Capital One Call - YAY so awesome!!

[Anonymous]

I was expecting to see a reply from LS or CS saying ""wheres mustang, don't get him started??""

And I'll keep it short and simple, they are not called CRAP1 for nothing.

Yes they granted me credit when my scores were sub 600's but how about NOW Crap1???? Really still a 500&750CL on my two cards with you???? (oops sorry, I said I was not gonna get started, my bad.)

Anyhoo, I will be closing both cards this year before the AF hits.

Sorry for your Crap1 experience, at least your card has no AF tho, I'd just SD it until 1) you close it 2) they close it due to inactivity.

[TiggerDat]

I am not in their credit steps program, but I will tell you some funny things.  I got a $300 limit on my first card and after 3 or 4 months it got increases to $500.  The same thing happened on the second card I got.  I have not had a CLI in almost a year and a half and a year on the second card.  They told me that I need to actually use the card to get a credit limit increase.  So I transferred the balance of another card and then immediately paid it.  I have done this about 4 times now with my two cards.  I have also used one of them to charge about twice my limit in the past 3 or 4 months.  I found from talking with them that my account has a maximum of $3000 for a credit limit.  (How long will it take for them to get me to that limit?  My guess is that I will die while I wait for that to happen.)  I routinely check their site to find out if I qualify for a different product, as I pay an annual fee of $39 on both cards.

In speaking with them and acting upset I have gotten them to reverse the annual fee this year for both cards.  I also make them check for offers all the time on my card and have silly conversations with them to find out more information.  I also added a password to my account after I found out that someone was impersonating me and finding out how much available credit I had.  (It was a collection agency that offered me a settlement for the exact amount of my credit available.  When I got their offer I was curious and called CapOne and asked when I had called and was given dates that I know I did not call.  I used that information to force the collection agency to accept my offer to them.)  After adding the password and having my account number changed I called back and the password was not asked for.  I jumped on this and complained to an account manager and was given a $50 courtesy credit. 

Since them I have used every mistake they have made and gotten a total of $110 credited to my account.  I also was speaking with a representative who did not understand what I said or actually probably didn't listen and also did not repeat back fully what she thought I said and subsequently issued me a new account number.  I choose my words very carefully with them.  They then had to send me a new card express mail to another country, which was actually a hassle since the rep said they would and the next person who had to actually do the work said no it was not going to happen.  I then had to call back and speak with another person who would.  They then did not send me a card to my home address for me to use after the temporary one expired.  So they had to express mail me another.   This was also an issue that involved two phone calls.  (They sent my authorized user a card, but not me.  How idiotic!  Funny thing is I went to use the card to rent a car and did not realize it was the authorize user's card and got questioned by the clerk whose card it was.  I still had the temp card that was good until midnight that day, ha ha!) 

I spent a $1.31 in interest with them this last year.  (I am still trying to figure out how that happened!)  Let's total this out.

CapOne

$50 (Courtesy Credit)

$50 (Courtesy Credit)

$10 (Courtesy Credit)

$30 (US overnight shipping)

$100 (International Express shipping)

$240 CapOne total costs

Me

$1.31

I did not include the annual fees as they would cancel each other out, but if you consider it in some respect it did save me an additional $78 for both cards.  (They also told me that the fees could possibly be waived in the future.)  I also earn cash rewards on one account.

None of this would have happened if they had simply given me regular credit line increases.  I wouldn't have even transferred the balances from my other cards.  I wouldn't have even thought about it.  When they just became a pain, I thought of inventive ways to make them work more and get less from me.    You can always see if there are offers to your account, which is different than asking for a CLI.  I suggest that you start with the annual fees being waived.  However, they do say it is possible that your non-rewards card can be changed to a rewards card.  They also say that you generally have to have a limit of $1000, $2000, or $3000 depending on which CSR you speak to.  When I am at my computer doing other work I like to also talk to them as it takes up their time.  Remember time is money and for those of us who have learned from our past mistakes and they are still treating us poorly, then I think it is OK to take up some of their time/money.  I would have been happy if my limit had been regularly increased.  The reason for this is that higher limits do help improve your score.

I will admit when my score is good, which should be about July of this year, I will start cancelling cards that have low limits after I get ones with respectable limits.  I would even be happy with the max they say I could have of $3000.  I wouldn't even need both cards at that point.  I even like my Merrick Bank card much more than them.  I get credit limit increases, but have no rewards.  I actually think they will soon offer me an unsecured card.  (I know some people have had problems with them, but I am willing to pay for at least another year or two and keep the secured card out of respect for helping get this far.)

I also think that once I am no longer subprime in thier eyes, they will treat me differently and have better customer service reps.  I don't actually need or want to talk to them on the phone, I know how to use the internet. 

I have asked for limit increases and I get the same letter everyone else does.  Customers can't get limit increases upon request.

Good luck to all of you!  Remember learn from your mistakes or learn the first time around and do right.  Don't blame others for your mistakes, but blame CapOne when they don't help you after you have learned from the mistakes and have demonstrated you are sound now.

If I ever get a limit increase I will let others know and how it happened.

