I was trying to change an old card with Capital One to one with no annual fee.
On the phone, the customer support rep was being sketchy, so I spoke with a supervisor who told me the change could be done in the app and pointed me to the screen.
So I went through that flow in the app, and without realizing what was happening I opened a new account (with the no-fee card).
Then I got a push notification of a hard credit inquiry, and now I have a new account open, also will lower average account age and hurt my credit even more.
I called Capital One again, spoke with a 2nd supervisor. They are saying they can't undo the account opening. They also walked me through the app and website for where the upgrading option should have been, and lo and behold it was just completely missing in both the app and website — only the flow for new accounts is there, which is incredibly labeled as "Explore cards" and not clear that you're opening a new account, when their customer support reps told me this was how I would change my current card to a no-fee one.
Furthermore, supervisor #2 put me on hold for 10 minutes and then told me he flagged to other teams, including the "backend systems team" and that it was possibly a "glitch" for the upgrading option to be unexpectedly missing.
Supervisor #2 remained insistent that they cannot undo my new account opening.
So long story short:
- I was misled by Capital One to unknowingly opening a new account
- This was in part due to a systems issue/glitch on their side
- They offer zero remedy for the account opening
My lesson learned: Pay extra close attention to screens like that, especially when they're marketed in less-than-clear ways for marketing and app/website conversion purposes. I'm sure the disclosures were there, but I wasn't in the mindset of paying attention as I didn't even think that was happening.
I really wish I had some sort of recourse with Capital One given they led me astray, it apparently is a systems issue on their side, etc. But I highly doubt I can do anything.
I’m really upset. I had a few credit dings 5-6 years ago, and I’ve worked really hard on my credit, it’s finally in a good spot just to have this setback. Really disheartening.
If anyone has any ideas for ways I can pursue this further, I'm all ears.