Capital One Scam

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Gruntina

Capital One...were even sneaky enough to find my old married name and send me duplicates mail.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." (source uncertain)

If your "old married name" is no longer your legal name, you can't legally apply for a credit card in that name. So CO must have gotten that name from an out-of-date mailing list. Nothing sneaky about it -- they're just being their usual stupid selves.

BTW: If you're getting 15 letters a week from Capital One, it's because you've messed up somewhere; like not using a consistent name and address for everything, not filling out the "privacy form" (a total oxymoron!) sent to you by financial institutions you do business with, etc. The first step, if you don't want to shut off all CC offers, is to examine every piece of mail you get from them to see if the name and address is exactly the same on all of them. Any that aren't addressed to your prefered name and address, you can contact the credit bureaus and Direct Mail Association and take other steps to have that variation of your name/address put on all available "no spam" lists.

FWIW Capital One is at the top of my Boycott Forever List. If they were the last bank/cc-company on earth I'd never do business with them.

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Gruntina

Capital One...were even sneaky enough to find my old married name and send me duplicates mail.

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." (source uncertain)

If your "old married name" is no longer your legal name, you can't legally apply for a credit card in that name. So CO must have gotten that name from an out-of-date mailing list. Nothing sneaky about it -- they're just being their usual stupid selves.

BTW: If you're getting 15 letters a week from Capital One, you've probably messed up somewhere; like not using a consistent name and address for everything, not filling out the "privacy form" (a total oxymoron!) sent to you by financial institutions you do business with, etc. The first step, if you don't want to shut off all CC offers, is to examine every piece of mail you get from them to see if the name and address is exactly the same on all of them. Any that aren't addressed to your prefered name and address, you can contact the credit bureaus and Direct Mail Association and take other steps to have that variation of your name/address put on all available "no spam" lists.

FWIW Capital One is at the top of my Boycott Forever List. If they were the last bank/cc-company on earth I'd never do business with them.

[dorkiedoode]

wow i wish i would've found this forum earlier!! i just signed up for cap1 plat limited cred history card and i think got accepted. they were suppose to tell me in 60 seconds but after i click appy they just said wait 10-15 days for a response... if i did get accepted what should i do?? ahhhh!! ever since i applied i been hearing horror stories about them.

[Elgin526]

I have a CO card and have had no issues with it at all. I've kept it even after paying it off because I have a locked in 9.9% APR, and while I have no intention of ever carrying a balance again, well, life happens and if I must carry a balance, I'd at least like a low rate.

FYI: If you are getting flooded with CC offers, you can opt out of future mailings. I don't have the info on hand, but you can do a search on these boards, or post a new thread and ask, someone here will have it. I opted out and all CC offers stoped with in about a month, my total mail volumn dropped by over 60% I'd estimate, and it's given my paper shreader a break! I have a rual route mail box (although I live in a city!) and since it's not locked, anyone can steal my mail and thus steal my identity so I just didn't feel safe with 20+ CC offers in my mail box each week (I don't send out checks through my mail box either, I drop it of in the corner mailbox on the way out of my neighborhood). If you want to apply for a credit card, you can just go to the company's website and apply there directly, you don't need an offer in the mail!

[poundwise]

There are horror stories about EVERY credit issuer.

For the record: I too have had a Capital One account for years with no problems.

However, I don't think any account is safe from potentially becoming a horror story. We have to proactively manage our credit accounts. Start by being sure to read everything the creditor sends you and don't believe anything the 'tell' you unless you also have it in writing.

[tinapbeana]

Originally Posted by poundwise

There are horror stories about EVERY credit issuer.

poundwise, the ever vigilent voice of reason

[Gruntina]

[quote=Mathew Green]"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." (source uncertain)


If your "old married name" is no longer your legal name, you can't legally apply for a credit card in that name. So CO must have gotten that name from an out-of-date mailing list. Nothing sneaky about it -- they're just being their usual stupid selves.

Very true and you are right. I think it just aggravated me more than normal because CO is the only mail that shows my married name. I have not seen any letters or mails with my old married name in years! Seems like they are collecting old data then and if so. many wasted ads will go out.

[neatdesign]

Originally Posted by Mathew Green

If your "old married name" is no longer your legal name, you can't legally apply for a credit card in that name. So CO must have gotten that name from an out-of-date mailing list. Nothing sneaky about it -- they're just being their usual stupid selves.

Capital One, like most creditors, gets people's information for solicitation purposes from the credit bureaus. If your maiden name is still on one of your credit reports, then that's why you'd get offers in that name. Errors like that occur all the time.

FWIW, I've received credit card offers in my maiden name before, and I applied for at least one of them and got approved, no problem.

The fact that you no longer use your maiden name doesn't make that name "illegal" -- it's an alias. If your maiden name was illegal then your birth certificate would become an invalid document. My passport is still in my maiden name, but as long as I book my tickets using my maiden name, I'm good to go.

At the end of the day, if you don't want to get millions of credit card offers in the mail every day, you need to opt-out -- that means, you are telling the credit bureaus not to sell your information to creditors anymore. It's very easy, just go to OptOutPrescreen.com and submit a request online. It will opt you out of ALL prescreened offers (even ones you might like to get) for up to 5 years. You can also opt out permanently, but that must be done by mail.

