Capital One: Avoid this corrupt company. Mailing address for CEO

Capital One: Avoid this corrupt company. Mailing address for CEO

August 17, 2006 - Consumer follow-up Message - From: Email User

URGENT Please update my Capital One complaint

An extraordinary number of people have emailed me wanting to know what happened to my Capital One complaint. There seem to be a massive number of victims out there. I hope you can post this update. I sent it originally in early June. The original complaint is at:

http://www.complaints.com/directory/2005/june/7/64.htm

UPDATE: June 7, 2006

I had a lot of people want to know what happened with this.

The gist of it is, Capital One refused to pay me for my annoyance or refund the fraudulent late charges. I still believe, however, that the best way to communicate with them is by snail mail letter to the CEO, preferably certified, and with copies to regulatory agencies. I would circumvent their normal "channels of communication" as much as possible. They seem designed to thwart your efforts to deal with them.

Here are additional details: I was told that Capital One reports their small business accounts to the Equifax small business exchange, although I have not checked to see if this is true. I successfully closed and kept my account closed. I got copies of all my past statements after an extraordinary effort. Also after an extraordinary effort, I got a letter describing my use of credit with them but it contained other business, making it not the document I wanted to show to landlords and creditors. Perhaps this was purposeful.

As you may know, Capital One is headquartered in Virginia.

After sitting on my case for a while, then Attorney General of Virginia Judith Williams Jagdmann claimed that she didn't have juridiction over this matter (I find this highly unlikely; there were ample causes of action) and referred it to another state agency. The Attorney General of Virginia is elected and the CEO of Capital One has made some rich political contributions in his time. This whole thing smells. It makes it look like Ms. Jagdmann let massive consumer fraud take place under her nose. Not good.

The Attorney General of Virginia referred the matter to the Bureau of Financial Institutions of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia. They sat on it for a while. Then Locke H. Trigg, Regulatory Compliance Analyst, responded almost as if he was acting on behalf of Capital One telling me that everything was fine and there was nothing to be done. This smells. People will think they cannot trust businesses operating out of Virginia because their whole regulatory apparatus appears to have been bought and sold. AOL is headquartered there and has also pulled some stunts.

By doing research, and by people contacting me, I discovered that there are an extraordinary number of people are being ripped off by Capital One. One thing they do is treat people with past credit problems particularly badly, taking advantage of their shame. They may also take particular advantage of people who are in a financial bind. I believe that they do this on purpose. I believe that they have done this to thousands of people.

Capital One has been the subject of several class action lawsuits. Two were by Attorney's General of states. Capital One has so far appeared to be able to defeat most of the class action suits against them.

Capital One was selected for the Rogue's Gallery of ConsumerAffairs.com. They are the subject of numerous complaints at consumer websites.

These are some individual complaints:

http://consumeraffairs.com/credit_cards/capital_one.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff134507.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff138460.htm

http://consumeraffairs.com/credit_cards/capital_one_late_posting.html

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff105413.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff140806.htm

These are some grievance sites about the Capital One:

http://www.cap1sucks.com/

http://fight-back.us/forum/index.php?showforum=7

I tried to get the media to cover this story but they wouldn't touch it. I believe that this is because Capital One is a heavy advertiser. I tried Lou Dobbs on CNN, all the network news departments, Sixty Minutes, Primetime, Nightline, and the National Enquirer, among others. No luck.

You can file complaints about your experiences at consumer websites like these:

complaints.com

ConsumerAffairs.com

BadCreditCard.org

RipOffReport.com

epinions

my3cents

consumerist.com

There are addresses of some regulatory agencies to whom you could cc your letter to Capital One's CEO. I would not expect a lot of action from these agencies, but I believe that a cc to a law enforcement agency heightens concentration.

The Honorable Bob McDonnell

Attorney General

State of Virginia

Office of the Attorney General

900 E. Main Street

Richmond, VA 23219

Commissioner of Financial Institutions

State Corporation Commission

1300 East Main Street

Suite 800

P.O. Box 640

Richmond, Virginia 23219

Good luck. You deserve to be treated better than people are treated by Capital One, even if you do not have perfect record. No matter what your record looks like, theirs is worse. I wish you better times in your financial affairs. May Capital One be exposed and brought down by their own evil.

