Capital One Hell

Sometimes it is not the business that gets me frustrated, sometimes it’s the people.

Honestly I am not only planning on doing bad reviews This one, however, holds a special place in my heart and I want to get it off my chest and move forward. But before I get to the transgender portion of this hellish nightmare that I lived through I have to back up to Christmas Eve December, 24th, 2015. (Notice something about that date?)

Yes it began on Christmas Eve while I was at work, I get an email saying my checking account was over drawn…huh? “I just got paid, besides I even had overdraft protection.” I mumbled as I opened my account online.

Not only was I overdrawn but so was my wife, and my mother. (Both of which listed me on their account as authorized to make withdraws.)

I assume you know what was happening, yes my account was being hacked and they were draining my family of their funds on Christmas Eve.

I watched as transactions started popping up, 240 at Walgreen’s, 200 Walgreen’s, 230 Toys R Us. And then I see transfers from my mom’s account into mine.

Yes I started to panic. I searched for a number to call, any number to put a stop to this theft. Nothing, well except for the number on the back of my credit card “in case of fraud.”

Unfortunately they cannot help with account fraud, nope…and of course they could not give me number that where I could reach a real life person that could help. So instead I attempted to sign back onto my account and change my user name and password but… that the criminal had struck first and had taken complete control over my account.

So I had to live through Christmas and New Year’s Eve with no cash, only credit cards. (Joy, Joy)

I knew I would get my money back and I knew that eventually everything would get back to normal but, it was extremely frustrating to say the least. However what I did not know, there was an active investigation of identity fraud. The bank could not help me much, not even when my job deposited my direct deposit into my closed account.

It actually took two complete months to get my funds returned and my direct deposit going into the right account.

But they finally did it, just in time for me to get my name and gender changed on all of my identification. So I dreaded telling my bank I was no longer Kenneth because I knew that I would have to go through getting a new account and once again changing my direct deposit to reflect those changes.

But I did it anyway, because I wanted to, because at that point in my life it was what I NEEDED to do. So Capital One was in no way responsible for all the problems that I had been having, it was just an endless and continuous string of FUCK that was the fault of no one but the thief that hacked my account.

And then came the day I came out to my bank. With a new driver’s license and Social Security card in hand I walked into the bank all Kendra Chelsea like to start the process of changing my name on my account.

“Sorry we don’t do that here.” The man that helped me, said in an asshole-ish tone.

I laughed a little bit before I realized he was being serious. “No seriously, all my information is right here.” I responded.

“Well we do not have proof that you are the account holder Kenneth, all your identification says Kendra.” He shrugged but he did so with a smug grin.

“Wait, no, look the court order shows the name Kenneth Eugene was changed to Kendra Chelsea, the proof is right there.” I said becoming increasingly angry.

Reluctantly he picked up the phone to call some help-line number and halfheartedly explained his side of the problem. While I tried to talk loud enough so the person he was talking to could hear that the court order should be enough to prove I was at one point Kenneth, sadly though, before I could get it out he quickly said. “Okay goodbye.”

“Sorry, they said no.”

Okay, the old me, the Kenneth me would have solved the problem with threats, anger and maybe even a resulting violent encounter but something had changed and I knew I had to get out of there and get out of there immediately. “I am done, this is something the press is really going to want to hear.” I said as I stormed out of the bank.

It was the hormones that had changed me and the reason I wanted to get the hell out of there was because I knew I was about to cry and cry is what I did… for fifteen minutes while sitting alone in my car.

When I was finally able to regain some resemblance of self-respect I called the Capital One corporate office and explained the humiliating experience that I had at their Greenbelt Maryland office.

Within 5 minutes of placing the call I get a call from the bank manager from that branch apologizing and begging me to come into the bank so he could make it right.

I know this seems like this is going on and on forever but follow me for just a little bit longer, it gets much worse.

So he fixed it, opened my new account, everything handled right? I would have my new card within 3 days, it would arrive around the time I get my security pass code to activate it… Well on three I got the pass code and then on day four, another pass code and on day five…yep you guessed it, another pass code but still no credit card.

I called the bank manager he apologized again and promised he would overnight me a card and all my problems would be solved. Keep in mind this all happened just weeks after I finally fixed the fraud on my account.

Day five, well nothing as was day six and seven…Ha, so I skipped calling the bank manager this time and went straight to card services and explained my situation. They said that they had not received an authorization to overnight my card but they would take care of it and I would have it by that Friday.

I finally had the card in my hand by the following Tuesday but when I tried to activate the card with the last pass code they had sent the recording said I needed to speak to a customer service representative.

And you could not make this stuff up because when I called they explained to me that there was fraud against my account. You know the account that had not even been activated yet. “No that was my old account, this account was opened because of a name and gender change.” I explained.

“No, in the notes it says this count was reported as compromised, we are going to have to send you a new card, I am sorry if that is an inconvenience.”

“Inconvenience? I have been living off of credit for almost 2 months…Really?”

But my only other option was to go to another bank, open another account and start all over again. And in my state of mind that was not an option so…as forcefully as I possibly could said, “I hope this is being sent over night d to me.”

Okay we are getting to the grand finale now. Frustrated, angry, almost in tears I headed home. “Kimberly…You will never guess this crap I am going through now.”

“Kendra, the bank just cancelled all my credit cards, they said that you just reported fraud against all of our accounts.”

I just lost it, really. “They said I REPORTED IT? Did they say that I was actually in control of my mouth at the time I said it?”

Up until that moment I really did not think it was anything transphobic about the nightmare I was living through but that changed that very instant.

It made matters worse when Kimberly called and demanded to know why they thought there was fraud on our accounts.

“In the notes the last time your wife called, it says she wanted the accounts closed…”

Come on, would anyone in the world believe this crap? Especially after the trauma I received as they beat the happy out of me over the previous 2 months.

Kimberly demanded that they do an investigation because whoever made that notation was making a fraudulent claim.

By the end of that week, the nightmare was finally over. I honestly do not believe that it was Capital One that targeted me but I do believe with every fiber of my being that it was one of its employees but the thing is…

It is still their responsibility.

#Identification #Review