I sent this letter to Richard Fairbank, man of the Board, President, and Chief Exexutive Officer of Capital One on 9/29/2011. I had a previous run-in with Capital One about this same issue. That exchange is HERE.
Dear Mr. Fairbank,
It was a special occasion. I had just been given a lot more responsibility for a little more pay. My wife, two kids, and I were at a five star restaurant. Filet Mignon, lobster, an expensive bottle of wine, chocolate souffle. The bill was going to clear $300, but I didn't care. As CEO, you probably understand. This dinner was validation for all of the late nights, road trips, weekends in the office, missed dance recitals, and 20 years of stress. This was a wet willy to all of my nay-sayers and doubters--the people who told me "you can't."
When the bill came, I reached for my wallet, when from the seat to my right, a nine-year-old girl said, "I've got this one." She whipped out her Capital One Credit Card and put it in the leather bill book thing. My eyes grew large. My palms started sweating. My mind flashed back to the letters that I exchanged with your folks back in July. I asked for a policy change: stop enticing nine-year-olds to get credit cards.
I grew nauseous. You folks, despite my best efforts, "got" to my daughter. You sucked her in, and without my permission. I started feeling dizzy. I walked, and then ran to the bathroom and vomited. Bye bye steak and lobster. There's the souffle. By my estimate, $103 worth of high end food, down the drain. And it is CLEARLY Capital One's fault.
Where do you get off, sending my 4th grader a credit card? Enticing her with 1% unlimited cash back, no annual fee, $0 percent until she's ten. I think your people were unhappy with me calling them out for something that is very obviously and unquestionably stupid. Stupid at its very core. We wonder why the economy has gone to hell. Handing a kid a credit card is a good place to start looking
I want a policy change. People should be old enough to calculate compounding interest before they start thinking about credit card applications. You know it, and I know it.
I want a lap of shame by your entire organization, around the Capital One Complex. Not only did they not listen to me the first time, they went ahead and sent another application with an actual plastic card enclosed. That's really low.
Lastly, you ruined my celebratory dinner. You caused a fight between my wife and I. I think you owe me a very nice dinner.
Sincerely,
Jerry
------------------------
From: Capital One Web Information <webinfo@capitalone.com>
Subject: Re: My Problem (KMM21563074V90996L0KM)
Date: Friday, September 30, 2011, 9:56 AM
Dear Mr. Fairbank,
It was a special occasion. I had just been given a lot more responsibility for a little more pay. My wife, two kids, and I were at a five star restaurant. Filet Mignon, lobster, an expensive bottle of wine, chocolate souffle. The bill was going to clear $300, but I didn't care. As CEO, you probably understand. This dinner was validation for all of the late nights, road trips, weekends in the office, missed dance recitals, and 20 years of stress. This was a wet willy to all of my nay-sayers and doubters--the people who told me "you can't."
I grew nauseous. You folks, despite my best efforts, "got" to my daughter. You sucked her in, and without my permission. I started feeling dizzy. I walked, and then ran to the bathroom and vomited. Bye bye steak and lobster. There's the souffle. By my estimate, $103 worth of high end food, down the drain. And it is CLEARLY Capital One's fault.
Where do you get off, sending my 4th grader a credit card? Enticing her with 1% unlimited cash back, no annual fee, $0 percent until she's ten. I think your people were unhappy with me calling them out for something that is very obviously and unquestionably stupid. Stupid at its very core. We wonder why the economy has gone to hell. Handing a kid a credit card is a good place to start lookingI want a policy change. People should be old enough to calculate compounding interest before they start thinking about credit card applications. You know it, and I know it.
I want a lap of shame by your entire organization, around the Capital One Complex. Not only did they not listen to me the first time, they went ahead and sent another application with an actual plastic card enclosed. That's really low.
Lastly, you ruined my celebratory dinner. You caused a fight between my wife and I. I think you owe me a very nice dinner.
Sincerely,
Jerry
------------------------
From: Capital One Web Information <webinfo@capitalone.com>
Subject: Re: My Problem (KMM21563074V90996L0KM)
Date: Friday, September 30, 2011, 9:56 AM
Hello Jerry,
Thanks for your message.
