Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Capital One sucks

Let me preface this with saying that I've had my credit card with Capital one for about 9 years. In that time, I've never ONCE paid late. I charge a lot to it, every month and pay it off about 2-3 times a month. I understand how credit works and the necessary evil that revolving credit is. That being said, I suppose they don't make much money off me. I rarely carry a balance over to the next month. I don't transfer balances and I don't get cash advances.

I've enjoyed a fixed rate of 7.9% for 9 years on this card. That was, until yesterday. You see, I received a piece of mail, looking exactly like the daily junk mail I get from (insert any credit card company name here). It looks a lot like one of those privacy statements they send you annually, in a slightly oversized envelope, bulk postage, mass mailed. I decide to open it.

Here's what I'm treated to (I'm paraphrasing here):
Dear capital one cardholder,
Due to recent economic conditions, we've reviewed our cardholder's accounts. Due to the length of time you've held your account and the length of time you've had your interest rate, we are increasing your purchase rate, cash advance rate and default APR effective January 2009. New rates are: Purchases 17.9% variable, Cash advances 24.9% variable and default APR 29.9% variable. You can decline this change by calling the number listed, which will close your account as of May 14, 2009.

EXCUSE ME??????????

In other words:
Dear customer,
Due to our irresponsible lending practices, and despite being bailed out by your tax dollars, we've reviewed your longstanding good account. We've decided to penalize you without warning, against your will, and in a manner in which we hope you won't even notice. If you decide not to bend over and take it up the ass, please phone this automated phone line, as we don't value your long-term customer relationship with us enough to actually speak to you.
Sincerely yours,
Capital One

To which I only have this, hormonally-enraged response.

Dear Capital One,
FUCK YOU.
Sincerely yours,
Me

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29 comments:

Stephen said...

I am mentally throwing daggers at the eyeballs of those people. When I was young & naive, they took advantage of me with a $500 credit card that I was unable to support. Ruined my credit rating for over a decade. They're vultures.

Dewi said...

Oh my, you seem very very upset. I am terribly sorry. I don't understand why they they can only close your account a few month later?
Hope you'll fine better solution soon.
Cheers,
Elra

teg said...

I ditched them a long time ago! They do suck a LOT!

A couple of years ago, one of my statements (from a different bank) never reached me. I had always paid my account on time for over 6 years. Since I never got the statement (or the new card that had supposedly been sent) I did not pay the bill on time (I paid after I got the late notice). I was also basically told, "sorry, we don't care." GRRRR!!!! Some people just suck!

Malena said...

You couldn't have said it better!
I freaking HATE CC companies!!!! My husband has had an account with Citibank since 1989, and I have a card there too, and they raised our rate too just a month or two ago. It just does not matter how responsible You are, they will still screw you in the end because that's how they make money...GRRRRRR!!!!
Now, I logged on here to read about your Valentine's meal :( ... but at least you got me drooling over black beans soup!

Melanie Busbee said...

I'm sorry Jeni. I'd be so pissed. But your rant was absolutely beautiful!!!

AndyHat said...

I just got the same letter from them yesterday. They get billions in low-interest government financing and turn around and raise rates on consumers. Unbelievable.

Jeni said...

Thank you everyone for listening to me vent and for your mutual hatred of Capital One. It's nice to know I'm not alone. I'm sure I'll find another credit card to replace them quite easily! God knows I get an offer in the mail every other day.

Jeni said...

P.S. That valentine's post is coming...

lpound said...

My parents got the same thing the other day, although I can't say for sure that it's the same credit card company. My dad's pissed.

I've been lucky so far, but I have Capital One also, so now I wonder if I should be expecting a letter soon as well? I hope not..

Melissa said...

Your "In other words" translation was hilarious.

We got one of those yesterday from Travelocity Mastercard.

Fuckers.

ajayhr said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Many got upset of the condition made by Capital One. Even me got disappointed of what they want. It is difficult for me if they increase my interest by how much percent. Here are some people got complaint in Capital One.

Square Knight said...

If you are on Facebook...join the group "Boycott Capital One." Unfortunately there is more than one of these groups so join the one that is the largest.

These greedy SOB's at Capital One need to go down in flames!

Unknown said...

Capital One Corporation is the worst thing about America.

Unknown said...

Capital One is one of the worst card companies on the planet. They have the worst service on the planet and charge one of the highest rates... They truly SUCK!

sandra said...

as alex above. I used to work for capital one i was actually a customer service representative, those that are located in india, costa rica or barbados.well actually i do agree cap one SUCKS BIG TIME!They steal your money and don't even care about your rebills, growing APR,late fees, fraud (this dept gives a shit about your problem)actually customers called me very annoyed because they card was denied for 10 bucks at a grocery store 'for preventing fraudulent activity', come on that's ridiculous!! and also the poor customer was transfered like 6 or 7 times for nothing holding like 20 min on each transfer ... cap one just want to save their own money... I can tell cause i worked six months there and i got fucking hasted! I also hate cap one! DONT TRUST THEM!

Jeremy said...

I just got off of the phone (over 2 hours of transfers and 'dropped calls'...I wasn't on my cell.

Long and short of it. I called to cancel the card in January. I received an ordinary piece of what seemed to be their typical junk mail. I opened it to pass time while on hold... it said PAST DUE NOTICE: 120 DAYS

I said WTF! How the hell is a card that has been closed for 9 months 120 days past due? I called and was given the run around. Told I was in collections. Hung up on, called a liar... but my persistence paid off. I finally got to speak with 'Larry' who got things squared away because he was willing to look into it and saw that the card had no activity except for the annual fee which was the source of the late payments.
He assured me notifications would be sent to the credit repositories and to me (I had to request this), the account was closed and the charges removed...

What a terrible company. From now on I stick with Wells Fargo, never had a single problem that wasn't fixed with a single phone call.

peace

Mark said...

As a Brit living in the US, I cannot believe what the finance companies get away with here in the US. I've had a Capital One card for about two years, with a decent APR.... I went over limit by a few dollars (for which they charged me $39 and hiked up my APR to over 20%. I've just emailed them to ask for an explanation.

My wife had the same letter from Capital One - due to the recession blah blah blah. You are right on the money - it's because of the greed of banks in the first place and the lack of regulation that we are in this current economic mess.... So we'll take the billions of taxpayers money AND we will screw you up the wazoo again by raising your interest rates. Meanwhile, we will give our executives huge bonuses.

Legal Criminals - simple as that.

Anonymous said...

You are AWESOME and you said exactly what I have been thinking for years. FUCK YOU CAPITOL ONE. I hope you rot. you will never screw ME again. and guess what's NOT in my wallet? Greedy fucking bastards.

Christina said...

So true....

I have credit cards with 40,000 limits that i rarely use, and I was using my capital one card with a 2500 limit and they canceled my card mid-month. Plus they left three hard inquiries on my credit report. Fucking assholes....At first when I called the country bumpkin bitch couldnt even tell me why they canceled my card. She said, "well yall it mighight be cause yur credeet rerpoteeng score went low, or it migight not" I asked to talk to a manager and they said the same thing, that I would be getting a letter in the mail as to why is they canceled my 500 balance with no warning mid-month. Plus I paid my card in full each month. I cant wait until the economy picks up and capital one calls me about applying for a card. I will say, " Yall can kick my cracka whitebread canceled ass".

Johnny said...

CHASE is FAR worse guys. Obama should have let these fuckers go down in flames. It would have sucked for all of us, but in the long run we'd have worked it out and come out stronger, with better business practices. Right now these scumbag corporations are still milking my long since dried tits.

Scott said...

Capital One keeps calling a cell phone that was given to me as a present from this number
1-804-775-8626
I tired to explain that this number does not belong to the person they are looking for but that does not matter to these idiots.

Dan F said...

LOL. I had teh saem thing happen. I didnt use my card that often and got the same letter. My response to them was to call them up and i told them since I cant count on your credit cards to work when i need it for an emergency, cancel my other capitol one account also. Also told them that im sorry I didnt max out my cards and defualt all of them like the customers they want. What kind of credit card company screws the customers that dont screw them. The sad part is that 8 years ago i couldnt pay my cards and i got sued by citibank because they would not help me. Capitol one told me at the time to send them one dollar in good faith for three months until I got another job. 2 months later i got a job, I paid capitol one first because they helped me. For that reason I kept my capitol one cards and never did business with citibank again. I cleaned up my act after this and last year, after the mortgage collapse I got a home loan, but appernatly having good credit doesnt matter anymore to capitol one, Just that i spend spend spend. Well guess what capitol one, i will never do busniess with you again either. Ill keep my other card that will be there for me if i ever need it. so like OP said. Capitol One Fuck you , and do you hear that sound, thats me shreding my other capitol one card. Douche bags.

garek007 said...

