Capital One application error - 2 cards instead of 1

[Seagull44]

I've had one card for 8 years and excellent credit (798 transunion)

Applied for a second card a week or so ago. Captial One Venture Card.

When I submitted the application the website came up with an error message. Something to the effect that the application was not working and I should try again later. There was no confirmation message and no confirmation email.

I tried again the next day and was approved for a card. I received the email confirmation.

I have just received two confirmation letters from Captial One. I have two new cards on the way. Evidently the first application went through.

I assume my credit score has already been damaged as the agencies would have been pinged for each application. Captial One confirmed that if I cancel one of the cards the agencies would be pinged again, as both accounts are active. If I keep both cards I'll end up paying two $59 fees each year.

Any advice on how to proceed? How much damage would there be if I cancelled one of the cards? Should Captial One be able to clear this up for me?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Anonymous]

Your mileage may vary, but I read on here about a member who didn't want a card he was approved for because of the small limit. He called Capital One and got them to agree not to report the card as long as he never activated it. Capital One pulls every agency, so you essentially have 6 inquiries now from them.  That along with the ding to your AAoA are the factors that will affect your score (probably only a little) for a little while.

[Anonymous]

Also, if you were to keep it for a while and then close it, it still reports for 10 more years.

[Seagull44]

Thank you for the quick response.

Would Capital One be able to report the dings on the second card to the agencies as an error, and have them removed? Not sure how much power they would have in this situation.

[Anonymous]

You could possibly get capital one to remove the 2nd one as a duplicate. I'd contact the executive office if I was you.

[CreditCuriosity]

I would deffinetly contact the EO office as it wasn't your fault, but a computer glitch that gave you the two accounts.  They should remove one of the Credit Cards along with taking away the HP or HP's since it pulls all 3 bureaus.  So esentially they net of I think what you want is 1 card, with 1 HP from each agency and get the other crud removed as it was there fault from what I have read.  If they refuse to do it, but I think they will they file a complaint.

[Anonymous]

Yes, contact the EO, they should be able to since it was a computer error. 

[Seagull44]

Thank you for the advice - I'll try with the EO later today.

Just thought of a follow on question. If I have to end up with three cards, will that now split my 8 year credit history 3 ways? If it does, would it end up being better to cancel the card and take the hit on the cancellation?

[Anonymous]

Well, yes the new cards will calculate into your AAoA. Cancelling a card only has an immediate affect on your total utilization, which is only a problem if you carry a balance.  The card will still report for 10 years. There is no immediate adverse affects otherwise on your report. (besides inquiries, AAoA)