Complaint Review: Capital One

In 2008, I had two Capital One CCards and paid the monthly bills online.  I did not use them any more (and had cut them up about a year prior to the incident), but kept them open to help grow my credit score. 

In October '08, I moved to a remote location (that still received mail), I went to pay my bills online like I always did, a few days before their due date, and after I paid the first one, I had to log out and relog in for the other account.  I went to log in with the same password that I have had for at least 2 years; I tried to log in and it said invalid password, I figured I typed it too fast so I retried it again...same results.  I tried it again and did the "hunt and peck" method of typing the password, and the screen popped up saying that the password was incorrect and the account was locked.  I waited a few hours, figuring that they would unlock it, but when I tried it again, they said that I had to contact their offices to have them reset it. 

The next day, while I was out doing errands for the family I was working for, I tried to call Capital One on my cell phone, but was put on hold for over 15 minutes and couldn't wait anymore.  I did this for a couple days, but every time I would be stuck on hold for a long period of time. 

On this account I opted to have my bills emailed to me, as opposed to the paper copy mailed to me a few years before, so I did not have the account number to write on a check and try to mail it in.  I could not find any method to contact Cap. One through email and couldn't find another way to pay.  I waited to for a paper copy to come to me but never received it, I did however receive a paper copy for the other account, so I know they had my new address.  The next thing I knew (less than two months later) I received a letter from a collection agency saying that they had taken over control of my account and the new balance was an extra $250.  I never heard from Capital One again on this account.

I called the number on the paperwork and tried to explain what had happened and asked if they had a different number where I could call and talk to a person at Cap One, and the rep said "...it doesn't matter, they are going to tell you that you have to talk to us, and that it's out of their hands once it's turned over to a collection agency."  So I asked them what I could do and the rep said that I would need to pay the full amount (the original amount plus the extra $250), when I refused because I didn't think it was right (and because I didn't have the money at the time), the guy said that there was nothing he could do. 

Fast forward a year, the account was passed along to another company, but this time instead of calling my cell phone (the only phone number on file) and leaving a message, they called both of my parent's homes.  I hadn't lived with my mother ever, and she was receiving multiple calls a day, and my father was receiving 4 to 5 calls a day from the collection agency too.  I got voicemails from both of them screaming about how rude these people were and how they said they didn't believe them, that I didn't live with them and that I wasn't even in the same state.  I ended up calling them and they said that I had to pay right away or the calls wouldn't stop.  I told my parents to just tell them to ignore the calls, and after a few months the calls stopped. 

Six months goes by and I moved into my father's home and I when I submitted my change of address forms at the post office, my father's home phone started receiving calls multiple times a day.  I answered one of the calls and it was a new collection agency saying that I owed $1,300+, and I explained to the rep on the phone what had happened and he told me that he ouldn't "Officially" help me, but he told me that I should call Capital One back and try to resolve the problem with them.  So I tried but they told me since the account was in collections they couldn't talk to me.  I tried to explain to the Capital One rep that it shouldn't have gotten to this point because I was paying my amount down, and THEY changed my password and never sent me a bill before sending me to collections and dropping me all together, now I have a bill that double and I didn't think it was right or legal.

Now today, I get a call from a new Collection agency, and the guy called my fathers house twice and on the second ring I was able to reach the phone, and the man on the other line told me who he was, and that now the bill was at $1,900.  Since the first time I talked to the original collection agency I read up on consumer's rights and know a little more of what I can do, so I told the guy the situation and told him that I would pay him today the original $600 that was owed before Capital One changed my password and closed my account, but he told me that Capital One wouldn't take that, but they would do a settlement for half the total bill.  That's when I passed because to me that seems a little self serving on Capital One's part, where they would get an extra $350 for them changing my password. 

I am fed up and don't want to deal with this anymore, Does anyone know of any lawsuits that I can read up on and how they resolved any similar situations?