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…

Thanks again. Saved me the hassle.

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: ombudsman@capitalone.com

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!