June 7, 2005 - Consumer Message:

CONTAINS MAILING ADDRESS FOR CAPITAL ONE CEO Basically, I think the letter below covers the lowlights of my four year experience with this company. Three years building up good credit, and one year after I closed the account in disgust I'm still waiting for them to report the good credit I built up with them. If you are being charged suspicious late fees, they are fraudulent; they do this to a lot of people. When you decide to close your account, the games begin. If you intend to pay off the balance, send a certified letter return receipt requested in with the right amount on the day they will receive it (they play games with the interest). Send it in plenty of time. Below, you can find the mailing address for their CEO. You can find the mailing address for the Attorney General of their home state, Virginia, on line. I'd say that sending copies of your letters to them to her sounds like a good idea. LETTER: May __, 2005 Mr. Richard D. Fairbank

President & CEO

Capital One Financial Corp

1680 Capital One Drive

McLean, VA 22102 NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE COMPLAINT WITH VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL

REASON: HOLDING GOOD CREDIT HOSTAGE, OTHER VIOLATIONS Dear Mr. Fairbank: Capital One is holding my good credit hostage through lies and subterfuge. There is currently a housing crisis where I live and the loss of the asset of the good credit I built up with you is serious. Multiple attempts to get you to report my use of credit had no effect. Your employees claimed twice that you would at least sent me a letter confirming my account history and use of credit but they never did. This is not an accident. I’ve found many accounts online of similar behavior by your company intended to prevent your customers from leaving you and getting credit elsewhere. You also charged me for late fees even though I mailed my checks in time(and there are plenty of complaints about you doing this online) You preventing me from closing my account by subterfuge (and there are plenty of complaints about you doing stuff like this online.) Dealing with Capital One has wasted incredible amounts of my time. You’ve for sure lost a customer for life and I’m not the only one. I WANT: My good credit reported accurately under BOTH my organization’s name (and employer ID number) and my own name and social security number. That report should say that I paid my bill on time for three years, except for one thirty days late payment, and that the account is it now closed and paid in full. This should all be reported to the three main credit reporting agencies under both names and as well as Dunn & Bradstreet for the organization. You made me personally guarantee this account and if I assume the liability, I deserve the credit too. I want $1,000 for the loss up to now of my good credit history, stress, much wasted time and punitive damages. This includes roughly a hundred dollars for improperly charged late fees. This amount is symbolic and in no way reflects the true losses involved. I will ask for more later if I have to file a complaint or lawsuit. If my credit has not been accurately reported within 30 (thirty) days from the receipt of this letter, and I have not received a check for this amount, I will file a complaint with the Attorney General of Virginia. Sincerely, (this customer) cc: The Honorable Judith Williams Jagdmann, Attorney General of Virginia

The Honorable Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of New York [Although I don't live in New York, this Attorney General is tough on corporate criminals and I want him to know about Capital One] Good luck to anyone in dealing with this company. Based on my life experience including this episode, It might be best to get a card from your own bank or a large reputable bank in your area. Click this link to e-mail the message author: Email User

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With genuine horror stories such as these, why do any of us stay with Capital One? I have a friend who needed help with debt management. So she signed up with MONEY WORKS, who advertised such a service. They took a list of her creditors, as well as $1495.00. Then paid off no one, and the payment plan they provided was not based on calling any of the creditors. She arranged any number of calls to find out what was going on. They only ever returned calls when she was at work. Frustrated and feeling cheated, she asked for a refund of her money, and contacted the State Attorney Generals office and Capital One, whose card the charge was on.

The Attorney General issued a cease and desist order to Money Works, as they found the company to be fraudulent and their charges fraudulent, and were receiving other complaints.

My friend called Capital One and asked that Money Works charge to be removed. Capital one may have looked at the evidence, but they would never be able to prove it. They did not call the Attorney Generals office, and they did not call the Department of Consumer Credit Protection, who actually issued the cease and desist order to Money works.

They told her that they found no evidence of fraud and therefore would not remove the charge. We called to find out why. We spoke with Ruarehg ? he would not or could not speak his name coherently. After three different bouts of being put on hold, he transferred us to Kjghsflk ? another Indian employee for whom English was not a second language, not even a 40th or 50th language. We were put on hold again 3 or 4 more times, then transferred to Tan, who eventually transferred us to Philip.

We explained the fraud charges again and again. We explained that the Department Consumer Credit Protections Cease and Desist Order was a legal document, and not just fun. If our states legal representatives had found this company fraudulent, how had they found them to be honest? With each new representative for Capital One, we got new excuses. We asked what was not fraudulent about a company that took money yet never honored their contract? When Customer Service employees felt cornered by the states legal statement, they explained she had not filed a complaint within the Companys legally allowed time limit, although they had previously agreed that was not an issue in this case.