I just applied with those FUCKERS and they denied me! I have EXCELLENT credit, over 760 score! I've had a card with them for more than 5 years (of course I hardly use it) with a measly limit of 500 bucks.

They sent ME an email saying they 'wanted me back'. Why the HELL do you solicit me, and then deny me for a card? They can blow me, I'm never going back to those assholes for anything, EVER.

Anonymous said...

FANTASTIC! Capital One is still pulling that bullshit stunt, as of Feb 2010.

I've been a cardholder for 13 years .. and my recent statement saw my APR move from 4.95% to 15.9% in one felled swoop.

Like many of you, I always pay on-time and (many times) more than the Minimum Payment amount.

Regardless, I placed a call, thinking they would value my long-standing relationship. After sitting through 7 minutes of the Phillipines-based rep's SCRIPTED banter of WHY I should bend over, take it in the ass AND apparently like it, she concluded by saying there's nothing she can do about it at this time. She did, however, say she understood my dismay. Wow, I felt better immediately.

Best bet is to pay off the card, either with cash or transfer to a more stable company like American Express (good deals if you have great credit).

www.capitalone.com SUCKS!

bklynbx said...

Hey Big Tripod, you hit the nail on the head. I've had their card for 15 years and had the LIBOR rate which last month was 4.46%. I got my new bill today with a 13.9% rate, more than TRIPLE what I had.

I just got off the phone with them, and they acknowledged that I have never had a late payment and have been one of their "fabulous" (their word) customers. BFD, they still stuck it up my ass and said the rate stayed at 13.9%. I told them I would sooner cut my arms off than keep using their card.

I'm transferring the balance ASAP to another card, but I'm not canceling the Capital One card. Let them maintain it. It will be there for my convenience, not theirs. Let them rot in hell.

Unknown said...

capital one is the great satan.

I have already put up with their slight of hand rate increases.

I paid off my account last month in full. When I went to verify it today, I was told that the balance is not really the payoff amount.

She claimed that she could not help me, but I had to call a different number tomorrow, and by the way they just renewed the card against my will.

Total and complete scumbags!!

Nick said...

Well I thought Capital One was decent until today. I deposit two checks one for 1800 and one for 698 before the cut off time for deposits. Me and my family go grocery shopping and guess what, funds not available.... I call Capital One and they were more useless than I figured they would be, me being a customer that has never written a hot check, never overdrawn my account, they tell me the decision to hold my funds is a decision made at the branch where I made my deposit and since they are closed they could do nothing. I then ask if I had them cash the check and deposit cash would it be available, he says sure! So they would cash the check but not deposit it and make the funds available the day it was deposited. Foolish of me to think I could use MY money when I needed to. All banks suck, just a necessary evil I suppose, but still pissed off.

DD said...

Garbage like this is why I only deal with local credit unions now. Credit unions have members instead of customers and stockholders, so they tend to treat you a lot better. You may not get that irresistible 0% introductory rate that the banks hang in your face like a dangling carrot, but you don't get gouged on the back end either. Most credit unions charge between 8% - 13% on consumer credit cards, which is a fair rate, and they don't raise your rate if you're one day late on your payment.

Oh, and another advantage I've found with every credit union I've dealt with (and I've been with one in particular for 41 years) - my funds are available IMMEDIATELY upon deposit every time, and my payments are credit the minute I make them. None of this having to wait X business days to get my money when I cash a check.

I'm a pretty good-natured guy, but I tend to lose it when I'm dealing with corporate pinheads who sit in a cubicle all day long and tell person after person that there's nothing they can do to solve the problems that their bank has created, so I've simply chosen not to deal with these people. My advice - get your money out of banks, and find a good credit union. You'll be a lot happier, and your blood pressure will decrease significantly.

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