Consumer complaint received 2023-01-04
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account — Company closed your account
Company: Avant Holding Company, Inc. (NY)

I first received an automatic email from the credit card company Avant on XX/XX/XXXX claiming they have been unable to validate my AvantCard account information via the phone number on file and on my XXXX file. This email alert was to inform me that if I didn't call them or email them back by XX/XX/XXXX, they would be closing my account. After checking that my information was correct on my AvantCard and XXXX accounts, I emailed them back on XX/XX/XXXX and confirmed my information is correct and to reach out if they have any questions. They never responded to my email. I then received another auto-email from them on XX/XX/XXXX claiming they haven't heard from me, were suspending my ability to use my card and to respond to them asap. I decided to call them this time. I called them on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX to verify my identity and told them they never answered my email. I received verbal confirmation from their customer service that the issue was fixed and that I wouldn't receive these kind of emails anymore. She said she wasn't able to email me any kind of confirmation. I later received an auto-email from Avant on XX/XX/XXXX clearly stating that my information had successfully been verified and that my account is once again able to be used to make transactions. I thought from there on this issue was resolved. However, on XX/XX/XXXX, I logged into my account as I was about to use it to make a purchase and wanted to make sure all was well and saw a line on my account reading : " Your Avant Credit Card account ending in XXXX has been closed ''. I called into customer service that same day at XXXX and spent 76 minutes with them on the phone, very upset because they had closed my account without my consent and without any notice whatsoever. If I hadn't logged into my account that day I would not have even known. After the long call, they confirmed they would escalate the issue to have the account reopened as I did call in to verify my identity and made sure my information was updated. They called the next day, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX to confirm that my account would be reopened. I thanked them and felt assured this issue would finally be taken care of. On XX/XX/XXXX I logged into my account to see if there was any update on the account status and saw the same closed account status from above. I called customer service again at XXXX that day and spent 26 minutes on the line waiting for an explanation. They said a request to reopen the account was sent on XX/XX/XXXX and that I had to wait 14 business days for the escalation team to fix my account. I stated I was never explained that by the person who called me on the XXXX, but that I'd wait a little longer before reporting this issue. Finally, I called in today, XX/XX/XXXX to get a final update as the closed account status is still on my account. The supervisor I requested to be transferred to continuously said I did not verify my identity and said my account will not be reopened. This is what happened to me every time I called in : I was shushed away by the reps as being the one at fault and have to repeat myself continuously. To the supervisor I expressed several times all of the above, including the fact that XXXX years of credit history is being discarded because of their negligence. I am now asking the CFPB to help make this right for me and to help make this known to others to warn them to avoid Avant and protect their credit from being affected. For further support, I have my phone carrier 's call records as proof, along with all of the emails mentioned.