Credit Cards

[SavvyInvestor]

I opened a Capital One secured Visa in the late 1990s, secured with about $200.  Later they upped my credit to $600.  But I didn't like them so much as a company- it seemed that even if I mailed a check the very day I recieved my statement, the credit wouldn't be applied until the day after it was due half the time, causing them to report that I'd missed my minimum payment and unnecessary fees.  So, in 2004, I wrote them, asked for the payoff amount and their promise to mark the account as "paid as agreed, closed at consumer's request".  Well, this account was paid off, and shows "paid as agreed, closed at credit grantors request.".

The thing is, this is my longest account, and thus it has a big impact on the average age of my accounts on the report... and it will fall off the report in 2 years.

These days, setting up automatic payments is trivial in any number of ways, so I'm not worried about the pain of having to mail them checks immediately for a 50/50 shot at being on time. 

I saw some advice that said "Re-open old credit cards" in one of those "ways to rebuild your credit"....  I'm considering writing them and seeing if they'd be willing to do it.  A hard inquiry is worth re-opening an account that has over 10 years of age already. 

So, my question is this:

Is capital one a company worth doing business with, these days?   Or should they be avoided like the plague? 

[Creditaddict]

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SavvyInvestor wrote:

I opened a Capital One secured Visa in the late 1990s, secured with about $200.  Later they upped my credit to $600.  But I didn't like them so much as a company- it seemed that even if I mailed a check the very day I recieved my statement, the credit wouldn't be applied until the day after it was due half the time, causing them to report that I'd missed my minimum payment and unnecessary fees.  So, in 2004, I wrote them, asked for the payoff amount and their promise to mark the account as "paid as agreed, closed at consumer's request".  Well, this account was paid off, and shows "paid as agreed, closed at credit grantors request.".

The thing is, this is my longest account, and thus it has a big impact on the average age of my accounts on the report... and it will fall off the report in 2 years.

These days, setting up automatic payments is trivial in any number of ways, so I'm not worried about the pain of having to mail them checks immediately for a 50/50 shot at being on time. 

I saw some advice that said "Re-open old credit cards" in one of those "ways to rebuild your credit"....  I'm considering writing them and seeing if they'd be willing to do it.  A hard inquiry is worth re-opening an account that has over 10 years of age already. 

So, my question is this:

Is capital one a company worth doing business with, these days?   Or should they be avoided like the plague? 

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I really know only about 2 companies that will re-open old accounts.

Ususally even after 6 months let alone 6 years they want new credit pulls and they will give you new account and new open date.

[LS2982]

I highly doubt Cap1 will reopen an old account. YMMV of course, but its like pulling teeth for them to do anything else for anyone.

[pizzadude]

I agree with the others, it is very unlikely they would re~open a closed account.   What other CC do you have open currently ?  Rather than re~applying with Cap1 you might have a better chance with other creditors, at least in terms of getting CLIs and better CLs.

[SavvyInvestor]

Thanks for the feedback, that's just what I wanted to know.   The only advantage of this card was its age and its not that big of an impact.