We appreciate your feedback. Our goal is to provide all of our customers
with the highest level of service, and we sincerely regret that your
experience did not represent that goal.
Please call our Customer Relations Department at 1-800-955-7070
(00+1+804-934-2001 if you are overseas). Our representatives are
available 24 hours every day for your convenience.
If you're currently a Capital One® customer, please log into Capital One
Online Banking and send us a secure message. If you're not currently
enrolled, please visit us at www.capitalone.com and click Enroll Here or
Need to Enroll.
Since regular electronic correspondence is not a secure method of
contacting us and we wish to protect the integrity of account
information, Capital One prefers to discuss personal and
account-specific questions by secure message and telephone rather than
by e-mail. We assure you that all other electronic contact with us such
as viewing statements and making payments is secure.
Thanks for contacting Capital One.
Regards,
Capital One
Thanks for your message.
We appreciate your feedback. Our goal is to provide all of our customers
with the highest level of service, and we sincerely regret that your
experience did not represent that goal.
Please call our Customer Relations Department at 1-800-955-7070
(00+1+804-934-2001 if you are overseas). Our representatives are
available 24 hours every day for your convenience.
If you're currently a Capital One® customer, please log into Capital One
Online Banking and send us a secure message. If you're not currently
enrolled, please visit us at www.capitalone.com and click Enroll Here or
Need to Enroll.
Since regular electronic correspondence is not a secure method of
contacting us and we wish to protect the integrity of account
information, Capital One prefers to discuss personal and
account-specific questions by secure message and telephone rather than
by e-mail. We assure you that all other electronic contact with us such
as viewing statements and making payments is secure.
Thanks for contacting Capital One.
Regards,
Capital One
-------------------------
Subject: Re: My Problem (KMM21563074V90996L0KM)
To: webinfo@capitalone.com
Date: Friday, September 30, 2011, 10:51 AM
To: webinfo@capitalone.com
Date: Friday, September 30, 2011, 10:51 AM
Dear Nameless Person,
I see my note didn't quite get to the CEO. Nice interception.
My note really has nothing to do with my account, so it really isn't sensitive. My daughter's credit card isn't activated, so she has no account to hack into. As I told you a few months back, this is a policy issue.
YOU NEED TO STOP TARGETING LITTLE KIDS WITH CREDIT CARD APPLICATIONS.
Sometimes people use all caps to stress a point, and other times, they are "yelling." In this case, I'm yelling. I'm yelling because you don't listen.
You still owe me a really nice dinner.
Jerry
I see my note didn't quite get to the CEO. Nice interception.
My note really has nothing to do with my account, so it really isn't sensitive. My daughter's credit card isn't activated, so she has no account to hack into. As I told you a few months back, this is a policy issue.
YOU NEED TO STOP TARGETING LITTLE KIDS WITH CREDIT CARD APPLICATIONS.
Sometimes people use all caps to stress a point, and other times, they are "yelling." In this case, I'm yelling. I'm yelling because you don't listen.
You still owe me a really nice dinner.
Jerry
-------------------------------------------
From: Capital One Web Information <webinfo@capitalone.com>
Subject: Re: My Problem (KMM21566445V7161L0KM)
ate: Monday, October 3, 2011, 4:21 PM
From: Capital One Web Information <webinfo@capitalone.com>
Subject: Re: My Problem (KMM21566445V7161L0KM)
ate: Monday, October 3, 2011, 4:21 PM
CID: 10001750783734
Dear Jerry:
Thank you for contacting the Executive Office. You recently wrote an
e-mail addressed to our Chief Executive Officer, Rich Fairbank,
expressing your concern regarding solicitations for a minor. I'm happy to address your concerns at this time in an effort to help you.
First, we regret any frustration this situation has caused. Our policy
prohibits solicitation of minors. Please reply with the name and
address, exactly as it appears on the solicitation, and I will stop
future solicitations. I can also determine how this error occurred if
you provide me with a copy of the solicitation that shows the full
mailing label (including all of the numbers that appear above the name
and address on the solicitation).
If an account was opened in the name of a person under the age of 18,
please contact me securely via telephone for assistance. Regrettably, we
are unable to respond to account specific issues via unsecured e-mail.
