Capital One Mastercard (Canada)
This is my recent experience with Capital One MasterCard (Canada).
My step father recently passed away so my mother and I were trying to close the above account. We spoke to a CapitalOne (CO) agent and was told that we should receive some paperwork in the mail within 1 week for my mother to fill out and death certificate to provide). That was 2.5 weeks ago and nothing in the mail from CO.
My mother called CO’s customer service to inquire. She ended up being passed around from agent to agent 5 times with each one promising to transfer her to an agent who can assist her. Among the excuses are: this is the US department so we’ll need to transfer you to the Canadian dept, we can’t access your account, you need to speak to an account specialist. The last transfer was eventually dropped and my mother was exactly where she started…dialing their phone number.
She informed me what happened so I decided to call on her behalf last night to help her out. To my disbelief, I went through the exact same frustrating pass-the-buck experience! Asking for the manager or supervisor yielded no result. I even spoke to the same agent twice and was promptly ‘transferred’ when I asked to speak to his manager.
So I made another attempt this morning hoping that I would be able to quickly resolve this issue. That was wishful thinking on my part. This time, I spoke to 6 CO agents and 1 supervisor, given 3 different phone numbers (supposedly to the correct department) and I’m still exactly where I started…except my patience has run out, my blood pressure is at boiling point and just plain furious!
I sincerely hope that this experience will dissuade all future customers from signing up with CO MasterCard until they get their act together. Until then, I will be spreading the word!
Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:27 pm
My annual interest jumped from 18% to 25% without any reasons. I tried contacting customer service at toronto (1-800-481-3239) and the person i spoke to said she is transferring to a financial specialist …..I had my landline on speaker phone and it was 1 hour and 35 minutes on hold that I had to hang up. I think Capital one is the worst card and they try to suck up the money from clients. I finally had to cancel my card.
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:05 am
I just wanted to say and maybe someone could help me out on who i can contact on this subject.
long story short, Lost my job, couldn’t make a payment in 60 days now. bla bla, but
they are calling here, at first once or twice a day, Now its 4+ times a day, is there something saying they cant call this many times, they have now called today at 9pm. and thats 11pm at their head office..
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Capiol One said they had to make a tough decision, so they raised interest rates. I’m not sure what thier other choices were but this choice cannot benefit anyone. First off they are have alienated thier current customers. Some of these people are now screwed and will give up paying the company entirely. Then there are the people like me who will just pay them back even faster and this is where the real problems for the America Economy will start. Its called inflation. So… CONGRATS you morons at Capitol One for Destroying your company and hastening the rise of inflation. I guess if you go down its best to try and take the entire economy with you. To the people at Capitol One you are selfish even in your own personal demise. I’m paying you back now and so will many other customers. So thanks for driving up the inflation in this country your fellow patriots really needed that. In case your too stupid to know what sarcasim is too this blog might teach you. Just like an book on inflation might help you understand what happens here in the real world.
February 25th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
This Virtual Bank cannot process a basic transaction and customer service does not exist. A payment of $800.00 CASH made Oct. 5,2009 at the local CIBC was applied to the account on the billing period then on the next statement the account has a payment adjustment of $800 + $20.00 return cheque fee but the payment was made with 8 X $100.00 bills in CASH displayed on the statement stub with stamp from CIBC. The Bank researching this problem was advised the issue could only be resolved with the cardholder therefore the transaction information was forwarded to Capital One Customer Relations Attn: Payment Investigations with the CASH payment + cheque fee remaining on the account. Calls to Customer Service have not provided any solutions as they are searching for the cheque.
March 17th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
I called Capital One a few times about items on my statement. Every time they were rude beyond belief, didn’t listen to a word I said and assumed I wanted a credit increase. I never asked for it, but they kept putting words in my mouth and treated me like a total idiot when I said ‘that’s not what I am asking’. I never did get any of my questions answered. I had no choice but to cancel the card so called in and got transferred to a supervisor named John. After speaking to him, it’s clear why all the reps I spoke to were rude and lacked listening skills, this guy was worse than them all! Good riddance, Capital One is the worst card I’ve ever had and I will never go back. What a nightmare! They have no idea what customer service is.
April 15th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
I have been trying to reach Capital One Master Card now since February.
In 2009 I noted some fraud on my credit card. It dated back to the summer of 2009.
The Fraud Dept sent me some documents to fill in and sign. Upon filling those documents in I got a response saying my account was not fraudulently used by anyone.