[CS800]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I was expecting to see a reply from LS or CS saying ""wheres mustang, don't get him started??""

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I didn't want you to start drinking that early

[chan85]

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@SenorDragon wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just paid my 5th statement last week and I am hoping when my next statement cuts in 2 weeks it will show my new CL of 750.

Seems a lot of people here really dislike capital one. So far I have been happy with how things have gone. I do plan on getting the Venture card once my current cap 1 card hits a year of history. Since all the complaints with capital one has to do with their builder and rebuilder cards, I would definitely love to be the guinea pig of the forums for a capital one prime product.

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I closed a starter card I had with them a few months ago due to it not growing for years beyond the $800 limit I had. Despite the dislike for Capital One here, I applied and was approved for the Cash Rewards card and so far have had no complaints. No problems with the CSR when I had to verify some information after the initial application and I was started with a much more respectable limit of $7500. Time will tell how generous they are with future CLIs, but I'll keep you guys posted. From my personal experience with both their starter and "prime" cards, it almost seems like Capital One has different departments or something because the way things have been handled for me so far seems much smoother that what other have described with their starter cards.

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I think that it part of the trick with Cap1. They don't grow from starter cards to better prime credit cards. They expect you to close the old cards and reapply. If you are at a higher "tier" with your credit with the new card, they will treat you differently- offer more of a cl in the beginning and if you use it (not sock drawer it out of resentment) they will consider increasing it- not guranteed, that's what I seem to gather after reading for months about capital one.

I think when you open the card, you need to have clear expectations, we already know Cap1 works on their own terms. So you call, find out what the top cl you can get, exoect nothing more than that no matter how amazing your credit is after several years. if you are in the credit steps program follow it, and as we recently learned, keep using it, even if it's just 1 auto charge a month. I personally run one charge through ALL my cards (except Credit One because there is no grace period).  If you are not showing them any love or making them any money from atleast swiping the card, why would they give you more money to use?? I get that a lot of people don't like that, but credit cards are plastic loans- you work in their terms or get another card with another bank who's terms are more agreeable. How they choose to spend THEIR money is on them.... (because it is THEIR money).... but this is all just my theory/opinion....

[CS800]

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@chan85 wrote:

I think that it part of the trick with Cap1. They don't grow from starter cards to better prime credit cards. They expect you to close the old cards and reapply. If you are at a higher "tier" with your credit with the new card, they will treat you differently- offer more of a cl in the beginning and if you use it (not sock drawer it out of resentment) they will consider increasing it- not guranteed, that's what I seem to gather after reading for months about capital one.

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This has been my assumtion for a long time now. They have different tiers. So your rebuilder card has a ceiling. The way it's managed with Capital One is also different. They know they can make a lot of money on these cards so they capitalize on the rebuilder cards in hope that if they tell you that you have to close this one and re-open another one, you wont do it.

They will tell you that (true story) you will lose the age of the card and your score will drop. But the savy people would tell them that you dont lose the age just the crappy CL. I bet there are many people out there with great FICO's still paying the outrageous AF that they were paying when they were rebuilding. They dont know any better

---knowledge is power-- when you gain the knowledge you can start using the companies to your advantage.

[TiggerDat]

Yeah the only way to get out of the subprime with them is to reapply.

[TiggerDat]

I actually had a rep from CapOne who told me I was not making them any money.  I did not use the card often and would go months without charging on it.  I explained to him that it was the worst card in my wallet, why would I pull it out first?  I also told him that if it were changed to a rewards card, then I would use it more.  I probably wouldn't use it more as I really just wanted to find out what they would offer me to keep the card.  I only have used it recently to purchase Christmas presents, travel, and to see if they would ever give me a CLI.  Now that Christmas is over I will probably only use it when I go the Phillipines next month.  I am hoping by using it in other countries that it will trigger some code in their computer.  I have used it in China and for travels to other states.  Let's see if this makes any difference, but it is CapOne, so probably not.  I have recently used the 1 card for about $3000 in the past 3 months.  It wouldn't surprise me if I don't get a CLI.  It wouldn't surprise me if I never get one before I truly am fed up and cancel the card.  I also expect that I might have to get a different card from them to get a good limit. 

[LS2982]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I was expecting to see a reply from LS or CS saying ""wheres mustang, don't get him started??""

And I'll keep it short and simple, they are not called CRAP1 for nothing.

Yes they granted me credit when my scores were sub 600's but how about NOW Crap1???? Really still a 500&750CL on my two cards with you???? (oops sorry, I said I was not gonna get started, my bad.)

Anyhoo, I will be closing both cards this year before the AF hits.

Sorry for your Crap1 experience, at least your card has no AF tho, I'd just SD it until 1) you close it 2) they close it due to inactivity.

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[Anonymous]

is cap1 the only cc out there that doesn't have an "auto pay" feature online? i had to send them a damn check and waste 44 cents on that nonsense. do they really count on people missing their payments as a source of revenue?

[TiggerDat]

 You can online and you can preschedule your payments, but they do not allow you to set up to have autopay.  I think they do want to count on people forgetting.  My Merrick Bank account simply pays itselft every month the minimum amount.