When we pointed this out, they retreated to their contention that they had investigated Money Works, and remained convinced the company was not fraudulent.

We were transferred to Susan, put on hold till the phone was disconnected. SURPRISE.

We called again, and Fewan answered, and within minutes, placed us on hold. He than transferred us to Jjdhrtfoiur ?, yet another Indian who was virtually impossible to understand. He placed us on hold two or three more times, then transferred us to the Fraud department . . .we had already been there several times. And who picked up, none other than our old friend Philip. He was stunned he had been connected to us again. He placed us on hold, and said he was going to transfer us to the Fraud Department. Yet we had just been told he was in the fraud department! Mark answered, and told us he was manager of the Fraud Department. He repeated the various excuses, and each time he would trot one out, we would question why, and he would shift to another excuse.

Apparently it is his job in the Fraud Department to commit fraud against their customers. Finally he simply told us he was going to hang up, as we were BAD TEMPERED and UNREASONABLE.

I only began to sound tough after one and one half hours on the phone with them, and 10 representatives, while the 2 calls took a total of one and three quarters hours.

In all, we found them to be dishonest and their idea of customer service laughable. It is probably one big sweatshop, and their wildly inadaquate Consumer Service Representatives took turns pretending that they were in this or that department. They probably only pick up a pay check if they fend off all customers.

Their idea of investigating fraud is idiotic. They could not find their way out of a paper bag if you turned it upside down and shook it. My signature?

How about a good friend of a VICTIM of the Capital One Customer Service Department...

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I have a somewhat different complaint than I've seen here.

I'm 72 years old and my husband of 50 years died in May of 2008. He had an existing Capital One account, which I continued to pay, making large payments. Within a few months, I was able to pay off the entire balance at once. However, because of the way Capital One calculates its interest, I received a bill the following month for the interest due. I sent that, plus an extra chunk. After a couple of months of the same thing, I called Capital One and finally talked to someone in their Customer Relations Department (notice, they don't call it "customer CARE.")

I also told her it was very distressing to me to be receiving continual "offers" along with checks, sometimes two or three times a week. She told me the amount needed to close the account and assured me that no more mail would be sent on that account. That was in October, 2008.

After successfully closing the account, and two shoeboxes full of mail which had continued to be sent, yesterday, I received a bill for $59 (annual member fee.)

After a completely unsuccessful attempt by phone, having been disconnected by the "deceased customer" voicemail, I wrote the following agency, which governs banks with "NA" in their names:

Comptroller of the Currency

Customer Assistance Group

1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450

Houston, TX 77010

1 (800) 613-6743

www.occ.treas.gov

I'll report back here whatever results come of this correspondence.

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I am experiencing issues with CapitalOne and their so-called automatic payment services. I have been signed up for CapitalOne to make automatic payments, however, in my last billing cycle, they did not automatically withdraw my payments, and I have been charged a $50 penalty fee! T0 make matters worse, it seems they have since removed all options for using automatic payments, and currently state that ACH payments are not offered by CapitalOne. I was never given any written notice of signing up for this service, so I am feeling like a crazy person when I DID sign up for this service! I have always paid my card on time, and cannot believe CapitalOne has pulled this act. I will be cutting up my card and NEVER using CapitalOne's services again!

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I have a beef with Capitol One. They raised my interest without any cause. I wrote a commentary about it

http://www.populistamerica.com/coping_with_the_credit_card_thieves

That story tells it. Read it and I would like for someone who is joining a Class Action Lawsuit to include me. Just let me know.

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I thought I was a valued customer of Capital One but found there falsity as true as thier word. This company is a joke and I was charged an over limit fee for their mistake only to find out I was charged another over limit fee again!!! I am going to cancel this no-hassle card because this is a pure hassle way to hell!!! Oh by the way they all speak in some foreign language so we should not do business with foreign interest who do not speak a word of English!! Capital One needs to move overseas and leave the Americans to do and speak American. Bye Bye, Capital One you will never have my business again!!! P.S. Fire the executives who believe in doing business when the customer reps can not even speak english themselves!!! I hope Captial One fails and please pass this on to other Capital One customers to cancel their accounts!!! Stay American!!

