(edit -- I'm sorry the paragraphs are all bunched together. I tried to fix it, but I'm not sure how)
I have a credit card with Capital One, which is modest (~$1600). I've always paid it on time. Last month, I received a large insurance settlement that I should have received two years ago. This was proceeds from a fire insurance claim. I opened up a checking account at Santander (not my usual bank) a few months previous just to keep those purchases separate. When I left after opening the account, I had a folder with three different account summaries or general information about my account with a routing and checking number on all three. There was also a pack of starter checks that I never even looked at because I don't use checks and nobody really wants to accept blank starter checks anyway.
Fast forward about three months later and I receive the bulk of the claim. During the first three months, I made just a few small purchases with Santander to keep the account open and to not be charged a maintenance fee. Each time, I used my Santander debit card.
After I received the bulk check, the first thing I did was to pay off all the credit card debt that I had been living off of until I received the insurance claim. This required me to enter in checking and routing numbers, which I used from the three "official" papers from Santander when I first opened the account (all three were signed by me and the branch manager). All was well until several days later. All the payments had been declined. I called Citibank first as I have three accounts with them. They had no clue why the payments weren't going through and tried again, double and triple checking the routing and bank account number. After about an hour on the phone with them, I remembered the starter checks. Looking at them, the starter checks and the three official papers I received from Santander .... the checks had a different checking account number, off by two digits at the very end. Citibank tried the second account number and they went through for all three accounts.
It took me two days to rectify this with all the credit accounts I had paid off. Every bank was understanding (I also pay 100% on time so I'm sure that helped) and removed any fees and interest I incurred, including Capital One. I got an alert on my phone the other day that my Capital One statement was available for viewing and showed that I owed ~$28, which confused me because I paid it off. I went online to check and they reversed the interest refund (but not the late payment fee) so I had a $28 payment due to pay off the entire account. Now, I had called Santander after I found out what happened and flipped out. They apologized profusely and offered to pay ANY fees I incurred due to their mistake (they had no answers as to how this could have happened and accepted 100% of the blame). So I honestly wasn't concerned about the $28 interest reversal since I could get Santander to pay for it. But I felt hinky about it ... why would they reverse the interest payment refund? Just an hour or so later, my son comes in with the mail and there's a letter from Capital One saying my account had been closed because (paraphrasing) there had been activity on my account that goes against their rules and banking practices. I immediately called them ....
Before I paid everything off, my CO payment was due on 11/27. I paid it in full (but with the wrong account number, unbeknownst to me) on 11/26. They reversed the payment from Santander on 11/30 and assessed a late payment fee. I discovered what happened on 12/1, explained to CO what happened (and it's obvious, the last two numbers are incorrect) and they put the payment through and reversed the interest accrued and the late payment. At no time during this did I receive an email or text (which they love to send to me) stating that there was an issue with my account, But I was fine with them, they treated the payment as if it had been made on time and correctly. As of 12/1, my account shows that it's been paid in full. The letter was dated 12/4. but didn't arrive until over a week later ... again, no email or text notifying there was an issue.
I called them and asked why they accepted my in-full payment, plus reversed the late fee and interest accrued, only to close my account 3-4 days later. They couldn't give me an answer and said there was NOTHING they could do. They said they had an internal department that double checks account closures and sometimes reinstates them, and they believe it will be reinstated but they have no way of knowing for sure. I ask to speak to that department, they said they can't even speak to that department. Right now, my account is "restricted" with a $28 balance on line.
I'm really angry. I could care less about the $28 interest fee, or even if I have a Capital One account, but to have them close it with such harsh language cannot look good on my credit history. It's been days since I talked to them last and 12 days since they closed or restricted my account and I'm no closer to an answer. I paid my bill on time every single time. I think it's a HUGE leap to say that an account holder who is in excellent standing would intentionally give them incorrect banking information. Plus I FIXED it before they even closed/restricted the account, and I checked, the money was taken out of my checking account on 12/1, the same date I called them to explain what happened and give them the correct bank account number.
What can I do???
Submitted December 16, 2017 at 07:36AM by Nightmaresituation http://ift.tt/2ATJ6OO
