Capital One needs a cap in the ass!

The BBQ Pit
1

I wish I were as good at coming up with all of those clever, goat-felching-type adjectives as others here (I particularly enjoy the ones involving pus), but since I’m not, I’ll get to the point.

Ever diligent in the quest to reduce my debt, I paid off one of my credit cards (which I chopped to pieces long ago) this month!

Happy, flappy day, right?

Well.

Yesterday, in the mail, I receive a statement from them. I figure it’s going to be some ridiculous thing like what happened when I paid off a credit card a couple of years ago: I kept getting statements saying I had a ONE CENT credit, since I overpaid my last bill by a penny, and when I neglected to take advantage of my “credit”, I was mailed a check for one cent (I hung it on the refrigerator).

Boy was I wrong.

Instead, the statement informed me that my payment had not been received, and that I now owed a THIRTY DOLLAR late fee.

I figured something had gone horribly awry, and that perhaps my payment had gotten lost in the mail. So I called the company to figure out what was up.

They got the check, alright–but it had been received on June FOURTH, and my payment was due on the THIRD, so sorry, Charlie!

THIRTY FUCKIN’ BUCKS.

Now, in the grand scheme of things, what’s 30 bucks? Will I still be lamenting the loss a year from now? Doubt it. But that’s a helluva decent dinner, or a kicky new skirt on sale, or a new bed for one of my dogs, or a new cage for the rats…

…and now my “Card Paid Off” glee has been tarnished by the fact that… well… now it’s not paid off! Sure, I’ll send them a check for the goddamn 30 dollars when I get paid again (this Friday), and THEN the card will be paid off, but it won’t be the same. The joy will be aborted by the knowledge that I just blew 30 bucks on nothing because of those lugie-slurping morons who can’t give a poor Black gal a break.

I mean ONE DAY late…!

2

I’ve gotten a payment in a day late to CapOne before and sure enough they socked me with a late fee. I called to see what could be done about it. The operators were courteous and helpful. They saw I had a good payment history and were more than happy to let it go that once. They credited me back the late fee. Give 'em a call. What have you got to lose?

Zev Steinhardt

3

I’ve gotten zapped by the one-day-late gods myself on a few occasions. Like zev, I was able to get the fee withdrawn once or twice.
[self-absorbed hijack] One time, I called to complain about a late fee and the rep was a bugger right off the bat. Smarmy, unhelpful, and borderline rude. He kept repeating
“well the payment was due on the 14th but was not posted until the 15th. That’s not our fault. You should plan your payments better. etc.” After arguing with this for ten minutes I checked my little calander on my checkbook. The 15th was a SUNDAY. And since I mail in my payments, they obviously had received it in time. I really, really enjoyed pointing that out to him.
Assmonkies. [/sah]

go gett’em auntie em, and CONGRATS on paying it off. Someday, I hope to think about considering doing the same.

bella

4

I feel you pain. Last month I did the same thing, not to get rid of the card but to have them all paid off at the same time. So I call my credit card company to check my balance. WTF, I owe $70, what’s going on. Crap, annual fee time.

5

$70 for an annual fee?

If you have a decent credit history, you can usually call the CC company and tell them that you have a better offer (a card without a fee) and ask them to drop the fee. They will usually do so (provided, of course, you have the credit rating to support it).

Zev Steinhardt

6

Wow, Zev! You are, like, the credit card king! I am going to call them and see if I can get the late fee waived. I’ll keep you posted. You kick ass!

7

Hey Zev, it’s not just the annual fee, it’ also for a Road Assistance package & Travel Package, insurance and unemployment protection, still it does seem kinda steep in retrospect, I’ll give it a shot.

8

Logically speaking, the cap should go where their head has taken up residence.

9

Logically speaking, the cap should go where their head has taken up residence.

10

Congrats on paying off your credit card :slight_smile: “Free at last…” (Or at least closer to Freedom)

Fight the Good Fight, Auntie Em, if you paid off the balance in full 1 day late they should cut you some slack. If they don’t, pay the $30 and boycott them for life. And you already have us Dopers in your ranks!

11

I work at a credit card company, please don’t beat me. :slight_smile: Fraud, not customer service
What everyone has said so far is correct. Call in and ask to have the fee waived. If you’ve had good payment history (more so no late/returned payments rather than paying the balance in full), they shouldwaive it. Ask for a supervisor if need be.

I can’t say who I work for but as a competitor of Crapital One and someone who has dealt with them on several levels, I can safely state they suck ass. They are the Yugo of credit.

12

Just out of curiousity, what rationale do people have for CapitalOne not charging them the interest for receiving the check the day after the date clearly posted on the statement? You do have several weeks to send the check in.

13

Same thing happened to me when I paid off my credit card debt a few years ago. I had paid off quite a large balance, and they still socked me with a hefty late fee. What ticked me off was I did indeed mail it on time, but the company let my payment languish for at least ten days before it posted as paid. Now, I know darn well that a letter mailed within the US and sent USPS does not take ten days to make it through the system. So I called and complained and they did waive the late fee. They admitted sometimes it takes time on their end for the payments to make it through. I learned that a bill that is due on the fifteenth should be in the mail by the fifth, otherwise you are probably looking at a late fee, at least some of the time.

14

I have had a cap one card for 3 years with no problems whatsoever. You can do secure payments through their website that clear within 48 hours.

Phouchg
Lovable Rogue

15

None whatsoever. I was in the wrong.

However, in the interests of “making the customer happy” I asked for a waiver of the fee.

Just as a storekeeper is under no obligation to lower his prices, or take back a working purchase, sometimes they will do so in the name of “customer relations.”

Zev Steinhardt

16

Hmm I just paid my bill three days late and were over the limit (for the second time) with capital one. I haven’t seen any fees tacked on yet but I’m waiting. The first time I was over the limit was with a purchase I made it put me about $10.00 over the limit and then they hit me with a $29.00 over limit fee. I’m trying to figureo ut why they let it through in the first place. The second push over the limit seems to be intrest charges and I paid the bill late because I never received a paper statement, when to the site on the 6th to see when it was due and found out it was due on the 5th. Made a payment right there that posted on the 10th

17

Because then they can hit you with the late fee.

A penalty fee is only useful to a bank or financial institution if they can actually make money out of it.

18

Better hope they don’t report that on your credit report, too. That’s more important than the $30 bucks and could end up costing you more in the long run.

And I was so hoping that this thread was going to be a beautiful rant about how Capitol One needs a cap because they are the single most obnoxious and relentless junk mailer on the planet. I get 1-4 Capitol One solicitations ** every fucking day, no lie. ** (Between me and Pump Action Gerbil, that is). I wouldn’t use their credit card for love or money.

19

I also heard from a friend of mine and someone who used to work in collections for CrapitolOne that if there is a collection account, it is their POLICY to call EVERY SINGLE PERSON with that name and harass them for the money. Not just call, but call relentlessly. What’s the point of giving them your social security number every time you call if they don’t use it to indentify you for harassment? hmm? God help you if your name is Bob Smith or anything of the like…

20

Hey Stoid! There is a 800 number for each of the credit reporting agencies (can some kind soul post it?-- I tossed it) in which you can get taken off of the credit card mailing lists. Stunningly enough, it works (usually this sort of thing is marginally effective- but not this time). My credit card solictations dropped 75%. The only ones I get now are because they got my name from the Alumni association ect. . . . Also make sure to good and shred that stuff before it goes in the trash to foil the trash divers. I bought a cheap cross-cut shredder. Its safe, and quite fun to boot.

:slight_smile: