My daughter opened a Capital One account almost two years ago, and she's maintained an excellent history with them. She managed to combine two Visa cards that started out with $200 limits each into one card with a $2500 limit. Last month, she combined one card with a $1000 limit with one with a $1500 limit. She called them last night because because 6 months had transpired since her last credit limit increase, and she hoped to get a higher limit. They turned her down flat because they claimed that the combining of two cards counts as a limit increase, so she'd have to wait another 6 months to be considered for the increase. She thought she'd do what she's done before and ask to close the account--hoping to be connected to their retention department. Instead, the rep. closed the account right there on the spot, with no questions asked. When she tried to weasel her way out of that one, they told her that she's just have to reapply. If that wasn't enough, she called a different number and asked for an increase on her K-Mart Mastercard. They told her that they don't give increases on the K-Mart cards, and that she's just have to wait for an automatic offer. Because Capital One isn't very famous for its automatic offers, she asked to close the card account. They did it right then, without any questions or transfers to retention. While giving up the K-Mart card was no big loss, I feel she screwed herself over by losing her gold card account. It was her oldest one., and she'll have to wait a few more months for another card to mature to two years. The lesson here is that it's probably NOT a good idea to cry wolf to Capital One anymore. They will no longer transfer you to retention. My daughter lost a good account, even if they made a lot of empty promises in the past to upgrade her account.
Have her go through planetfeedback and the Capital One consumer advocate and explain the situation. He's really easy to work with. When she talks to him, have her be honest about what she was trying to do and ask him to either do it or to reopen the account. I'd bet she'll be successful.
I agree with DaveLV, be honest with them. At this point the damage is done. Mr. M will work with you, as all the posts here have written nothing but high praise for his professionalism. Hang in there and surf over to PFB. Best regards, Sam
All but one sing the praises of Miller.... After I told him that marketing a $200 limit credit card as a Gold Card was misleading and bordered on fraud, he really began to stutter... As I don't like stuttering, I simply said remove the account from all three bureaus, and have a nice day...click. But, that's me... David And, BTW (and I'm thinking out loud on this one), while Cap One has its usefulness (targeting the subprime market that is); it should be viewed as short term--I'd say 18-24 months of an accout with them MAX--by then, you should be well out of sub-prime territory (assuming that's your goal), and I certainly wouldn't want a $5000 Cap One with a $3000 balance with their APR's, fees, and what-nots littering up my finances, so to speak. Subprime credit grantors want to keep you in subprime--and anyone who thinks otherwise--well, you're just too trusting... Again--JMHO David
Its not only Cap 1. Most lenders feel that untill next year the delinquency rate will increase slightly for cc, even though interest rates have come down. The fastest way to not meet earnings estimates is an increase in bad loan write-off with the average interest rate spread on prime going down. Sorta like err on the side of saftey.Basically the software that supported larger risks is evolving to a lower risk platform. Doesn't help if your debt to loan ratio is higher than 50-60%, because the low tranfer offers in your mailbox have probably dried up to zero. VJ
Although Gold use to be minimum 5k lines and Platinum cards 10k lines, the market has changed because 1) card products are ever evolving - standard - gold - platinum - titanium - smart - etc. 2) consumer credit is becoming poorer and risks are greater 3) banks now issue multiple cards to increase their profit potential 4) prestige. Think about #4. Would people rather have a $200 secured credit card with a marble background? Or, a $200 unsecured credit line with GOLD stamped across the face? Before you reply, ask someone that's accustomed to being told "YOU DO NOT QUALIFY." Certainly, this does not apply to everyone. However, when Capital One issued my secured card almost 2 years ago, I was more than happy to upgrade to a Gold card with a $500 line last year. Now, Platinum is mine. But, the most important thing I've learned is that it's not how big the credit line is, but the amount of usage. The lower the usage, the higher your credit score. Thus, the greater the credit increases and chance at approvals from some really admired card issuers. I've rambled on enough. CardKid
THIS HAPPENED TO ME TOO!!!!! Doris, this happened to me. I called to ask if they could waive the $18.00 annual fee, the girl said 'no'. I have had the card for 3 or 4 years at least. I said 'then I want to close my account' she said 'okay, it's closed'. That was it. I was so mad. I thought I would get transferred to someone with more authority, too. I stewed it over a couple days, then decided to call back. I was ready to fight. I got the nicest girl ever. She said she could open my account back up and would waive the fee. She told me she was supposed to add it back on. But since I was nice to her, she had the authority to waive the fee. She told me whoever you get on the phone has some authority. I just received my statement and the fee was waived. Doris, please have your daughter call them back and ask them to reopen her account. They did it for me. She has nothing to lose.
Re: THIS HAPPENED TO ME TOO!!!!! Sorry to hear about what happened to your daughter, Doris. I found that being nice over the phone with the Cap One reps makes a difference. Have her call back and ask to reopen the account.
Re: THIS HAPPENED TO ME TOO!!!!! I AGREE! Have her call back immediately and explain that there was a misunderstanding and you really want the account re-opened. I did this with providian, but all I said was I want retention so I can ASK questions about closing my account. BOOM! She closed it, before I could say anything. So I made her transfer me to a supervisor , she said she would re-open the account. When I called the next day the automated system said the account was CLOSED. I got another rep, explained the situation and she re-opened the account for me. HAve your daughter do this. Tell her to tell them she didn't ask that rep to close the account...she wanted to talk to retention about closing her account. This rep closed it without another thought and then refused to re-open it after she had made the mistake. If your daughter is very nice and calm, they will most likly open it back up.
===================================== DEBT TO LOAN don't tell the full story! In fact it can paint a very misleading picture!
2 Billing Cycles I closed one of my accounts with Capital One a while back. From what I understood at that time, you have 2 billing cycles to reopen the account. Call directly to the retention number. If you do a search on Capital One you should find the Virginia retention number. I think it is 1-800-889-9939. So I reopened the account and sent a letter via planetfeedback. I was successful in getting what I requested. Perhaps, you too will be successful. Mike G.
