topic Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!! in Credit Cards

Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

laboi_22 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:11:20 GMT

So I decided that I wanted to waist valuable minutes from my life so I put in a call to Capital One. My card is in the credit steps program. It started at $500. I got my first CLI to $750 and then nothing. So I call today to see why didn't I get my next step since I"m in the credit steps program. The rep said "you are not enrolled in the CS program" WTH??? I said yes I have the document on the "my documents" section of your online center to prove that I am in the CS program. He put me on hold. He came back and said oh that's right you were enrolled but was kicked off due to a violation of the terms and conditions of the program!!! SURPRISE! Capital One made that up!!

I said what did I do to commit such a violation? He said you didn't follow the steps. My document simply states:

Welcome to Capital One!®Your Welcome Kit informed you of your initial credit limit, but as a Capital One Preferred
cardholder, you have been pre-qualified for a $750 credit line with Capital One Credit StepsSM. This is an automatic
service for new customers and an easy way to achieve more buying power. Simply follow these two steps:
1. Use your card at least once. (DID THAT)
2. Make your first 5 monthly payments on time. (PIF the next 5 months)
That's it. Just complete these two steps and you could automatically get access to your pre-qualified credit line of $750 by
your 7th statement. That's how easy it is to get the extra power you need to fill up your gas tank, buy groceries, dine out...
or just treat yourself!

Credit Steps is another No Hassle way to take control of your financial future. If you have any questions about your
account, please call Customer Service anytime at 1-800-955-7070 or visit us online at www.capitalone.com.

Sincerely,
Edited to remove personal information-MarineVietVet, myFICO moderator

Director of Accounts
P.S. Just remember, all it takes is two simple steps to receive a total pre-qualified credit line of $750. Get started today!

Ok so he said I didn't use my card for one of the months. Oh really - well how did I get the $750. Needless to say, I've been kicked off the program without knowing. He said let me check to see if your account is eligible for a CLI. He came back and said sorry but not an option at this time. I asked why. He said you will get a letter in the mail in 7-10 explaining that decision.

OMG I argued with him to no end. In the end Dave won and me--the customer--LOST and LOST BIG!! WOW!!

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Skinnyminnie — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:11:57 GMT

I can almost feel your pain.

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:32:07 GMT

I'd boot them once it made good credit-sense.

When they ask why, I'd say "You didn't follow the steps".

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:32:23 GMT

How frustrating. Cap 1 can be a real PITA. Maybe you could call back and get someone else who can be more helpful, since you obviously are in the right here. Good luck!!

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

CS800 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:33:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'd boot them once it made good credit-sense.

When they ask why, I'd say "You didn't follow the steps".

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

laboi_22 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:34:49 GMT

Love it you didn't follow the steps!! Lol. I may try them again. It's frustrating to waste all this time though. I don't really need a CLI but hey why not try!

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

pizzadude — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:42:45 GMT

Wow, another mind boggling conversation with a cap1 CSR. Yet again they've earned the title of "Crap One".

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Walt_K — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:43:08 GMT

How do you know you're supposed to get a second increase through credit steps? I don't see anything about that in the letter you quoted. As far as I can recall, some credit steps involved multiple increases, some only one. Perhaps you were in the program that only received one increase. If that's the case, the agent should have said you've already completed the program instead of saying you violated the terms, but that's just a matter of a poorly trained agent.

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:49:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
How frustrating. Cap 1 can be a real PITA. Maybe you could call back and get someone else who can be more helpful, since you obviously are in the right here. Good luck!!

welcome to the forums

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:21:26 GMT

@Walt_K wrote:
How do you know you're supposed to get a second increase through credit steps? I don't see anything about that in the letter you quoted. As far as I can recall, some credit steps involved multiple increases, some only one. Perhaps you were in the program that only received one increase. If that's the case, the agent should have said you've already completed the program instead of saying you violated the terms, but that's just a matter of a poorly trained agent.

That was my first thought, as well. I received a Cap1 MC that was in the CS program, and the initial CL and CS increase were identical to yours. The terms in the letter that you received are identical to mine. I received the initial CLI -- $500 -> $750 -- and that was the only one. Are we missing something? Do you have any correspondence from them that indicates that there are to be future steps at regularly scheduled intervals?

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:20:51 GMT

My Cap One card was in the credit steps too, with that exact same thing. After 6-7 months I went from 500 to 750. And that's it. It's not Credit Steps in plural, it's really just one credit step. After that, your card is stuck where it is unless they for whatever random reason give you a CLI.

As far as the reason why they didn't give you a CLI, I could almost bet it will be that a customer-initiated CLI is not available at this time. That's the reason I've had every time. I used to use the card a LOT and never had any missed payments or anything bad on the account, but they still have me sitting at $750 with it.

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

laboi_22 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:54:25 GMT

Actually the rep said there is more than just 1 step to credit steps. You have to use your card each month and then make payments on time. Every 5 months you get an increase. There are topics on this forums regarding continued steps in the program. If you are violation however you get thrown off without so much as a warning and then you will never ever see a CLI unless the decide to give you one I guess.

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:59:22 GMT

Another great thread for me to never get with cap one thanks everyone

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:14:21 GMT

You are only supposed to get the one increase in the credit steps program. After that it's random increases if any at all!

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:22:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You are only supposed to get the one increase in the credit steps program. After that it's random increases if any at all!

Perhaps they shoud have named it "Credit step". A rebuilder that doesn't grow with responsible credit use isn't practical for many.

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Walt_K — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:29:39 GMT

@laboi_22 wrote:
Actually the rep said there is more than just 1 step to credit steps. You have to use your card each month and then make payments on time. Every 5 months you get an increase. There are topics on this forums regarding continued steps in the program. If you are violation however you get thrown off without so much as a warning and then you will never ever see a CLI unless the decide to give you one I guess.

That rep also told you that you were in violation, so I wouldn't put a lot of stock in what that rep said. Your letter only mentions one step, and there is at least anecdotally, a lot of evidence of other people being in a program that only involves one step. There are threads that mention more than one step, and I thought, though I cannot confirm because I no longer have the letter, that my card had two steps. But even if there are confirmed examples of other cards having more than one step, it does not mean that the credit steps program always involves more than one step. Your letter suggests there is only one for your card.

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:13:39 GMT

Thanks dalebb!!

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:43:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
You are only supposed to get the one increase in the credit steps program. After that it's random increases if any at all!
Perhaps they shoud have named it "Credit step". A rebuilder that doesn't grow with responsible credit use isn't practical for many.

In a way your right the increase is the one step but the steps taken to get that increase seems to be paying your bill on time and using it so I think that is more than one step but you can argue the step refers to increases

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:50:30 GMT

I am in the same program and my mom is also it does clearly state in my letter you do have to use it every month when I got the letter telling me how it worked it said after the 5th to 7th statement I would Recieve a 250 cli and then the 10th statement I will get a 500 dollar cli and once that happens I am out of the credit steps program and can get cli at there doing so pretty much I will have a card stuck at 1250 cl for the rest of my life

Re: Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

pizzadude — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:54:33 GMT

It looks like there are different versions of the program, some include a single CLI, and others offer two CLIs. And the terms are slightly different, i.e. using the CC once versus using it every month....