topic Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice in Credit Cards

Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 09:00:11 GMT

Hi everyone. First I want to say I'm new here but have been reading these forums for about 6 months. I've obtained very valuable insight into my personal credit history and getting it on the right track. I will post that story in the welcome thread soon.

This is about my mom. She is a senior and sometimes needs help and unfortunately I'm not fully equipped to help fully, however I would really like to.

She has a Capital One Platinum Card. I had her show it to me so I could make sure it was the same as the one I have (the current one on their website). She opened the account in Nov 2011 and had the same type of benefits I have (opened mine in June 2016). It has the $0 annual fee.

She told me for the first 3 years she didn't have any fee's and that the last 2 years they have been charging $59 annually in Nov. I sat down with her and looked online at the statements and I see they started charging a "membership fee" of $59 and did so one time in 2015, and again in 2016.

She said she had called about this fee when it first happened and the CSR told her they changed and started charging this fee (this would be in 2015). She asked to have it waived and they said they couldn't. So she has paid a total of $118 in 2 years for this fee.

I cannot find anything about them contacting her at any point by mail or email about this starting after 3 years of no fee's. She has 100% payment history and had never been late. I also cannot find anything from the last 2 years of this happening to anyone with the Platinum Card. I see they have a guaranteed card for poor credit with a $59 fee, a business card $59 fee, and one of the Venture cards as well. She has the same card I do, the one currently on the website with no annual fee,and they clearly scream that all over their marketing as well. I'm at a loss!

I want to be as best prepared before sitting with her to call. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

sarge12 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 10:04:34 GMT

Just because it looks the same does not necessarily mean they are the same tier of cards...if you look on the sites they often have cards that look identical and both say platinum, but they are different tier cards, one for bad credit, and the other for fair credit.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 10:19:10 GMT

I understand that aspect of one platinum can differ from another. I can take a look at her statement closer. My question is how do they go 3 years with no fee, no contact, and then out of nowhere change it up and start adding a fee. All of this with 100% payments on time,and according to CSR they changed and "that's how this card is now". So weird!

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

sarge12 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 10:31:47 GMT

I agree 3 years after issue is unusual...most only waive the first year, if there is a fee, but they may have chosen to waive the fee the second year. I would go to the website and request the cardholder agreement for both cards. That is where the difference will be shown.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

fltireguy — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 11:06:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone. First I want to say I'm new here but have been reading these forums for about 6 months. I've obtained very valuable insight into my personal credit history and getting it on the right track. I will post that story in the welcome thread soon.

This is about my mom. She is a senior and sometimes needs help and unfortunately I'm not fully equipped to help fully, however I would really like to.

She has a Capital One Platinum Card. I had her show it to me so I could make sure it was the same as the one I have (the current one on their website). She opened the account in Nov 2011 and had the same type of benefits I have (opened mine in June 2016). It has the $0 annual fee.

She told me for the first 3 years she didn't have any fee's and that the last 2 years they have been charging $59 annually in Nov. I sat down with her and looked online at the statements and I see they started charging a "membership fee" of $59 and did so one time in 2015, and again in 2016.

She said she had called about this fee when it first happened and the CSR told her they changed and started charging this fee (this would be in 2015). She asked to have it waived and they said they couldn't. So she has paid a total of $118 in 2 years for this fee.

I cannot find anything about them contacting her at any point by mail or email about this starting after 3 years of no fee's. She has 100% payment history and had never been late. I also cannot find anything from the last 2 years of this happening to anyone with the Platinum Card. I see they have a guaranteed card for poor credit with a $59 fee, a business card $59 fee, and one of the Venture cards as well. She has the same card I do, the one currently on the website with no annual fee,and they clearly scream that all over their marketing as well. I'm at a loss!

I want to be as best prepared before sitting with her to call. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

And, it is Capital one, not CREDIT one..?

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 11:21:19 GMT

Yes, it's Capital One. It's the platinum card which is currently on their site under compare cards, the same one you see under their prequalify. I have the same card with $0 annual fee. So did she for 3 years then at year 4 & 5 they added a $59 membership fee annually with no contact and perfect payment history. The weirdest part is the CSR telling her "they changed the card and this is how it is now".

I thought maybe they upgraded her to Venture with the $59 fee, but on her online account and statement it clearly says Platinum Mastercard.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

MauiMan85297 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 13:33:25 GMT

A creditor can change the terms of the agreement at any time but must send out notice of the impending change and you have the option of accepting and continue the relationship or not accept and close the account (and of course pay the balance). So people mistake it as their statement and discard it (if you receive paper bills) or they give you an update on your electronic statement that might have been missed.

I could see the first year was waived but a second would be unlikely, best to request card agreement and decipher yourself.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Dalmus — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 13:52:39 GMT

You might want to go into her online account and see how Cap1 actually has her card named in her account.

For example, when I had the QS1, my card said QS1 and the image of the card online was QS1, but the description was Cap1 Platinum Mastercard.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

sarge12 — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 14:04:25 GMT

@gsully00 wrote:
A creditor can change the terms of the agreement at any time but must send out notice of the impending change and you have the option of accepting and continue the relationship or not accept and close the account (and of course pay the balance). So people mistake it as their statement and discard it (if you receive paper bills) or they give you an update on your electronic statement that might have been missed.

I could see the first year was waived but a second would be unlikely, best to request card agreement and decipher yourself.

