Capital One fraud

chriss3r

Hi.

To cut a long story short, here's what they've done to me;

I got a letter in january saying if i did a BT between 1st and 28th february 2005 I would get 3.9% for life of balance. I had £4000 credit limit, so on the 1st of feb I rang them up and transferred £3000 onto the card.

When I asked the girl on the phone what APR i would get on the BT, she told me 14.9%. I told her I had a letter offering me 3.9% so she told me I'd have to send the letter in to them to get it approved. I reasoned with myself that by the time this happened it could be past the 28th of feb, so I did the BT and send in the letter.

I got a letter back saying that there was a mistake on their system and that I would get a refund of the incorrect interest, however they couldn't tell me when this might happen.

For the past 3 months I've been charged 14.9% APR, and despite sending them messages via their website asking when it's going to be sorted they just reply back saying "cannot give a date". I've requested they stop charging me interest until it is fixed but they say they can't do this.

My concern was what if they turn to me in 6 months and say sorry we're charging 14.9%.... thats a lot of money in interest. Despite all this, i've now transferred the money off the card apart from £100, and i'm going to press them for a refund of the incorrect charge.

In my last message to them I told them I was withholding payments due to the fact they were in breach of the terms and conditions offered to me in february... No reply.

Does anyone know who I should speak to or what I can do here? I'm getting no-where with them, and they are doing nothing to resolve the situation. Any attempts of contact result in a reply with "it's being looked into, no fixed date"....

Once this is sorted out i'm going to write all my capital one chequebook cheques (they send me a chequebook every 2 weeks for christ sake), and i'm making them all payable to myself for 1p each then wiping the balance off asap.

idiots.

jonesMUFCforever

Be careful when using the chequebook. Check the terms and conditions very carefully in case there is a clause stating that a minimum charge of £2 per cheque applies.
What I would do is write a letter to their Complaints Dept enclosing copies of e-mails if they are still on your system and replies received. I would add that if they do not respond in the correct manner then you will take your complaint to the Ombudsman.
Eric

chriss3r

ejones999 wrote:

Be careful when using the chequebook. Check the terms and conditions very carefully in case there is a clause stating that a minimum charge of £2 per cheque applies.
What I would do is write a letter to their Complaints Dept enclosing copies of e-mails if they are still on your system and replies received. I would add that if they do not respond in the correct manner then you will take your complaint to the Ombudsman.
Eric

Who's the Ombudsman and how does that work? I'll just go down that route right now instead. I've sent them 2 mails which they've just ignored. I've also requested they sort the mess out so I can close my account.

jonesMUFCforever

You have to go through a bank's (or credit card company) complaints procedure before you can go the Ombudsman. Ask Capital One for a copy. If the company and you cannot agree a resolution to the problem then ask them for a letter of deadlock.This is Capital One's last response to the problem, after this you are free to contact the Ombudsman (address will be in Capital One's complaints leaflet) to look into your case.
I know it can be frustrating when you get no replies by e-mail, which Is why I would sugest using snail mail.
Eric

Chadsman

chriss3r wrote:

Does anyone know who I should speak to or what I can do here?

You could write to one (or more) of the papers that have a money section. This often has the effect of getting companies off their backsides and resolving the complaint in a way highly advantageous to the complainant. You 'might' end up getting the outstanding debt wiped and possibly a bit more 'as a gesture of goodwill'.

deemy2004

It should be pretty striaghtforward. Youve got the letter offering 3.9% and met the terms of the date of transfer to be eligble for it.

Just send them a letter of complaint with a copy of the letter, telling them that you have wasted 3 months already on it and are going to close the account i.e. pay of the monies on account, if its not sorted within 28 days.

If they still have not sorted it out. Close the account and send them a letter demanding repayment of excess interest charged by such and such date

If they don't comply then take them to the small claims court.

Galstonian

I would not withold payment but, if you send a letter explaining the whole situation and explicitly request that they stop taking direct debit payments until they have resolved the issue I think you would have grounds for disputing any direct debit payments. I believe the DD guarantee will refund the payment pending investigation. If you do anything unilaterally they will be able to claim you have breached the terms and conditions.