I hope this addresses your concerns. If you still have concerns, I?m
happy to help. Please contact me by sending a secured e-mail to my
attention or by telephone at 1-800-955-1455. I can usually be reached
Monday through Thursday between 10:00 am and 7:30 pm ET.
Regards,
Greg G.
Dear Jerry:
e-mail addressed to our Chief Executive Officer, Rich Fairbank,
expressing your concern regarding solicitations for a minor. I'm happy to address your concerns at this time in an effort to help you.
First, we regret any frustration this situation has caused. Our policy
prohibits solicitation of minors. Please reply with the name and
address, exactly as it appears on the solicitation, and I will stop
future solicitations. I can also determine how this error occurred if
you provide me with a copy of the solicitation that shows the full
mailing label (including all of the numbers that appear above the name
and address on the solicitation).
If an account was opened in the name of a person under the age of 18,
please contact me securely via telephone for assistance. Regrettably, we
are unable to respond to account specific issues via unsecured e-mail.
I hope this addresses your concerns. If you still have concerns, I?m
happy to help. Please contact me by sending a secured e-mail to my
attention or by telephone at 1-800-955-1455. I can usually be reached
Monday through Thursday between 10:00 am and 7:30 pm ET.
Regards,
Greg G.
Executive Response Committee
Capital One
--------------------------
Capital One
--------------------------
Subject: Fw: Re: My Problem (KMM21566445V7161L0KM)
To: webinfo@capitalone.com
Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 9:26 PM
To: webinfo@capitalone.com
Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 9:26 PM
Dear Greg, Attached is the photo that you requested. I appreciate your response, and the information that you provided. I find it fascinating that you have a policy regarding credit card applications and minors. Here's why. Back in July, I complained about this very same matter, and your people only offered to "opt out" my daughter. When I stated that I wasn't looking to opt out, but threatened to change my card provider if they didn't change the policy, they didn't respond. It would have been nice, back in July, if someone had mentioned the policy. Could it be that the policy is new, as a result of my previous mail? Or is the policy one of those "lesser known" policies? Maybe people thought the policy applied to miners. I'm not sure why they might think that--I'm just grasping at straws at this point. What I do know is, somebody over there still owes me a nice dinner. I am also interested to know how my daughter, 9, was mistaken for someone twice her age. Thanks, Jerry ------------------------------ From: Capital One Web Information <webinfo@capitalone.com> Subject: Re: Fw: Re: My Problem () (KMM21618534V34245L0KM) Date: Thursday, October 6, 2011, 1:21 PM CID: 10001752910530 Dear Jerry: Regrettably, we are unable to receive attachments via e-mail. Please fax a copy of the solicitation mail label to my attention at 804-968-3081. Our policy regarding solicitation of minors is not new. If a minor is solicited, it usually means data provided to us by a third party indicated the person was eligible for solicitation. I am happy to research why this occurred and share more information about the source of the data after you have provided a copy of the entire mail label from the solicitation addressed to your daughter. I will also need a telephone number to contact you with the results of the investigation. Our records show that we responded to your e-mail on June 24, 2011, at 1:26 ET with an e-mail that provided instructions on how to opt out. Incorrect data solicitations may be addressed with suppression of future solicitations (opting out). We regret our response did not address your concerns. Our compensation policy is such that we do not provide reimbursement. However, I will review a goodwill gesture at the conclusion of this investigation. I hope this addresses your concerns. If you still have concerns, I'm happy to help. Please contact me by sending a secured e-mail to my attention or by telephone at 1-800-955-1455. I can usually be reached Monday through Thursday between 10:00 am and 7:30 pm ET. Regards, Greg G. Executive Response Committee Capital One ------------------------- Subject: Re: Fw: Re: My Problem () (KMM21618534V34245L0KM) To: webinfo@capitalone.com Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 Greg, I just sent the documents to your attention. Let me know if you did not receive them. Good luck with your investigation. Please let me know how it turns out. Thank you, Jerry ------------------------------ That same day, I received a very polite voicemail from Greg stating that he received the documents, and he would be investigating. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Fw: Re: My Problem () (KMM21618534V34245L0KM) To: webinfo@capitalone.com Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Dear Greg, ------------------------------I received your voicemail last week stating that you received my faxes. How is the investigation going? Do you need any more info on my end? I can be Watson on this one. Are you following some leads? Ideally for me, at the end of the trail, I'd like the name of the company that inaccurately provided the third party my daughter's info. Unless that company IS the third party. Either way, it sounds like some organization, with which I've done business in the past, has placed both of us in this predicament. We've both been victimized- your company's reputation, and my nine-year-old daughter's personal info. It wouldn't seem fair if there were confidentiality "barriers" preventing me from knowing this information, considering my daughter's info, while inaccurate, hasn't been treated as confidential. My concern is, this third party still has this wrong information about my daughter. Who else are they sharing it with? Is she going to be automatically subscribed to cigar afficianado catalogs and Frederick's of Hollywood catalogs next? I'm really not a fan of companies selling my info to other companies, let alone my daughter's information inaccurately. I find this equal parts disturbing and distressing. There needs to be consequences. Please keep me posted. Email is fine, since I work long hours. Then again, maybe the third party can also confirm that. Thanks, Jerry From: Capital One Web Information <webinfo@capitalone.com> Subject: Re: Fw: Re: My Problem () () (KMM21770765V64843L0KM) To: "Stephanie Marie" <stephmarie1974@yahoo.com> Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 3:12 PM Dear Jerry: ------------------------------I've completed the investigation and sent you a letter via U.S. Mail yesterday that explains the outcome. Please allow about 5 business days for delivery. Regards, Greg G. Executive Response Committee Capital One Letter from Greg G., dated October 18, 2011: Dear Mr. Herman, Thank you for contacting the Executive Office. You recently wrote us expressing your concern regarding mail solicitations for your minor daughter. I'm happy to address your concerns at this time in an effort to help you. The data that we received from Experian and TransUnion indicate that Julie Herman is not a minor. Experian shows Julie's date of birth as August 9, 1981, and her social security number issue year as 1989. TransUnion shows Julie's date of birth as August 1988 and her social security number as 1989. Please reach out to the consumer credit reporting agencies directly to correct this information. Their contact information is: Experian P.O. Box 9556 Allen, TX 75013 888-397-3742 http://www.experian.com/ TransUnion Trans Union Consumer Relations P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19022-2000 Office in PA: 1-800-888-4213 800-916-8800 http://www.transunion.com/ I have submitted a request to suppress fgutute solicitations to the name and address provided for Julia. However, if Julia's name was previously selected for any of our upcoming mailpromotions prior to this request, it is possible for her to receive information from us over the next several weeks. It may take up to 30 days for your do-not-call request to be renoved from all offers. If you receive a Capital One Telemarketing call during this 30 day period, please inform the caller that you have recently made a request not to receive telemarketing calls or ask the caller to submit a new do not call request. As a gesture of goodwill, I have issued a $100 credit to your credit card referenced above. I hope this letter addresses your concerns. If you still have concerns, I am happy to help. Please contact me at 1-800-955-1455. I can usually be reached Monday through Thursday between 10:00 AM and 7:30 PM ET. Sincerely, Greg G. Executive Response Committee Capital One ------------------------------- My response, sent 10/24/2011: Dear Greg. Thank you very much for your help in this investigation. Thank you also for the kind gesture of $100. We will follow your advice and go after these identity theft bastards through Experian and TransUnion. My only, only, only beef with Capital One goes back to my exchanges back in July. One of the things that I read on the TransUnion sight is, a minor receiving credit card applications is one of the biggest indicators of identity theft. When I was complaining about this issue, I wasn't aware that it was a symptom of identity theft. I just thought your company was being overly-aggressive. Until you came along, no one at Capital One stood up and said "Psst...it goes against our policy to solicit miinors. We'll look into things on our end, but you might start looking at credit reports for your son or daughter." By not doing this, you gave these people that much more time to order place settings and popcorn poppers (or whatever they ordered) on my daughter's credit. You might just reviiew your response policies with the whole Capital One team in this instance and maybe have everyone more proactive for this scenario in the future. I don't want to dwell on the negative because you've done a great job. Thanks again, Jerry ------------------------------ |
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