I do not believe you would have to pay the carried balance in full, if any, to close the card and avoid the fees, I think the card would just not allow any new charges, and you could continue to make payments as agreed until it is eventually paid.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 02:20:20 GMT

Thanks for the feedback everyone provided. This is what happened today.

She called and asked for supervisor. She told them about the $59 membership fee being added the last 2yrs and how she has had card for 5yrs (the first 3yrs no fee). They started looking into it and we hit a road block when they saw the fee in Nov 2016 & 2015 but said trying to look at 2014 or prior they "couldn't access that far back"!? That sounds suspicious to me.

The supervisor then did offer to lower the APR to 19% because of the positive payment history down from 24.99% but said they couldn't waive the fee. They also stated she had no current offers but could apply for a new card if she wanted. I'm not sure if the prequal site would differ from over the phone offers on account of not?

She could then I guess either try merging the old balance and limit to the new card's limit and hopefully have no annual fee, although that would probably mean her APR on new card would be higher again. Supervisor said would send out card agreement to look it over on current card. I'm not entirely sure if it's going to be the new APR with $59 fee or if it's going to be the original.

What a big mess for a Cap1 Platinum in my opinion. Either way $59 is crazy for that card with absolutely no benefits, cash back, etc.

Btw..Her Fico 8 is EQ 653 / TU 658

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

enjoimorenow — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 02:57:42 GMT

I would just apply for a new card. Does she have baddies on her report? Is this her only card?

What comes up on the cap one prequal when you put her info? Does she get pre qual's on chase or amex?

Sure she could get a quicksilver with no AF and start getting cash back at least. Then just combine the cap one cards for a higher CL

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 05:15:36 GMT

Have her request to pc it to a Quick Silver with no AF. It will still be a Mastercard but should lower the interest rate too. Use live chat while logged in the site

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 06:58:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Have her request to pc it to a Quick Silver with no AF. It will still be a Mastercard but should lower the interest rate too. Use live chat while logged in the site

I'd say either pc it or app for a new card, either another Plat or a QS (with a 653 score, she should be able to at least get a no-AF Plat), then combine into the new card in 6 months (before the next AF is due)

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 07:43:57 GMT

All great advice. I am going to have her first try the prequal on Cap1 and see what comes up. If it's the QS (first choice), or Plat, then have her get one of those. If it's the QS1 with the $39 she will have to decide for the lower interest and higher free she has now, or higher interest of the QS1 but lower fee.

She has no baddies and payment history is @ 100%, also she has other cards from Chase, Citi, Walmart, Sears, Target, etc. Hoping for at least Plat with no fee and PC it in 6 months as advised. Let's hope for the best!

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

MauiMan85297 — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 23:54:37 GMT

@sarge12 wrote:
@gsully00 wrote:
A creditor can change the terms of the agreement at any time but must send out notice of the impending change and you have the option of accepting and continue the relationship or not accept and close the account (and of course pay the balance). So people mistake it as their statement and discard it (if you receive paper bills) or they give you an update on your electronic statement that might have been missed.

I could see the first year was waived but a second would be unlikely, best to request card agreement and decipher yourself.
I do not believe you would have to pay the carried balance in full, if any, to close the card and avoid the fees, I think the card would just not allow any new charges, and you could continue to make payments as agreed until it is eventually paid.

I never mentioned pay the balance in full. When you close it just means you no longer have access to charge and you can continue to make monthly payments as long as your ok being charged interest.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Glkslngr — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 00:03:23 GMT

I had that card before they started charging the annual fee of $59. It was my first card and i had it for about 10 or 11 years before they started charging me. Perfect payment history. They refused to waive the fee or let me PC it to a no AF card. I had to apply for a new one althogether. I closed the account and would never consider them again for any credit.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

noobody — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 01:14:06 GMT

Go online and check statement for the past 6 years and documents also.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 04:38:30 GMT

I just got hit with that too! I'm willing to bet it's because I pay off my bils monthly and actually make money by paying it off. The funny thing is about a month ago I looked at my rewards, then get the $59 annual fee. I'm putting all my CC's away except for this one now. I'm going to run everything thru them now to offset the $59 fee. I would imagine it will be $99 next year.

Wouldn't it be ilegal if they didn't raise everyones fee across the board?

I've always wondered if the rich people get big rewards on these type of cards...You know, the people who spend 50-100 k a month and payoff monthly.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Fri, 11 May 2018 05:07:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
All great advice. I am going to have her first try the prequal on Cap1 and see what comes up. If it's the QS (first choice), or Plat, then have her get one of those. If it's the QS1 with the $39 she will have to decide for the lower interest and higher free she has now, or higher interest of the QS1 but lower fee.

@Anonymous has no baddies and payment history is @ 100%, also she has other cards from Chase, Citi, Walmart, Sears, Target, etc. Hoping for at least Plat with no fee and PC it in 6 months as advised. Let's hope for the best!

You don't have to wait 6 months. I've seen people do it after the first statement. I PC'd mine at month 4.

Re: Capital One Platinum Card started charging $59 membership fee. Need advice

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 06:12:55 GMT

Try this link for a Product Change.

It worked for me a week ago and has worked for others.

https://verified.capitalone.com/sic-ui/#/esignin?Product=Card&Action=ProductUpgrade

It's no garrentee but worth a shot.