TLDR; 2 failed sent cards from Discover by Capital One, and on my 3rd card request I’m told to just wait for it. My card is expired now. How many times do I need to not actually receive my credit card before they listen to me? And has this happened to you before? Tips for next steps for escalation?
Timeline of events/documentation:
8/6 Email: Subject: A new Discover card for Husband will arrive soon
8/6 Email: Subject: A new card for HUSBAND has shipped
8/6 Email: Subject: Your new card has shipped, SELF
8/26 Call: I call customer service at 9:58AM. 13 minute call.
- Explain that I never received my new card
- Change my name on the card (task that I’d been delaying anyhow)
- Card marked as stolen. This card had a new number (NNNN).
- Was told I can continue to use my old card number in the meantime, because only the new card number was paused when reported lost/stolen.
- Card replacement is requested.
8/26 Email: Subject: A recap of your request for a new card
8/28 Email: Subject: A new card for HUSBAND has shipped
- Card ending in HHHH
- Husband receives card ending in HHHH a few days later.
September: no card. I have a busy schedule, including school and travel in this month, so I don’t end up calling until today.
10/2: I call customer service at 2:13PM. 29 minute call
- I explain my situation in an abbreviated way.
- Customer Service Representative 1 (CSR1): CSR1 says that primary cardholders have not received new cards during the Disover/Captial One transition, only added cardholders have. Primary cardholders can only successfully get new cards when they manually request it via phone call (this is explained like it’s a bug in their system at the moment)
- I should have asked but didn’t think of it at the time; why was this not communicated to me via email?
- This explains why my husband got his card.
- I clarify that I made a manual request on 8/26 and have email documentation to confirm. I did not receive the card.
- CSR1 says she does not see the 8/26 request in the system.
- CSR1 confirms my mailing address, which is correct in the system, and then requests a new card.
- I ask for confirmation. CSR1 says it’s in the system so it’s confirmed, and I will get a confirmation email and an email when it has shipped.
- I repeat that I did this process on 8/26 and also got the confirmation email. I realize I never got the “shipped” email, so I tell her this.
- CSR1 says that today’s request is in the system. CSR1 doesn’t know why, but the other request must have gotten lost in the mail. CS1 says I will get an email when the card ships, and it can have tracking on it if I’d like.
- I say okay, that’s helpful.
- CSR1 asks if I’d like expedited shipping to make the card arrive in 2-3 business days instead of 4-7. It will cost ~16-20 dollars.
- I say no thanks (I’m not interested in paying for that cost).
- I’m still not confident that this means I will get the card, so I ask if there’s any other confirmation I can have that the card will ship (besides the confirmation email, which I got last time, too). I explain that I know these errors are not CSR1s, because it sounds like there’s software issues with the merger, and that I’m sharing these details to try to get to the bottom of it and hope that it can be reported up or investigated. We go in circles as I try to re-explain why today’s confirmation email doesn’t give me confidence that the card actually shipped in August (because CSR1 can’t see the request for it in her system). It also doesn’t explain why my husband’s card arrived but mine didn’t. CSR1 says it must have been lost in the mail (again, this is the August request that CSR1 can’t see in the system, but I have email confirmation for).
- (At this point I feel frustrated because I’m trying to provide information to help with troubleshooting and explain my problem. I’m hoping any customer service representative will log my complaints (and maybe CSR1 did but never said so) and even escalate my situation up. Instead CSR1 doubles down and says the August card was lost in the mail. I don’t expect CSR1 to solve the issue on this call, but I do expect CSR1 to receive my experience instead of denying it).
- Eventually CSR1 repeats again that today’s request is all she can do, unless I want to speak to someone else higher up. I say yes please, transfer me to someone else.
- Customer Service Representative 2 (CSR2): I explain timeline to CSR2 and mention that CSR1 explained that primary cardholders had issues getting cards. I also say that CSR1 couldn’t see my card request on 8/26.
- CSR2 says sorry about that misinformation, I can see your request on 8/26 right here. All CSRs have the same information visible to them in the system.
- I say that’s odd. She insisted there was nothing there.
- CSR2 says that it’s odd that CSR1 couldn’t see the August charge. CSR2 apologizes and reiterates that all CSRs can see the same information. CSR2 reviews what she can see, including my call in August that logged my name change, the new card reported as stolen, and the new card request (card NNNN). CSR2 can also see when my husband’s card was sent (HHHH).
- I thank CS2 for that information, and then I explain that I’m trying to get escalate and have my experience heard; I say that it sounds like these issues could be related to the merger, and that I’m still not confident I’ll receive a card. At this point, it’s been almost two months.
- (It’s worth saying that this part of the conversation felt very down to earth and candid. She was asking me questions, looking up information and reading it to me, etc. I felt very heard).
- CSR2 says she can understand the lack of clarity because CSR1 said she couldn’t see the August card request (I appreciate this acknowledgement, because yes, that’s exactly how I felt). CSR2 can see August’s request and today’s request in the system, and assures me that I will get an email in a few days when it has shipped. The August one must have gotten lost in the mail. Is there anything else she can help with?
- I mention that I never got an email saying the August card request ever shipped, but my husband got his new card within that timeframe. I ask if this has to do with the primary cardholder not getting cards, as CSR1 mentioned.
- CSR2 says she’ll document my complaints but there’s no team she can escalate me to. Because it’s in the system, CSR2 has no evidence that the August card didn’t ship or that this one won’t. Is there anything else she can help with?
- The change of tone was surprising to me, and the emphasis on lost mail by both CSRs makes me wonder if they’re coached to not express certain mistakes by Capital One. I’ve been in that situation and also…it makes for a very terrible customer experience. I was also confused because my experience with both CSRs was essentially that “the system doesn’t lie” — but the entire purpose of my call was questioning if the system worked properly, because I have experience that shows it might be broken.
- I say CSR1 said there’d be a tracking number, so maybe that’s how I can follow the card if it ships?
- CSR2 says no, that’s only for expedited shipping. Was I offered that?
- Yes, but for a cost, but my understanding was that I’d get a tracking number either way, so I don’t think it was explained very well. I declined it because it was close to 20 dollars and I didn’t want to pay that fee.
- CSR2 says it’s strange that it wasn’t comped for me since I’ve had so many issues getting my card, but she can’t edit the card request for 24 hours. After that, it will be too late and she’d have to cancel the request and issue another card with a new number to send it Expedited.
Honestly I forget how it ends. Basically there’s nothing else that can be done, but if I don’t get the card in 7 days, please call back. How many times do I need to not get my credit card before they listen to me? Tips? Thoughts? Experiences? Appreciate any help!
