Capital One help (new issue I am having and CLI issue) and nervous about new Barclay Card. HELP!

[Anonymous]

First of all, I've been lurking forever. I've learned so much from everyone so I will start by thanking everyone in advance. 

After a medical situation over the summer and needing to come up with an extra $1,700 in a hurry (solved by my BFF), I decided to be a grown-up, clean up my credit and expand my credit horizons. I've disputed several items with the help of a credit repair agency and my scores have all improved about 100 points into the very high 500s to low 600s (highest is TU 629 FICO).. all in the last three months. I've also paid down other debts, paid down open and closed cards, a loan, etc.

I have a Cap1 Platinum card from 2008, high balance at almost the $1K limit, always paid on time and at least the minimum payment. I use it a lot. I asked for a CLI in Sept 2014 and they responded that I don't pay enough (is the minimum not enough? Not exactly a PIF but meets the listed required payment), low score (they quoted a score from July 2014, by Sept it was almost 80 points higher) and recent delinquencies (really?? they approved me for a QS card). I called today after the trainwreck (see next paragraph) and holding forever... I got a US based rep who told me to "entertain her" and hit the CLI button.. which came back with a "please check your paperless documents in 2-3 days blah blah blah..". She said if I get a denial (I'm sure I will) to call back and ask for a review (????).  I need some ideas for a game plan and I know everyone suggests contacting the executive office. If someone could PM that info, I would be so grateful.

In late July, I got a Cap1 QuicksilverOne with a limit of $300 and credit steps. Here is where the fun starts. I enjoy the rewards and I see it as a way to "pay myself back" for the annual fee. Since the limit is $300, its easy to max out and I usually end up making 8-10 payments a month. Cap1's is putting all my payments on hold. ALL OF THEM... ranging from $10 to $250. I've had to call three times in a week to have a payment released and the last rep insisted I can request a CLI because the card is over 3 months old (which I am sure will result in another denial. Thank G-d these are soft pulls). I have NEVER had a payment returned for nonpayment, on the QS or the older CO Platinum card. 

In the last three months, I have also opened a Victoria's Secret, CreditOne, Fingerhut, Firestone, Kay's, Jared's and now... a Barclay Rewards MC opened on recon with a $1,500 limit. I was beyond excited. The last card opened was the Barclay. At that time, Jared's and Kay's weren't reporting but all others were. I immediately closed the Kay's and kept Jared since their merchandise is more compatible with my personal taste and I will use it for the occassional Pandora bracelet charm for myself. Kay and Jared are the same company and shared a $1.5K limit which now will rollover entirely onto the Jared's Card. I've read how picky Barclay is and that they close accts for next to nothing. Should I be worried about the Jared card reporting and Barclay discovering it and closing my new MC? I closed the Kay's which I think shows a token of financial responsility and my commitment to maintain my credit.  I am officially in the garden and staying in for at least six months. Kay's credit dept told me it will report but will read "closed by consumer". I never used the Kay's card and the account was open less than 10 days.

Next card will probably be a higher dollar secured using my tax return since these $1K limits are a total pain but we all need to start somewhere I guess. 

Advice, tips, comments, concerns???? All feedback is appreciated. 

[Skye12329]

Garden, i think opening and closing the Kay will hurt a small amount because it has a such short time of 10 days. It would have been better to just have kept it open and just sock drawered it of which they would have probably closed it automatically after 6 - 12 mos of no use which would be slightly better. As for Barclays, yeah they are new account and INQ sensitive but if they try to close your account i would suggest calling to try and keep it open, about all you can do.

As for Cap1 No the minimum payment is not enough if your charging more than that. For Cap1 CLI they like to see useage and either PIF or like 75% of total balance i would suggest. 

[Anonymous]

I had a similar issue as you, I had a visa platinum from 2004 with credit limit of 300 which stayed until august. to boost credit utilization, I applied for quicksilver one (because I wasn't sure I'd get approve for quicksilver), and got approved for credit limit of 3000. Since I got approved for 3k, i decided to ask for credit limit increase via customer support chat, the rep said they didn't have any offer (cli) for me, even thought they gave me 3k limit on quicksilver.

About 28 days later, I sent in credit limit increase via website, but got denied (you know the whole 7-10 days message), so gave up and applied for barclay rewards card and got approved for 1500 credit limit. 2 days after barclay's approval, I had to contact capital one for credit steps program, if I could enroll my old visa card for it so I can get at least 250 or 500 cli, and at that moment the rep told me that credit steps program is only for new cards but I was eligible for credit limit increase, and he told me the step by step to how to request cli from their website, i did follow through and BAM 3k credit limit increase, 2 days ago I wasn't good enough for credit limit increase, but i guess somehow they found out that they're not the only contender in my wallet (there was also discover but didn't use it much) and decided to give me the credit line increase.

oh crazy capital one, how i love you.

[taxi818]

You already said you are in credit steps. which is clearly defined. cli if payments on time. after 5 statements.

you got card in july 3 months. and you think they will give because you run so much through it and pay the minimum.

paying the minimum is following the terms as you said. but if you are spending more and paying several times in the month. because you are paying minimum, in fact it may cause AA and when your time do come to get Cli. it may be very low.

i also had card. and i used 500 limit.

but i always kept it under 40 percent and just paid what i used and used it again. since i never paid the minimum. example. if i used 200 of the 500.

i would pay most of that back. and use it again. over and over.

after the 5 months was up and i never asked for cli. in credit steps. as they said they would increase from 500 to 750. which i always thought was a joke.

i did not bother them. based on my behavior. they increase the limit to 3500. even though i did not use the card the last month.

but i appreciate the jesture from them. anyway op. good luck. there is no rush in the credit game.

wait your time and good things will happen.