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Capital One has done a bait and switch. My husband fell behind 2 months with his bill. We were told once we get caught up, we would be able to apply for a 4.9% interest rate for 6 months to assist us in our time of need. After we struggled to get everything caught up, we tried for over 2 months to find out why the 4.9% hasn't shown up on the bill. There were notes on the system about the offer of 4.9%, but now no one will honor this offer. We feel that they just stated that to make us get caught up and then went back on their offer. This is a classic act of BAIT & SWITCH!! We will try our best to find another credit card to transfer our balance to so that we can get from under CAPITAL ONE!

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I AGREE THAT CAPITAL ONE HAS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE

I AM SO PISSED! I have never received such bad service my whole life!

This is a series of events that just keep getting worse. I lost my capital one card and asked for a replacement. It took several calls to have my card replaced because the person I spoke with kept confusing my card number with that of the other cardholders in the company. When I finally got the new card and I tried paying the balance using capital one's automated system, their computer says, "A new number has been assigned for this account. " It then transferred me to a customer service rep (or should I say anti-customer service rep) who was very rude. I told her that I was frustrated and that I wanted to be transferred to a supervisor. Several minutes later, a supervisor got on the line and asked what she could do for me. I told her that I was frustrated since this is the 5th time that has happened in 2 months. I told her that they need to improve their customer service and be more efficient. She started getting defensive and said that there is nothing wrong with their customer service in India. I said that if she is already getting defensive about my complaint and she is a supervisor, then I said that that is unfortunate because the supervisors are supposed to lead and be a good example. She got really sarcastic and said, " We have the best customer service in India!" I told her I disagreed, based on her attitude and several others before her. She huffed and puffed and snapped, " You can call back later when you are feeling happy!" Then she hung up. What a biyatch! I can not believe this woman! I can not believe why Capital One would outsource our jobs to countries like India, that don't even give Americans decent customer service. We need jobs in the US. We need to get back this customer service jobs that are being given away overseas and not being appreciated. And---- these people insult our intelligence and treat us like s---t! This is terrible and needs to stop.

NOTE: Google the words: Capital One complaints and you will find hundered, even thousands of complaints. It's time to do something about this situation. Either boycott Capital One or stop outsourcing jobs to India and elsewhere.

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Capital one overcharged me three times for their mistakes - secretly changed my "purchase check" to "convenience check", so charged me for cash advance and underpayment. I called them three times with five representatives. The final one is a manager (why do I need to talk to manager to resolve this??), who tried all the bogus reasons to hide their mistakes, though it becomes crystal clear even to a fool. I don't know how much they were paid for such a messy service, and I am wondering if the CEO is backing them for casually making mistakes to overcharge consumers (just imagine why no over-credit if random mistakes?) and boosting accounting numbers, and the Government/Tax payers are going to bail them out anyway for their greedy. I am writing their CEO to confirm this and prepare any legal action. If we don't take down the corruption, God will punish us for their mistakes!

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Thanks for posting this. Capital One overcharged me for a finance charge. I paid the full amount, but did it in two payments (was using two different bank accounts to send checks). Little did I know they had policy of charging you finance charge if they receive any payment that is not "in full" - ??? I paid the full amount! But sure enough, the fine print clearly spells out this ludicrus policy. However, fine print also says the finance charge is calculated on daily balance which went to zero. Capital One calculated fee for entire month for entire balance. I will heed the lessons here on cancelling the account! But that hardly seems sufficient since they basically tried to rob me.

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I too have had nothing but HORRIBLE experiences w/ Capital One and I only opened my account the beginning of August. I called Cap One more than 20 times in 2 months for issues that their employees failed to do and finally once it was all resolved my account mysteriously has been closed. I never closed it, i called to report that i never closed it and ask them to pull the phone records and after being transferred to a senior manager i am told that they can NOT pull phone recordings and that there is nothing that they can do to reopen my account. I am going to be watching my account very closely every single week to make sure i am not hit with any suprise charges. I pay my bill on time every month and i will be damned if i am charged for late fees or interest since i have 0% apr til dec. 2009. My credit rating is 800 and i have never had to deal w/ such a rude, incompetent company in my life and i will never deal with Capital One ever again. i have companies begging for my business why would I deal w/ a company with so many complaints? Very disgusted with the whole company. I would love to be involved in any class action suit that may be brought against them.

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I have been having the exact same problem!! I have been trying to close my Capitolone credit card after they raised my rates to 24.99% because of one late payment in 15 years!!

I paid in full and called to close my account. They charged me interest after I paid in full and didn't send me a bill for 2 months, which of course, included a LATE FEE for this interest!! I demanded that they credit the full amount or I would to the AG and file a class action lawsuit. They credited my account. Then I receive a "bill" that has a $6.89 credit. Something is amiss. I call the number today and have a $13.00 balannce!! Don't know what for but will call tomorrow and threaten them again.

We need to file a class action lawsuit on behalf of all Capitol One cardholders.

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I have been having similar experiences with Capital One.

I make my payments a few weeks early to avoid late fees, or having anything show up on my credit report. In March I made a pmt for April, April for May, May for June, etc.

Well, everything was fine until July my statement showed a late fee of $39.00.

I called Capital One and was advised that yes, they were incorrect, and they would remove the fee. So, I paid for for August in July. Mind you, my due date is always on the 9th, and if I pull up my monthly statements, each one says-for instance-balance;minimum amt due;due by August 9th.

So I paid my August bill in July and low and behold, I received another late fee this month. When I called Customer Service not only did I get someone in another country that I could hardly understand, but I was told that there wasn't anything that could be done because I make my payments too early. When I advised that this has not been an issue until they messed up my account-(because they showed my pmt was late, the pmt I made was credited to that month instead of the following month)I also had them look at my statement with me while I was looking at it online and it says plain as day due by August 9th, they advised that cannot take that second late charge off because now I show a history of late payments. And on top of that they cannot remove more then one late payment within a 12 month cycle even if they are their errors.

Is anyone aware of any civil action lawsuits against Capital One? If so, let me know and I will be glad to sign up!!!

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I believe that I will join in on these complaints, my case is very similar. I have yet to talk with someone that is actually in the USA. This is unconfirmed but, I feel as though the customer service purposely does not help or care because I am an American citizen.

It is hard to believe that in this economy that this company refuses to understand the fees are sucking the life out of its customers.

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My whole family is canceling their Cap. One credit cards - father and 8 grown adult children spread around the US.

My father had a similar experience with Capital One customer service.

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I concure this compant is badly managed wiyh anything but the customers best intrest in mind.

They need a cleanout of personnel from the top down

I have applied elsewhere for a new card

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I have had the same problem... I paid on the Capital One website and my payment was marked 5/23 but was reflected on 5/24. I incurred a 39.00 late fee even though it does reflect 5/23 on my statement. They will not remove the charge. What do you do? I live in maryland, who should I contact? There practices are anything but legal. Same situation 3 different people, indefinite hold, oh and a hang up!! So frustrated....

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Here is my story:

I was VERY dissatisfied with the way I was treated by the Capital One representatives with regard to some fraudulent charges on my credit card statement and I am very suspicious about the way they handle business. By the way, I am an excellent customer.

In November/December 2007, I received a call from Capital One stating that someone was attempting to make charges to my credit card from Hong Kong. My card was cancelled and a new card was issued. This was the first time anything like this ever happened to me. There were no suspicious charges on my current bill and I never really made it a habit to scrutinize my bills on a monthly basis since I have never had fraudulent charges appear before. So when I received my end of year SUMMARY from Capital One in January/February 2008, I noticed that there were three charges made to my credit card that I know nothing about. One was on May 1, 2007 for the amount of $21.40, one was on July 4, 2007 for the amount of $123.90, and one was on August 6, 2007 for the amount of $123.90, for a total amount of $269.20. I immediately made copies of the charges and sent a letter explaining the suspicious charges. On Friday, April 11, 2007 I was transferred and put on hold numerous times. More often than not you could not understand the people you are talking to. I spoke with Florine, Charine (ID XNZJ966), Elizabeth, John, and finally Rudy (ID FQK130) who told me that a credit would be issued, my credit card would be cancelled, and a new one sent out. On Saturday April 12, I called Capital One again, and discovered what Rudy told me was a lie. My credit card was not cancelled and the charges were not removed. Again, I was transferred numerous times, to Sergio (WWE444), Alan (OPG134) and Mohammed (LAE734). I have reason to believe the names and ID numbers are all fictitious b-c you could never track anyone down again once you�¢ï¿½ï¿½ve hung up from them. Since nobody would help me and since this was the worst customer experience I have ever had, I told the last person I spoke with to cancel my credit card once and for all. But I am not done. I still demand credit for $269.20 for charges I did not make, and I want a letter of apology for the way I was treated from every person that transferred me and threw me back in Q. I intend on exposing Capital One and telling my story to as many people as possible and to shed light on the corrupt behavior of Capital One in an effort that it lessens the number of victims in the future.

