Why I will NEVER HAVE CAPITAL ONE card again

[Anonymous]

Now that I'm rebuilding and climbing out of a mess, I find that Cap 1 is the WORST to deal with.

Excuse me while I vent -- suffice to say -- it will "never be in my wallet!!!"

We had a small card with a $300 balance that I paid hundreds on and could never get it to a 0 balance. Why? FEES.

I would call and ask for the "current" amount, be quoted an amount, pay that and then have fees upon fees. More than one rep said the account would be 0.

Instead, they'd stick a fee on there. Sometimes they would credit one or two. Then they "revoked" the card so we couldn't use it. Fine. Then after 3 years of not using and me contacting them and telling them to close it and them not closing it -- they stuck an annual $59.00 fee on there. I contacted them and they did refund the annual fee.

Then they marked our account with late payments -- even though I was paying every month.

We called 4 times and asked them to fax statements and they said they would and didn't.

They told me because we didn't use the card in 3 years they could do an adjustment with the credit bureaus on some of the lates.

This after an hour phone call.

Yay. Even at this point I thought one removed would be great.

Nothing. Nada. No adjustment, no faxes, nothing.

Then got escalated to exec office and he talks all nice on the phone -- nothing.

I am trying to retrace my steps.

Trying to understand how a card with a $300 balance when every month I'm paying $150, $70 etc. etc. never reaches 0?

It's just not possible.

So then I finally just pay them $275 and demand they close the account and they stick the $59 fee on there!!!

So frustrating to me off that you can't trust these reps and they have some sort of thing going where they make it very difficult to pay it off and close it.

I am trying to piece it together from statements. The 3 months in 2014 they marked us lates, I ordered my bank statements and they show payments. Payments with odd numbers like $67.40. So then they tell me today (after unable to transfer me to the rep who gave me an extension number) that that brought me current. So I'm like, "if it brought me current -- why did you report is as late?" They have a record of me calling in and getting fees waived. THIS ON A CARD I HAVEN'T USED IN 3 YEARS and they say "that brought you current for the previous month."

W...T...F.

I'm pulling my hair out.

So the "goodwill" adjustment is out.

I am not sure what to do other than go back and analyze every single payment -- if *only* they will fax me the statements.

I have dealt with a lot of CAs and OCs and for me, at least, they are the worst.

[Anonymous]

Wow, which card did you have? Was it a rebuilder/subprime card?

The only card I have any fees on (not counting interest) is Venture. Even my rebuilder card with them doesn't have any extra fees (interest is horrible, though).

[Anonymous]

There's got to be more to it than that. I'm just sayin'.  They are one of the largest CC issuers in the world.  They don't need to tack on a bunch of fake fees to a $300 credit line to make money.

[Anonymous]

I started researching & found this (it's from '06) 0n "fraudulant fees" and "refusing to close accounts"

!!! All of which I experienced. It was good to find it so I know I'm not alone!

http://consumerist.com/2006/07/31/complain-mailing-address-for-capital-one-ceo-richard-fairbank/

"The thrust of the mounting consumer complaints against Capital One may explain the credit card’s fondness for filling their ads with barbarians.

Reports of fraudulent late fees, cashing checks twice and refusing to close accounts earned CapitalOne a place in ConsumerAffairs’ rogues gallery.

If you’ve got a complaint against CapitalOne, avail yourself of the addresses we posted after the jump. We’ve got the mailing address CEO Richard D. Fairbank, as well as the Attorney General of Virginia and The Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Virginia. The last two have jurisdiction over Capital One."

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest! Our Fico went up today so that helps with the stress!!! But I am still steamed & perplexed by this!!!

[woodsie1]

Sorry to hear that this happened to you. My experience has been the opposite. I closed a secured card and had no issues. They refunded the annual fee and my deposit. But I closed it online, never spoke with a rep. When I do have to speak with the reps, I do it through online chat so I can save a copy of the transcript. Also, before you closed the account, you could have pulled all your statements up online. I hope that u don't have to go thru anymore turmoil with Cap One. Good luck

[bstone]

I'm guessing you were getting hit with over limit and late fees. Once you exceed the limit they can hit you with an over limit fee, and if you're a day late you get late fees. I've even seen where the late fee puts you over limit and then you get an over limit fee.

My experience with Cap 1 has always been great. They allow me to charge with their money, I pay them on time and the only "penalty" I incur is interest. Seems like what I agreed to when ingot the cards...

[Kirmie2010]

Sucks that you had to go through that  I havent had that much trouble, close but not that much with any of my CCs.  (I hate fingerhut)

Not sure which fee's cap one added on though?  Returned payments? (causing the late payments?)  Late payment?  Annual Fee?(almost always they waive this) Overlimit fee?  I dont think they have any other fees but thats off the top of my head.

I am closing out my Cap1 cards as well.  I like a little flexibility on my cards and Cap1 goes by their structured book too much.

[TRC_WA]

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@bstone wrote:


My experience with Cap 1 has always been great. They allow me to charge with their money, I pay them on time and the only "penalty" I incur is interest. Seems like what I agreed to when ingot the cards...

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Same here...

[StartingOver10]

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@TRC_WA wrote:

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@bstone wrote:


My experience with Cap 1 has always been great. They allow me to charge with their money, I pay them on time and the only "penalty" I incur is interest. Seems like what I agreed to when ingot the cards...

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Same here...

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^^^agree with bstone and TRC, I haven't had any issues with Cap One at all and I have two cards with them.

OP, it could be because you aren't paying online and don't have your records in hand. Paying a rep over the phone is possibly the worst way to track your finances because you are operating "blind". 

If you set up your online account you see exactly where you are at all times, 24/7.  You have transactions, balances, credits etc. I find Cap One's website very easy to use - both the mobile one and the web based application. You can download your pdf statement each month and keep a history - or not. You can see each transaction. 

Now, if you have a bad taste in your mouth from trying to work with them, I understand. But you may want to re-examine your payment process for all of your debt to make it easier on yourself.

[ORllyNao]

Are you sure this was Capital One and not Credit One? Even my secured card with Capital One rarely has any fees (only one I've seen was a late payment fee, and I've had the card for 3 years now), and it's easy to track my payments online so I know what was paid and when. What you're describing doesn't sound like CapOne, but DOES sound an awful lot like Credit One, who happens to have a logo that looks a lot like CapOne's, as well as a lot of fees and poor customer service, etc. 

At any rate, good luck getting everything sorted out. Sounds like a mess!