OT Capital One no more FYI

morgansforever

A customer of Capital One for 7 years, always paid on time, APR goes from 7.9 to 19.9%, talk about a shocker
According to the Filipino rep, an optout form was mailed to me in late April. May have gotten it, more than likely tossed it
out with the rest of the CC spam crap. This is really low IMO, totally predatory. Knowing that there was going to be a %
that didn't receive it or was overlooked. It's getting shreaded tomorrow at work, and the balance wiped clean.
To save my credit do I close the account? I've talked with others that had their rate raised to the max of 29.9%.
PAY IT OFF PERIOD. Keeping the Chase card for now. Write them if you wish, I did.
Scott

MAILING ADDRESS FOR THE CEO OF CAPITAL ONE:
Mr. Richard D. Fairbank
President & CEO
Capital One Financial Corp
1680 Capital One Drive
McLean, VA 22102

MAILING ADDRESS FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA
The Honorable Bob McDonnell
Attorney General
State of Virginia
Office of the Attorney General
900 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219

MAILING ADDRESS FOR THE COMMISSIONER OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS OF VIRGINIA
Commissioner of Financial Institutions
State Corporation Commission
1300 East Main Street
Suite 800
P.O. Box 640
Richmond, Virginia 23219

mkman123

heard of a lot of people having this done to them.

morgansforever

I'm furious, but will have it paid off next month. Just a FYI thread.
What if you had 15 or 20k on the card, ouch.
Scott

mkman123

I listen to Clark Howard and a lot of callers called in about the same problem you have.

If I am correct he said not to cancel the card though but pay it off. It could hurt your credit score.

mhammerman

Cap1 is one of the more conspicuously predatory credit card companies, in my opinion. 29.9% is what they try and get everyone hooked up for and they do it in the most stealthy ways. Keep no balance with them and if you do keep the card with a 0 balance and if you do have a charge, mail in an extra 5% with your payment just to screw with them. In fact, if you do mail in a few extra buks, they will send you a check for the overage. Yes, imagine having a 29.9% rate on say 20 k or even 10K...you're gonna be buried with that thing. Hopefully, as people begin to get out of debt and begin to conserve cash, folks will have the wisdom to stay away from this consumer crack and use cash and debit cards and starve these predators into extinction. The latest gimmick coming to a bank near you is going to be to charge you a fee to have a credit card account with them...hilarious!!! If you are gonna have to pay a fee for a credit card, get an amex card and just pay your bill every month...it's all good.

shmort6552

What exactly does the "fact" that the CapitolOne rep was Filioino" have to do with your terrible story of woe?

adamlaneus

"What's in your wallet?"

This is exactly what I would expect from this company.

If you are going to try to get a home loan, car loan or refinance in the future, keep the card with a zero balance.

BUT FIRST, check to see if you have an inactivity fee associated with this card. Yes, that is a fee they use to get money from you when you do not use your card.

If you have one of those, you need to examine the cost/benefit very closely with respect to whether or not to keep the card.


I think the "interchange" fee is the worst curse going and it does not get much attention. This is the "2%" skim that the credit card companies get on every purchase, that they are not allowed to visibly pass to the consumer.
Think about that. Besides all of the fees and interest and such, there is an additional 2% skim off the top.
So it quietly gets passed to all consumers in the form of generally inflated prices regardless of the type of money used for the transaction.

Cladiator

I've had a Capital One card for years. It's had a zero balance for the last 2 years and I've just relegated it to the safe for "emergency use" only. Got a letter from them a month ago saying the interest rate got jacked up to 30%. Fools. The card hit the shredder before the letter did.

1jester

<< <i> The latest gimmick coming to a bank near you is going to be to charge you a fee to have a credit card account with them...hilarious!!! >>



This is already the norm in Europe.

PutTogether

I would also suggest not closing the account, UNLESS it has an annual account fee. If it has no fee, there is no harm in keeping it open, as your amount of available revolving debt is a factor in how your credit is scored.

i.e., a person that has 10,000 dollars of total debt across all of their credit cards, and the total limits of all their cards are 20,000 - will have a lower credit score than the person with the same 10,000 of debt, but a total credit limit of 80,000.

No one knows the precise role this variable of the equation plays - but it is important.

If it has an annual fee though, close the thing, as the potential benefit is outweighed by the risk that you may forget to pay the annual fee on a card you never use and end up hurting your credit.

morgansforever

<<What exactly does the "fact" that the CapitolOne rep was Filioino" have to do with your terrible story of woe?>>
Just struck me as odd, to be speaking with someone a world away, thats all, nothing racist.
I explained to her that this was a low blow, and dirty, she agreed.
I would like to get Mr. Fairbank in the ring, and go a few rounds.
Scott

rgCoinGuy

I think I still have one Capital one card, but no balance on it. Chase just did the same thing to me though at about the same new rate. The problem is, I can't tell which card it is of theirs! Good thing is, I don't owe much on any of them.

Don't cancel your card unless it has a yearly fee, and use it every few months, just pay it off before the interest can add up, to keep your credit score maximized.

morgansforever

This just in, found a letter from Chase in the jink pile, stating if I don't call before June 22nd, they will tack on 13.9%
to my current APR. I will make the call. Chase is no better, they're all predatory scum sucking leaches.
Scott

CertifiedGoldCoins

I've had a "Sears" MasterCard for years. Sears sold the account to AT&T, then it was sold to CitiBank, but still with the Sears logo. Recently Sears sent an apologetic letter, saying they wanted to keep me as a customer, but was sorry for the "changes" to the card terms.

I'd heard something on the news about this, so sent in a large payment, just in case.

The next month, the rate went from 7% to 21%.

I called them immediately, and threatened to close the account, unless they cut the rate. Back down it went, to 10%. Still a ripoff, but I need a credit card, so I'll keep it -- for now.

So try calling the company; be friendly but firm. They want more money, but know that losing good customers won't get them more money.

rgCoinGuy

I just found my letter from Chase, it's the same one you got. I would recommend this as a course of action:

1) First, realize they are all doing this WHILE THEY CAN and probably to almost everyone - because of what Congress just passed.

2) Pay off your cards, but do not call them and refuse the APR change, as they will close your account, and this will lower your credit score.

3) Ride out the next year or so just charging a little to each card and paying them off every few months. Eventually, they will go back to good rates for good customers to get you to use your card again. If not you can always cancel them down the road.

This is my opinion only of course, but I have worked in the credit industry for the past 20 plus years.

Edited to add: As certifiedgoldcoins suggested, calling them can work also, but unless you need to charge to the card now, you may in a better negotiating position down the road.

fishcooker

they're all predatory scum sucking leaches.

Agreed. My experience with Crapital One is far worse than yours. I would never in a million years do business of any kind with them. Your results may vary... but I doubt it.

Don't live in fear of the credit score. I dropped cards and my score went down a whopping 4 points. Now that you understand who you are dealing with, manage YOUR money to your best advantage. We killed the cards and it didn't hurt a bit.

PS: Try a credit union.

SaorAlba

<< <i>I've had a "Sears" MasterCard for years. Sears sold the account to AT&T, then it was sold to CitiBank, but still with the Sears logo. Recently Sears sent an apologetic letter, saying they wanted to keep me as a customer, but was sorry for the "changes" to the card terms.

I'd heard something on the news about this, so sent in a large payment, just in case.

The next month, the rate went from 7% to 21%.

I called them immediately, and threatened to close the account, unless they cut the rate. Back down it went, to 10%. Still a ripoff, but I need a credit card, so I'll keep it -- for now.

So try calling the company; be friendly but firm. They want more money, but know that losing good customers won't get them more money. >>



Sears has had nothing to do with the card other than the logo, and getting a kickback from Citi for new customer signups for quite a few years now. Sears doesn't even own it's own card, and they spun off their Discover Financial Group years ago.

Years ago Sears was one of the most difficult firms to get credit with, even I was denied when I was like 22 or something. That all changed after Citi took over, and they handed cards out like flotsam.

Bobk

About a year ago I cancelled my CO card. IMO they were a little slimey.

Weiss

Nice thread. Thanks for the head's up. I generally keep so low a balance that their rate changes don't make much of a difference to me.

I agree they're probably doing this before the new rules go into effect. But I wonder if it could also just be they're trying to raise cash--by getting fence-sitters to pay off their balance.

That's exactly what I just did. Just a couple hundred bucks, but it does feel good to know I've got a clean slate.

This whole "membership charge" reminds me of property tax. You can pay off your land free and clear, but you'll never "own" it. Because the government will continue to collect tax on it. And if you can't pay that tax, even if you own the property outright, Poof, the government takes it away from you.

You can pay off your balance. But they'll continue to collect their $19.95 a year, or non-use fees, or whatever. They'll get their money from you even if you have no balance and you haven't charged anything in a year.

KentuckyJ

> We killed the cards and it didn't hurt a bit.


Agreed. If more people did this a lot of the predatory stuff would stop.

FistFullOfDollars

I received my Chase notice yesterday about the rate increase, I am not very happy to say the least.
I have held my card for over 10 years with no late payments, I think credit card companies are crooks
who are allowed to make money on both sides of a transaction. I sure would like to kick the banks,
politicians & credit card companies in the arse.

ajbauman

<< <i>> We killed the cards and it didn't hurt a bit.


Agreed. If more people did this a lot of the predatory stuff would stop. >>




My wife and I get paid to use our credit cards. We have the AMEX through Costo and get 1, 2, or 3% cash-back depending on what we buy. We also get 2% cashback from Costco. We use the 1 card for everything that we can and pay it off every month.

Free float and free money.

Last year, I think we got about $500 back, between Costco and AMEX.

I also have some other cc, but never use them.


Our AMEX does have a very high interest rate (like 24%) or something, but I've never paid them a dime in interest.

carew4me

I received same but it stated that any existing balance would stay at current rate until paid off (even after rate increased).

dbcoin

me too ajbauman

I use a Shop Rite Credit card. I get back about $50 every month in Shop Rite gift cards. You have to eat, right? Never pay a dime and get the float. I couldn't care less if it was a 100% daily fee.

ProofCollection

I canceled my Capital One card after they declined a "suspicious transaction." I successfully use my other credit cards at this place without problem. The other CC companies called me or alerted me to the transaction, but at least they let it go through. Capital One just denied it and frustrated me because I didn't know why. I carry CC's so I can buy things where ever I want whenever I want. When a CC company thinks it's doing me a favor by declining a charge, it's time to move on.

morgansforever

I just read the fine details, on my newly discovered Chase notice.
If I decline the 13.9% APR increase, the card will become inactive, can't use it for purchases.
This is got me so pissed off, I just want to explode. I wrote Attorney General Blumenthal, maybe he can do something.
I need my credit card, you have to have one.
Scott

tincup

I doubt it will do much good to write the credit card companies or the Attorney General, etc.

These credit card changes all came about because of the law just passed by Congress. They felt that the credit card companies were using predatory practices on the less credit worthy by charging them higher interest rates, fees, etc., in line with the risk. And by letting the good credit risk card owners have the low interest cards, they felt the less credit worthy were 'subsidizing' the more credit worthy (those who paid on time, etc.).

So the law was passed restricting how much the credit card companies can charge the bad credit risk owners.

I think that reasoning is faulty. Because NOW.... it looks to me that the one's who pay off their cards on time, etc., are now being forced to subsidize the bad credit risks by having to pay the much higher rates. Guess Congress thinks everyone needs to be charged the same, whether they are good or bad credit risks? Hmmm.....

......... more change you can believe in. Write your Congressman. That is where this change came about.

tincup

And the higher interest rates may not be the end of it. It is expected that the credit card companies may also be going back with yearly fees... and may do away with the 'grace' periods and start charging interest from the day the charge is made. And if you have a 'rewards' card where you get a certain percentage back, expect that to possibly change also.

These changes can have some big repercussions.... individuals may just stop using the cards. The new law may result in overall loss of income for the credit card industry. Wonder if Congress considered that at all when they passed this wonderful change.

TomB

Why would anyone routinely retain a carryover balance on a revolving credit card?

morgansforever

<<Wonder if Congress considered that at all when they passed this wonderful change>>

Wonder if they considered 100 million card holders, not paying their bill. Let them experience loss in a big way.
Start a revolution agaist the CC companies? Power in numbers? I'm for it, let em starve.

notwilight

<< <i>What exactly does the "fact" that the CapitolOne rep was Filioino" have to do with your terrible story of woe? >>



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