A letter to the Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of National Banks at 1301 McKinney St Suite 3450 Houston, Texas 77010 quickly helped resolve my issue. I was issued a credit from Capital One.

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Our business was shopping for a better deal for our business card. Capitol One's offer was insulting at best and we told them we did not want their card. They evidently opened an account anyway but never issued a card. I phoned to tell them that we had no account. They said they needed to talk to my husband on the phone and my husband and I refuse to talk to these people on the phone because of their crooked background and law suits. We sent letter to them demanding that there be no record of an account with them. They signed for the correspondence but refuse to acknowledge it. I've got my senator on it and he's taken it to the Office of the comptroller of the Currency since it appears somehow Capital One came out from under the Federal Reserve's control on March 1. (???) Now they're phoning twice a day and hanging up. Harassment.

I just wrote my senator that now they're harassing our business by phone.

So, this is to let everyone know these people are equal-opportunity dirt bags. We do NOT have bad credit and were shopping for a better rate for our business cc, which is now at 9.9% with a $20,000 LOC. They offered a lower rate but only attempted to approve a $500 LOC at 19%+++ which is nothing short of insulting. So they don't just rip off people with credit issues - they rip off EVERYONE.

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The Masachusetts Attorney General's Office is being notified by mail of a pattern of 'unfair and deceptive business practices'by Capital One, in violation of MGL Chapter 93A which provides a treble damage award and attorny fee and costs remedy for business who do what Capital One does (e.g. refuse to permit advace payments and charge a fee of approximately five dollars a month which ads on a late fee when you do not use a platnum credit card, then if you pay on last day for a $10 electronic transaction bank fee, they do not credit your accound until the following day and add a late fee, before ruining a persons credit).This company promises zero interest or low interest rates because they know that in the near future they are going to scam customers/new victims with late fees of five dollar for service charges when they do not use the credit card, then raise their interest rates as high as possible, or ruintheir client/victims credit.My best friend has a career win rate of two out of every three cases he gets involved with and is the founder/owner of Paralegal Associates,michaeldupont AT paralegwerewolf.com and paralegalassociates AT hotmail.comso I get a free draft complaint for myself to prosecutr pro se (pro se means by myself with my best friends help) or a free draft Civil Rule 23 class action complaintfor me to prosecute Capital One and fully litigated pro bono (pro bono means without a chage) by lawyers who owe him huge favors.Any specific information from other victims of thiscompany who have been scammed into late charges, had theirinterest rates increased or credit ruined.I am sending Capital One a demand letter for moneary damagestomorrow and they have 30 days to respond. Any response shall be posted here.SincerelyFrancine

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I don't recommend getting a Capital One credit card. Capital One Bank�s has structured their credit card business to extract excessive finance charges and late fees from their customers. This strategy should be exposed, to protect customers. Here is my experience:

1. Capital One restricted me to an unbelievably low credit limit of $2,000 even though my credit history has always been flawless. I realize that this is their prerogative, but no other credit company I have ever dealt with discounts prior credit history. This strategy makes it easy for customers to exceed the credit limit.

2. Capital One�s website does not accept early payments. At Capital One, early payments can only be made over the phone, for which a $10 fee is assessed. When I made an early payment over the phone to avoid exceeding my credit limit, their computer system flagged my early payment as "suspicious activity� even though my payment was immediately and successfully drafted from my bank. Even worse: my credit account was not credited with this payment until one week later after I called and complained to four people in Customer Service. Holding my money because I paid early is a strategy that should be against the law.

3. Capital One�s notified me that electronic funds transfer from my checking account would begin on December 4th . On my statement that was due on December 4th was printed the following information:

�Capital One�s automatic payment service is in effect for your account�. As requested, the New Balance shown on this statement will be debited directly from your designated bank account on your Payment Due Date. You do not need to send a separate payment�.�

My bank account was NOT automatically debited on December 4th, and finance charges of $11.88 as well as a late payment fee of $39 were imposed. I was $70 away from reaching my credit limit. I had to call a customer service representative to have the problem corrected.

4. After just the ONE late payment above (which was THEIR fault), Capital One�s website threatened me (in bold, red text) that the national credit bureaus would be notified of my delinquent activity if it continued. I can only imagine how much trouble it would be to have to correct my credit report if it had been wrongfully tarnished.

5. Capital One inquires against your credit report every month, looking for any delinquent activity on any account you have. They have the option of raising your interest rates if they find anything they deem unacceptable to them.

I hope this helps someone!