However there was definitely fraudulent activity on the account.
I have tried to reach the fraud investigator aprox 15 times. His name is BRYANT C. and number is: 1-800-215-1921 ext 451-4833
I then was able to reach him after about 15 attempts without a call back from him.
Upon reaching him I told him who I was and my account number, he then asked me to hold and passed me off to customer service. I explained my situation to customer service and they explained I had to speak with the fraud investigator Bryant C. in which I was just speaking with.
Customer service then transferred my call to another Fraud Investigator who said I had to speak with Bryant C.
She then transferred me to Bryants extension and AGAIN I had to leave a voice mail, without a return phone call.
As you can see my patients are wearing thin and I am now leaving quite nasty messages on Bryants voice mail for a reply.
To this point some 4 months later I still have not been able to talk with anyone regarding the fraud on my account.
I am so fed up with this company and they way they have handled my fraudulent trauma that I have arranged to switch my balance to the competitor and will also look into legal action.
All calls to Bryants extention have been recorded and all I am looking for is some proper customer service.
Wow, so disappointed!!!!
Troy Miller
Former Capital One Client
Account number (removed by admin)
April 29th, 2010 at 8:31 am
I recently found out that I was the “secondary” card holder on my ex’s account. The ex stopped paying in October 2009. Capital One chose to report a R9 rating to Equifax instead of trying to contact me for payment.
After spending days trying to get through to someone who could provide me with a copy of the application form that I allegedly signed I asked the person why hadn’t their collections department try to contact me. I was told that policy is to just go by whatever information they have in their files regardless of how old it is. She also said that Capital One does not do a credit check to get updated information on the delinquent account, she tried to say that it’s up to the cardholders to update their information. In theory I agreed it’s up to the card holder but in my case I had no knowledge of the card, I hadn’t spoken to the ex in over 3 years.
But, it gets better, the ex is now denying that they had a Capital One card.
I’m now waiting for a copy of the application form that has my signature on it and other information. I’ve done some research and plan on pursuing this if it turns out that it was identity theft by the ex then I’m going to the cops and maybe even suing Capital One.
August 11th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Well, this blog started on December 1, 2009 and today is August 11, 2010. Guess what! Capitol One is still the same. NO IMPROVEMENT in their customer service. Totally SUCKS. Actually, I applied for a card around 2 months ago. Yesterday morning, someone called from capital one and left a message to call back and left the number. Since yesterday, I have talk to 5 different agents and 1 Manager. but still the same. One point, I was told Oh, you are Canadian Customer… let me transfer you and then I waited, waited, waited and Waited….. NO ONE CAME to the LINE…. So, I do not need their Card anymore…
October 6th, 2010 at 8:07 am
Capital One’s actions puzzle me. They bump my interest rate up as well from 14.9 to 17.99 + prime. They refuse to tell me why my rate was increased, and refuse to tell me what protection I have from future rate increases. There is no shortage of articles on line stating that they have a high charge off rate. If they increase the rates of customers who pay their accounts, they’ll upset these people. They will then payoff and close their accounts. The only customers left would be the ones who can’t pay.
Now whose hands are in my pocket?…. Capital One’s
Whats in my wallet?….Not their card.
They will lose me as a customer, I don’t need the stress of dealing with them.
January 28th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
I had to resign from my job for serious medical reasons. As soon as i did i canceled my capital one card also because of the sky rocketed interest rate.
I tried to call them to let them know i would be paying less but all i got was a recording. when i finally got a person she said she couldn’t help me and hung up. well within a month of that call this recorded message came on calling my house starting at 7:30am and even calling on Saturday. i am hardly ever home due to failing health. Capital One now calls my house 3 times a day and at all hours between 7am and 8pm monday to Saturday. Its harrassment. I am at the point where they have stressed me out to no end and i can’t get a person on the phone for more then 2 mins they just put me on hold and then the phone disconects. I’m at the breaking point of never paying them. I don’t care anymore. It’s not like sending me to a collection agency is going to be bad i don’t have a job and can’t work due to medical. They have lost me and a few family friends after hearing what i am dealing with.
February 3rd, 2011 at 11:28 am
I bought what turned out to be a fake item and disputed the charge to Capitol One. After trying to deal with a really jerky Frauds Manager I persisted up the chain & got my money refunded until yesterday when they reilled it without an e-mail or anything to explain why.After 15 minutes on hold I e-mailed the omsbudman but they just lost a real paying customer to repay a con artist In Vietnam. Not too intelligent by my standards but what do I know about customer service?
