card machine at her stand, she takes me over to another location which I presume is the person she works for and he also has a credit card machine. So he tries a few more times to charge the card and we get the same error. Then, all of a sudden I get a notification from my credit card company Capital One, that a charge for {$30.00} went through. First of all, I was confused because I was originally told {$25.00} and that is what everyone else paid, but she told me there is a charge for using a credit card, and I told her that should have been something that was mentioned when she told me I could use a card. Then they tell me they need to try my card again and I am going back and forth with them because there is already a charge appearing on my card. They told me it was an authorization hold and would fall off because the charge did not go through. Then I get another notification for a charge going through. One was from her machine " The XXXX XXXX '', the other from his " XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. At this point, I am starting to get upset because I realize something strange is going on and they are trying to convince me that this happens all the time and the charges get reversed after the authorization hold falls off. So I am going back and forth with them telling them that I am not paying again because I have already been. charged, but the discussion goes nowhere and they threatened to call the police, so my family members who were with me told me the police would likely side with them regardless and that I would likely be arrested. In order to de-escalate the situation a family member handed over cash and told me to handle the charges later. There were no receipts for cash payments as it was just a little stand without a real register. The only thing they had were portable receipt machines. On the receipt I received stating that there was a connection error, there was a number that I attempted to call with no luck. The representative at my bank also tried to find contact information with no luck. After I returned home and the charges were officially posted to the account I called Capital One to dispute the charges and the representative told me that she would write out exactly what happened and that due to the obscurity of the company, I would be ok with just providing the receipt of the failed transaction and an explanation of what happened. After providing that I received a letter from the company stating that since I did not provide enough information the case was closed. Never did I get something requesting more documentation or telling me that my documentation was insufficient. Just a case closure seemingly out of nowhere. It honestly makes me not want to bank with this institution anymore because there is supposed to be some type of security in transactions and if someone can charge my card multiple times and nothing be done about it, that does not seem right. I was told to contact the merchant, but unless I travel back to XXXX, XXXX I have no way to do that. Capital One even told me they could not find any information on the merchant.