@Anonymous wrote:I got my first credit card - a Discover Chrome It for Students - in November 2015, then applied for and received a CapOne Platinum and a Quicksilver card in January/February 2016. Both CapOne cards were given an SL of US$300, and are on the credit steps program. Both cards were given a US$100 CLI via the Luv button after three statements. This month, August 2016, was my fifth on-time payment, meaning when my statement cut this month, I should have graduated from Credit Steps and gotten the auto-CLI. But, had a small hiccup this month, and now being told I essentially have to start the five months over and wait for the Credit Steps CLI. Here's what happened:
1. Each card had a minimum payment of $25 each due August 12th
2. On Aug 9th, I logged in to Capital One and entered new bank info; I graduated in May 2016, and closed my college student checking account with HigherOne in July. I have temporarily redirected my direct deposits to my Amex Bluebird (prepaid) checking account with the Bluebird Amex debit card until I had settled on my choice for a new credit union (wanted to wait until I started working in case I had to relocate for the job and maybe a better option was thus available). I then proceeded to initiate the two payments.
3. On Aug 10th, I receive an email from CapOne, one for each card, each saying payment has posted.
4. On Friday Aug 12th, the due date, I receive an email again, one from each card at 5:12 p.m. CST saying that the payments had been returned. I saw these emails at about 6:50 pm.
5. Knowing full well that it wasn't due t NSF as I had quite a bit of cash in the account, I initiated a chat with CapOne to find out what the problem was. The chat rep poked around in my account for awhile and came back telling me he couldn't see a reason, so to go ahead quickly and do the payments again. I followed his recommendation, but, by the time I hit submit, the clock had already rolled over - payment #1 was at 7:00 pm CST exactly, and payment #2 at 7:01 pm.
6. Since the cutoff time was 7:00 pm CST, I initiated another chat in a panic over now being considered late. This time, the rep told me that Amex Bluebird accounts have now been restricted from doing ACH payments (I have had this account since the first month Amex offered the Bluebird account and wasn't aware of the change). So at least now I knew the "why?" for the return. So i promised the chat rep that I would be in a branch location the very next morning to make a cash payment on each card (which i did). The chat rep assured me, in return for that promise, that CapOne would be ok with me (i.e. no late fees, not considered late, not penalized in Credit Steps).
7. On Monday when only branch even remotely close to me opened, I was there and made the payments. Went home and did another chat informing them. Again told don't worry, yada yada yada just like I was told on Friday.
8. On Tuesday, the payments post and bam! $25 late fee on each card.
9. Chat again. The rep said he saw all the notes from my previous chat and indeed refunded the late fees, told me not to worry.
10. Fast forward to the end of the week, and my new statement has been cut (on the 18th). No Credit Steps CLI. Can you guess what I did next haha? Yes, another chat. This time, however, the rep, while very sympathetic and very nice, told me flat out that the previous reps were wrong, that I had failed the program and was now on a second chance, ten month program instead, with zero avenue of recourse/reconsideration.
So, for one does anybody have an idea what I should do? From what I understand from the latest re:EO posts, calls to the EO have been pretty much shut down and there is no longer any such thing as manual intervention for anything anymore at CapOne (is this true?), but I am still thinking of trying to email them or maybe send them a letter on the mail, articulating my situation and politely mentioning the timeframe allowed for me to resolve the issue by the due date. Oh, and am now a member of PenFed going forward for future payments haha!
If nothing else though, and I am truly S.O.L. then perhaps someone else will read this and this post will help them to avoid a similar fate...
Thanks everyone!
I'm sorry you had this issue making your payment. 
I have a Amex Serve account (same platform as the Bluebird) and they specify on the website that the checking account information they provide is only for direct deposit purposes, and can't be used for outgoing transactions. To make a payment from Bluebird or Serve, you have to use the billpay feature of the Bluebird account to 'push' the payment. (For the record, I've used it to make Capital One payments before, and it was electronic... credited within a day or two.)
I know this isn't the news you were hoping to see. While you have missed out on your credit steps CLI this time, the good news is that they are giving you a second chance. 