March 16th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Capital One is so unprofessional. I prefer to have a secured credit card for personal reasons and not because of bad credit. I sent in an additional deposit so that I could easily pay for a Masters degree course. This company screwed up and posted it as a payment even though there was a reference number and it clearly stated “security deposit.” I was told that it would be transferred to my account and now we are in the middle of March and this has been ongoing since January. So canceled the credit card and was told the refund will go through by March 20th. I called today and the agent told me that there was a system error and it will be 30-90 days before I get the $1000.00 deposit back. Every single agent told me the wrong information. Not one was accurate or gave correct information out of the 15 agents I have contacted since January. This company is the picture of “utter incompetence.” Do not deal with them unless you want nothing more than a pain in the @ss!
April 30th, 2011 at 12:49 am
I have to admit that I’m a bit surprised to hear about all the issues with the Canadian cards, but after calling today (for the HBC Mastercard, now handled by Capital One), I can’t say I’m surprised. I had to call twice because of misinformation and the first agent seemed pretty nice but gave me the wrong information about my account. When I called back, the next agent was very short and I found her kind of rude. My assumption here is that the Canadian call center is actually located in the US. Why, do you ask? Because one of the American call centers is located here in Canada, and I used to work on the contract. What shocks me so much is that we are pushed so hard to make those customers as happy as we can within what we can do for them and one of those major things is to be giving the correct information and hold times are not to be longer than 2 mins, and if they are, each 2 mins, we’re supposed to go back to the customer and let them know what’s going on. Clearly they treat their American customers a whole lot better than their Canadian customers.
June 1st, 2011 at 2:41 pm
I recently filed a dispute with them and they favored those scammed merchant).They are not concern with their clients. I lost the dispute case and i am appealing to them but unfortunately they are like a scam company too.
June 10th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
I really will never understand why on earth Capital One cant get it together. God forbid you didnt pay your bill on time, but if you want Customer Service from them good luck. I applied for my card in March. It is now June and I am still waiting to even use the card, because they havnt gotten themselves together to send me the PIN. Several cards later and Im still in the same boat. Ive spoken with several agents and 5 different stories later, its the same thing. ‘Im sorry, there’s nothing that we can do’ But that doesnt help me now does it?? So now I lay in wait for the elusive PIN that is being resent once again. I figure I will be 60 before it ever arrives.
July 4th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
****CAPITAL ONE FORBIDS YOU TO RECORD YOUR CALLS WITH THEM!****
*******(and in Canada, the law provides that you absolutely CAN!)*******
I have a Capital One account, for the last 10 years. I’ve never missed a payment and throughout the years they’ve SLOWLY raised my limit, and reduced my interest rate, but would not ever take the $99.00 annual fee off, but they offer new customers the same accounts as low as 5.99% for no fee…
Nonetheless, I never cancelled the account. It’s been open for 10 years and I don’t want to hurt my credit score. I am reconsidering that decision now!
On May 30, I asked for two balance transfers from a higher rate card at 19.99% to my 9.90% account. The first one was processed in two days, but the second, with a larger balance was not received by July 2, (33 days) and still not at the time of this note.
Capital One in its infinite wisdom decided to MAIL the balance transfer to the second card, knowing there was a postal strike on, and not giving me the opportunity to say forget it. They claim it’s “not our fault”, it’s Canada Post, yet, for two months they’ve been putting messages on their statements to us, and on their IVR to use their websites for balance information because of the pending strike, and make your payments at the bank!
Why in the hell would they send out funds in the mail. (No other reason but to earn interest while the un-cashed funds sit in their account too).
After three weeks; I called their customer service number and spoke to a gentleman who was going to note the account to start reversing the transaction by the end of the week (Friday June 22, if the cheque was not cashed. Guess what? No note.
On July 2, I called Capital One again and got to speak to someone in the Phillippines (which really peeves me off as they just laid off 200 people in London, Ontario because the needs of their business have changed).
The representative in the Philippines said there was NOTHING they could do, but re-issue the cheque payable to me. I refused, I don’t want the money, I was doing a balance transfer, it did not arrive, so I made other arrangements to pay for it myself. I told the young lady in the Phillipines that the cheque has not been cashed and I did not benefit from the transfer, therefore; I want it backdated to the day they posted the transaction to the account (May 30).
