Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? I would summarize. Cap1 can be Prime like for some folk, but service and business tactics prevent true Prime Behavior using BofA, Chase and Citibank as a standard. As a starting or starting over card there standards for approval and issuing lines albeit at a higher rate cant be beat in the Credit market place for most folk. If you can negotiate and show Cap1 that you are not their first choice they will try and accommodate you though using PFB, again not a Prime card business model but you can achieve Prime Terms and Limits. So it's about value to you ... I just closed my Target Visa because they would not meet my expectations, so far Cap1 has met my Prime Lines and APR expectations but until the service reaches a standard with Competitors prime products well you decide
Re: Why Avoid C I can't stand them. I decided over and over to get rid of them, and got talked out of it every time. I got the Cap One card while I still had derogs on my reports - it's been years now. They will not forget. If they got you as a subprime customer, you are always subprime with them, IMO. They will always see you that way. When I first got it, I had a $2,000 CL. Today it's $3,600. It only shows $2,300 because I ran it up once, and I'm just not going to that much trouble again to make the CL show up on my reports. What a nuisance! I don't need to go to all that trouble now...forget them. When I was helping Mom rebuild her credit (she just didn't use credit after my Dad passed away) . She had an erroneous derog on her report (she had never ever checked her own credit). She got an offer from Cap One for "up to $2,000" for a $29 annual fee. I told her to take it we would build on that. Yeah right. They gave her a $200 secured card, $29 deposit. When we couldn't get them to take it back, I had her go ahead and pay the d%$m deposit so she didn't get a derog for THAT. Today she has a whopping $400 CL and it's still secured. She also has BofA $10,000 CL, 4.99%, and $11,000 Blue @ 5.99%. Both got 0% for a year BT offers recently. Crap one keeps sending her "fantastic" offers of "a platinum card w/ up to $2,500 unsecured credit...$29 annual fee" - which will of course be another low limit card, that doesn't report correctly. They must still count her erroneous derog against her, I guess....who knows???? I shred the "fantastic" offer, and they send her the same offer again in a "special delivery" envelope that says "you must not have read our offer..." and I shred those also, LOL. She actually had 50 some years of perfect credit that the CRA's deleted because they could, and put someone else's baddie on her report. So, Cap One has stuck her with a derog that belonged to someone else, and won't let it go. They are a bad joke. Oh, and wait until you see what happens when you try to close one of their cards.........
Re: Why Avoid Capital One? Downsides: --Don't report CL to CRA; --Difficult to get CL increase through normal channels (need PFB/Cooke/Mays); --promptly will report neg info to CRA --Cap One top Prime may not be as competitive as other top primes (BOFA, AMEX) --may need to combine 2 cards into one to obtain higher CL --Negotiating to lower interest rates difficult --too many hard inquiries --max CL for top prime Cap One card. --rumored that subprime customers may have more diificult time negotiating prime rates even as their credit improves --small automatic CL increases -- have 20-30 annual fee, depending on card Positives: --One of easiest and reasonable cards to obtain for establishing/reestablishing credit --Have channels to negotiate CL/interest rate and /or remove negative data from CR. --easier to negotiate with excellent Cap One history --AR performed monthly. --reasonable automatic CL increases --top cards have no annual fee --offer some very low competitive fixed APR ---------------------------------------------------------- summary: --cannot be compared in all aspects to top tier cards like BOFA and Amex --Good substitute if been decilned for either top tier card above --great for subprime card customers --easier to negotiate with than other cards --results of negotiation will vary --CR kept generally accurate but lacks CL --have ways to communicate effectively if you speak to the right person Did I miss anything?
Re: Why Avoid Capital One? My last offer from Cap One was $29 annual fee and CL from $300-$2000. They gave me the $2000 CL so they don't always give the low amounts. Many people that are members here are in the same situation I am in also. We don't have the choices like Citibank, Chase, B of A, AMEX, Discover, and etc. I would say Cap One is a good choice for those that can not get prime for years. I see and understand all points of view except the comments like "Cap One sucks" or "Don't EVER get a Cap One card". Infact try to convince me I should close my 3 Cap One accounts. It can't be done. Thank you Cap One!
Re: Why Avoid Capital One? I don't know how you can say the problem with this card is the user? I admit some people's problems might be from misuse of the card, but I also know PLENTY of people with great pay histories that have had the card for several years and still have a $500 limit. I would say it's basically a crappy company.
Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? Aside from not reporting true limits, having to go other avenues to get CLIs, they're OK in my book. I've been frustrated with them before, but I've just about got to where I want to be with them. I agree with the misuse statement. Go to PFB and look at some of the things people on there complain about. I couldn't believe my eyes on some of the things that people were griping about. I bet 50% or more of PFB is stuff where the user was at fault to begin with. People - quit complaining about late fees!! If you're late, you're late - It's not Cap1's fault.
Re: Why Avoid Capital One? Crappy company? They are stingy with CL although they deal with lots of subprime borrowers for one... Listen if you just think of the Cap1 card as a gateway to good credit and prime cards then you are good to go... If they report late payments and such it is because the borrower wasn't responsible enough...
Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? This is the one down-side of cap1 that I see, and it's so easy to correct. Run the card up to its limit ONCE and let it stay there until the end of a billing cycle then pay it off. End of problem.
Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? Thanks for that post, breeze. I couldn't have said it any better. I think they stink. UYGF
Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? i agree with everyone. j/k ive been reading this post since it started but just havent put my $.02 in. they gave me a card at $500 limit (was half my highest limit at the time) 14.9% interest (was lowest apr at the time) $39 annual fee (only had 1 other card with ann fee) but i had only a year of credit and high balances. i think i agree about the "always will think of you as subprime" but who knows. i got there usual increase to $1200 but i had to ask. until recently i always carried a balance and still always pay ontime. so i think for better rates and cl you have to ask. ----about the reporting the cl to CRA......am i mistaken in saying Amex Blue doesnt report cl to the CRA's. i just got one but it hasnt reported yet.---- if so that would be a big downside to one of the best prime cards out there.
Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? I have mixed feelings about Capital One. Here are my personal pros and cons: Pro #1: If you have terrible credit but would still enjoy certain credit conveniences (like being able to rent a car, not have to write a check or pay cash at the grocery checkout line, etc.), Capital One may be an option. In the late 1990s when my credit stunk because of multiple late pays on just about every account, I had lost several longstanding accounts and was routinely turned down for new credit. Regardless, I was offered unsecured cards with both Capital One and Providian (just like everybody else in my situation at that time). The credit lines were low ($500 on my "K-mart Gold MasterCard" and I think something like $750 on a Capital One Classic VISA), but I was happy to have them at the time. Pro #2: They maintain an "Office of the Consumer Advocate" which I called directly on several occasions and successfully negotiated higher credit lines and lower interest rates. It should be noted that some swear that one should NEVER contact them directly (and, rather, through PlanetFeedback), but I always just phoned directly with great success. By March 2003 when I cancelled both cards, my VISA credit line was $4200 with an 8.99% APR for both purchases and cash advances, and my K-mart MasterCard was $3100 with the same APR, and neither levied annual fees. Almost all of these improvements were due to the Consumer Advocate office which I called about 3x per year. Pro #3: I was one of the bumbling greedy fools who fell for the CyberRebate debacle in 2001. (CyberRebate offered too-good-to-be-true 100% rebates on many items. For anyone interested in what happened to hundreds of thousands of consumer stooges like me, here's a link to an interesting site.) Capital One effectively issued me my rebate directly by simply crediting me the cost of my original purchase. They did it with practically no trouble at all -- I was simply asked to fill out a form. While those of us with Capital One cards were taken care of quite well, others with prime cards (AmEx, Discover, other MC/VISA banks like Citibank and Chase) had to fight for their refunds. Now, even if you think none of us deserved a refund -- certainly a reasonable argument -- I just wanted to point out that Capital One simply took the side of the consumer in this case without debating. Con #1: Just as breeze says, they never see you as "prime" even after a lengthy subsequent period of time with perfect credit. In my case, my last LOC increase was in February 2003 for $200, and that was via their automated system. Mr. Cooke said he'd pretty much done all he could do for me "because of the programs you signed on with," and my request to be upgraded to their premium "No Hassle" card was denied. By that time I had several cards with lines of credit of $20,000 and more, so I closed both Capital One accounts. Con #2: Capital One accounts are only good for your credit scores to a point, and then I'm convinced they're bad for your scores. In my case, while I was subprime, the presence of the accounts with perfect payment history actually helped my scores. (At least my careful observations convinced me of that.) However, they NEVER report FULL line of credit, so your debt usage ratios which figure so prominently into FICO scoring are never improved; in fact, since they don't report your true credit lines, Cap One accounts can easily make it appear that you've maxed out your credit lines when you haven't. For that reason, I should have closed the Cap One accounts after my credit became perfect again. Con #3: I believe (and I could be wrong, so I hope someone will correct me in that case) that even their premium "No Hassle" platinum cards do not report the full LOC to the CRAs, and that would certainly impact scoring negatively. For that reason, I decided not to reapply for their prime programs as Mr. Cooke suggested to me in one conversation. Although I appreciate what Cap One did for me, especially with respect to the offer of credit when I wasn't too creditworthy, as well as their good treatment during the CyberRebate episode, I reluctantly outgrew them. I truly wanted them to "grow with me" per their ads, but that turned out to be more marketing gimmicry than reality. At a certain point, I suppose you just have to quit them and move on. Now, that said, I should add one more thing: I NEVER felt patronized or "talked down to" by their customer service team the way I did with Providian. Although I felt somewhat disappointed that I had to cut Capital One loose, I literally celebrated the day I fired Providian, but that's another essay for another time. I hope these observations help someone. Doc
Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? Doc, Nice synopsis of Cap1. I can confirm that the No Hassle does in fact not report the line only the HC. I also have an old Marbled Visa from them that was issued under a sub prime score years ago. Now I have had fabulous success with executive offices on the No Hassle but less than stellar on the original card so I have to agree that if you got the card as sub prime they apply a different underwriting standard.
Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? Doc, they are moving upstream and handing out nice increases without asking. However, some points are still valid 1) Once subprime, always subprime. There is no direct migration from subprime to no-hassle (prime) 2) No matter which card you have (subprime vs. prime) the credit limit is still reported as high credit. That in of itself is inherently wrong. Easily corrected however, but still wrong.
Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? I think so. The 2500 unsolicited increase I got is the largest I've gotten from any of my accounts in months. www.creditsense.com
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why Avoid Capital One? So even if you do get approved for a No Hassle card, you can't combine the limit from a subprime card?
Re: Why Avoid Capital One? Does anyone even have a clue what the requirements are for a "No Hassle" card?
Re: Why Avoid Capital One? catnap, thats a good question. I don't know. I would think the answer is yes. However, I have you to hear someone starting out subprime to get a preapproved no-hassle card from Cap.1
Re: Why Avoid Capital One? I'm sorry, but why anyone would want to apply for a prime card which would pull more than 1 hard inquiry is beyond me, even if the APR is low.
