Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Capital One (Europe) plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr N complained that Capital One (Europe) plc refused to provide electronic copies of his credit card statements after he closed his account, instead insisting on posting them. He also complained about how Capital One handled his complaint, feeling that references to other alleged complaints detracted from his actual complaint. Capital One explained it does not consider email a secure communication channel and offered to send statements by post. The ombudsman found that Capital One acted reasonably in following its internal security processes and offered an alternative method, and that the complaint was handled fairly with distinct sections addressing each element. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman determined that Capital One's refusal to send statements electronically was not unreasonable, as the firm has discretion to determine secure communication channels and offered an alternative method (post). The ombudsman noted that while firms should aim to communicate in customers' preferred manner, this is not always possible depending on the nature of information. Regarding complaint handling, the ombudsman found that Capital One's final response letter addressed distinct elements fairly and did not treat Mr N unfairly, despite his frustration with the process.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website