I was getting nowhere so I asked to speak to a manager in Canada or the USA. I did tell the young lady in the Philippines that the call was being recorded, although I was not required to under the law.
I was transferred to ‘Victoria’ a manager here in Canada, who said she could put a stop payment on the cheque, however as she cannot process it herself, that If the cheque was cashed in the meantime, I was responsible. I asked for a transaction reference number, and “Victoria” could not, or would not provide one to me, I advised her that last week another Capital One representative promised to do the same thing and there was NO record of this transaction, and that I won’t let it happen again!
‘Victoria” assured me that if I call the main number, anyone will see the transaction and help me. (I wasn’t born yesterday, my call originated in the Philippines) I asked her for at least what department and city she was in, and she refused, at first. As a former banker, I am well aware that ALL transactions get assigned a transaction number. If a transaction was completed, Capital One should be able to provide a posting reference number, it’s a common part of bank audits.
I advised ‘Victoria’ at this time that I suspected this, therefore the call had been recorded. Her first response was “I never gave you permission” – (HAHA!) The call did remain very cordial between us, however Capital One cannot advise that a customer cannot record a call, it is misleading and against the laws of the province.
I advised her that the terms of my account are under the jurisdiction of the Province of Ontario, as Capital One states on the card agreement, therefore, the laws of the Province of Ontario provide that a call can be recorded if one of the parties involved directly in the call agrees to it (being me the caller) and therefore under the laws of the Province of Ontario, I do not need to even notify her that the call has been recorded. I did so to ensure the transaction indeed gets completed, and as a courtesy to let her know in the event she decides she’s NOT going to do the transaction at all. At this point ‘Victoria’ decided to tell me that she was in New Brunswick. I sent ‘Victoria’ a copy of the laws of the Province as provided below, in their secure communication, and on Monday July 4, I received a secure message from Capital One Corporate Office…as follows….
Received Message
Date: July 04, 2011 02:58 PM
Subject: Re: Account terms (fees, APR, etc.)
Message: Dear Jeffrey ********a,
Your recent correspondence through Capital One’s secured messaging has
been forwarded to my attention for review. As Executive Response
Coordinator, part of my role is to investigate, and respond to,
complaints of this nature on behalf of the Capital One Bank (Canada
Branch) executive offices. I appreciate the opportunity to address your
concerns.
Please be advised that in accordance with company regulations we are
unable to allow the call to be recorded.
The conversations held between agents and customers are considered the
property of Capital One and as such we do not allow the calls to be
recorded by individuals that are not employed by Capital One.
I apologize if this regulation poses an inconvenience to you.
At Capital One, we strive to provide the highest standard of customer
service to all of our customers at every level of the company. I hope
that this resolution satisfies the basis for your complaint.
Should you remain unsatisfied with the resolution of this matter, you
may contact Capital One’s Office of the Ombudsman. It is important to
note that the Ombudsman does not review matters of general policy.
Mailing Address: Capital One Ombudsman
P.O. Box 511
Scarborough Stn D
Scarborough, ON M1R 0A4
E-mail Address: [email protected]
Fax: 416-549-2768
Regards,
J. Sears
Executive Response Committee
Capital One Bank (Canada Branch)
Previous Reply Follows:
———————–
Dear Jeffrey,
Thank you for your message.
We’ve referred your concerns to a member of our Executive Response
Office to help address your issue. Our Executive Response Coordinator
will respond within 3 business days.
Regards,
Capital One Online Banking Team
*****************Original Message to Victoria*****************
Original Message Follows:
————————
Account ending in: ***1
Please provide this information to Victoria; Account Mgr in New
Brunswick, Canada.
I will provide a .wav of my call to the Financial Service Compliance
Board of Ontario, and Capital One Corporate for review.
As account supervisor, Victoria should be aware of the laws governing
the accounts she manages and not provide false information in regards to
the law as the Capital One accounts are under Ontario jurisdiction
This article below considers whether it is legal to record private
conversations in Canada, The discussion distinguishes between
conversations that the person recording is involved in and conversations
that the person recording is merely eavesdropping on.
The Criminal Code RS. 1985 c. C-46 Criminal Code imposes a general
prohibition on interception recording of private communications, but
then provides an exception where one of the parties to the private
communication consents to the interception of that communication. Thus,
broadly speaking Canadians can LEGALLY record their own conversations
with other people, ***but not other peoples conversations that they are not
involved in.
If the police in Canada want to record conversations that none of the
officers undercover or otherwise will be involved in they can apply
beforehand for a warrant permitting them to eavesdrop on the
conversation that is expected to reveal evidence of a crime.
State agents may lawfully record conversations that they are involved
in, but, unless obtained under authorization of a warrant that recording
will have been obtained in violation of s. 8 of the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms Charter and may not be admissible as evidence in
court.
Other legislation in Canada protects various privacy rights, but does
not prevent Canadians from recording their own conversations with
others.
————————————————————-
You’ll notice that the Executive Response from Capital One does not question what problems I had with them in order to have the call recorded in the first place, their ONE and ONLY concern is that someone recorded a call with them involved, and have the NERVE to say CAPITAL ONE OWNS THE CALL.
Oddly, at the beginning of the call, Capital One provides this statement. “Capital One may record your call” (oddly, no one asked me if it was ok!)
Just another AMERICAN financial institution that believes they are above the laws of the provinces or the country of Canada.
Maybe in the USA, but NOT in CANADA, Capital One!
In Canada a call can be recorded if one party agrees. The other party
need not be informed. I made the call, and I agreed to tape it.
Victoria’s permission is not, AND WAS NOT, EVER required!
FOR ALL YOU CANADIAN CAPITAL ONE CUSTOMERS NOT ONLY DO I ENCOURAGE YOU TO RECORD CALLS WITH THEM (THEY’RE DOING IT TO YOU), YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT YOUR CAPITAL ONE ACCOUNT IS UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF ‘TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA’ AND UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE LAWS OF ONTARIO, AND CANADA -
THEREFORE, IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT THE LAWS ARE IN YOUR OWN PROVINCE OR TERRITORY, YOU CAN RECORD THE CALL AS CAPITAL ONE IS BASED IN TORONTO, ONTARIO, AND YOUR CREDIT CARD AGREEMENT ADVISES THAT YOU AGREE TO BE HELD TO AND/OR PROSECUTED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE COURTS IN TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA (AS WELL YOU ARE COVERED UNDER THE CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOM) – THEREFORE, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO RECORD, AND CAPITAL ONE DOES **NOT** OWN YOUR RECORDING.
(American Customers, PLEASE REFER TO YOUR STATE, such as in Florida it is a felony to record a call without permission, so do not assume this law applies to you)
NOT ONLY IS THE RESPONSE FROM CAPITAL ONE ILLEGAL, IT IS A BLATANT VIOLATION OF THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF THE CITIZENS OF CANADA!
I’m sure however as an AMERICAN company, they’re above our Charter!
July 10th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Thank you about that info regarding them recording the calls. I have told them everytime they call me that I do not agree to them taping my calls!! They give me this BS about it’s for my own protection??? Then they try to tell me I have signed an agreement stating they can record all my calls? I purchased at prepaid $300 card and now they are telling me I owe them $581!!!! I asked them how is that and they are charging me all these additional charges plus membership fee! They continue to call me 6 times a day start at 7 am in the morning, I told them this is a form of harrassement and they will not see a penny from me from a prepaid card!!! Do youself a favor and do not purchase this scam prepaid credit card!!
September 3rd, 2011 at 10:20 am
I was looking at getting a CO credit card, but after reading these reviews, I can see they are no better than PC Financial. Try closing an account with them, it will takes months and over 11 phone calls. The training of their agents and system seems to be so mikey mouse.
Thanks again. Saved me the hassle.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:21 am
@Jeff
I think you missed the point in the whole recording thing. You don’t have to tell them you’re recording the call, but it’s totally up to them if they want to keep talking to once you do. There’s no Ontario law that says they can’t hang up on you…
November 14th, 2011 at 11:59 pm
Reading all this makes me wish this had been on the brochure that Capital One sent me and not all the open promises they made and have yet to meet. I can relate to some of the woes here. Trying to speak to someone without being transferred between rooms, buildings and cities is quite frustrating. I know one thing for sure once this account is paid i will close it and walk away.
December 22nd, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Capital One is earning totally from interest. I have a $500 credit limit but right now its more than a thousand due to incurred overlimit fee + interest. They keep on sending bill statement on the wrong address and my fault is I didn’t bother to call them and I always assume my monthly payment not knowing its below the minimum. I do hope that they are still human being so they will realized that its not very RESONABLE to charge somebody if both parties have some fault. I don’t see any reasons of not paying the required minimum amount. if you have to think of your credit limit. Whew…