I know this probably makes me sound like a credit card company apologist, but honestly, creditors wouldn't be able to send so many offers out if the credit bureaus didn't sell them people's information so willy-nilly. I really don't get why people put all the blame on the credit card companies.

~ Jenney

[Gruntina]

Actually it was an old married name in my case. I changed it back to my maiden name years ago. Whether or not it's illegal or not... I am sure Identity theft could happen. My first and last name are very popular but not sure how the credit card companies assign the social security number to the advertisements unless its the same company as other credit card one may have.

[neatdesign]

Originally Posted by Gruntina

Actually it was an old married name in my case.

It was in mine, too. I usually just refer to my previously married name as my "maiden" name because it's just easier and I'm lazy.

Originally Posted by Gruntina

My first and last name are very popular but not sure how the credit card companies assign the social security number to the advertisements unless its the same company as other credit card one may have.

If one or more of the credit bureaus isn't updated with your current name, but still lists your old married name (or any previous legal name), then THAT is the name that gets sold to creditors, who then use your information to send you prescreened offers. CapOne, for instance, primarily gets their information from Equifax, whereas other creditors buy information from Transunion and/or Experian. Your information could be correct on Equifax but not on the other two.

~ Jenney

Capital One is the only card I carry, by default, it was the oldest one I had at the time I decided to "clean up."

Never a problem, never a complaint, I charge things, they bill me, I pay them.

That payment is done electronically at the very minimum the day my statement becomes available, in many cases I send a payment multiple times a month as things appear on the card (regular charges).

At the end of the day, I appreciate they are all businesses out to make money off of me in whatever way they can (finance charges, transaction charges, manipulate spending behavior through rewards programs, etc.) Any money they do make from me is my fault for engaging their product and leaves me zero option to complain when I made the choice to "play."

If they do something illegal, there are avenues to pursue.

If I do something stupid, well, that's normal.


As PW said, there are horror stories about all of them floating around, I think we have long passed the point where everyone should know what they are getting into.

As for those just joining the credit world who don't know better, there are plenty of your "elders" out there who will help you avoid these problems if you will just listen.

yeah, and that's going to happen.

[marjorie]

I have certainly had credit problems in the past, but for me a kicker was when my interest charge on Capital One changed abruptly when I ws out of town burying my sister. When I called asking to see if the change could be reversed, I was told it wasn't their fault; they didn't kill her.

[neatdesign]

Marjorie, that kind of comment is not only disgusting and inexcusable, but it's also part of the reason that CSRs get such a bad rap. When I worked the phones at CapOne, I would NEVER have said something like that to someone. (Well, I'd never say anything like that, period.) And none of the people I worked with would have said something like that, either.

I'm certainly not saying someone DIDN'T say that to you -- I know there are reps who are arseholes like that -- just that it's not the norm, and it is unfortunate that that person was allowed to get away with saying it. Those are the times when you hope the call is being recorded. I hope it was in that instance and that the person was fired promptly. That's just horrible, horrible...

~ Jenney

[rooskers]

I don't know about CO but I love credit cards. So far my Citibank has given me an interest free loan for my wedding costs (promotional 0% interest for year), and I have earned over $600 in cashback from them. The trick is to use the credit card companies and not let them use you. If this is not possible you shouldn't have a credit card. As far as the CO employee giving us the reasons for why CO does what it does thanks but as a customer I don't want to hear the B.S. excuses you give me for horrendous customer service. As a operator you might not be in charge of the decisions made by the executive but I don't really care that if I send my payment priority to the address they have preprinted that it then has to go someplace else. That is CO problem not mine and if they charge me a late fee fine I cancel and go with a different company that wants to work with me. Nothing personal just business. See some companies forget that the customer is the one who pays their paycheck. The person who was told "we didn't kill the person" I would definitely write a letter to the corporate office about that one because that person should be fired but that most likely isn't representitive of most of CO employees.

[tabbycat31]

I take it you have never worked customer service for a large company. The customer service reps are the very bottom of the totem pole and have little control about what they can say.

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by tabbycat31

I take it you have never worked customer service for a large company. The customer service reps are the very bottom of the totem pole and have little control about what they can say.

They can control whether or not they act like jack-asses though.

Rooskers, Jenney is a long standing (and very well liked) member of the forum trying to offer her perspective on something she has personal knowledge of, she is not a "CO employee giving us reasons..."

taking an abrasive tone like that with someone here pretty much means the rest of your post becomes noise.

[rooskers]

I meant no offense to Jenney my rant was really meant for the companies policies or actions not to Jenney herself I guess I worded it wrong sorry.
It is hard to give the right tone to a reply and my rant was against companies not against her I thank her for her insight and helpful hints on how to get around some of the problems. My point is though what she wrote gives an example of what is wrong with companies. You can get an American rep. only if you know the secret on how to get one, you can make express payments only if you know to ask for the special address, you can waive the $4 membership fee only if you send in the optout *which some of these inserts are sometimes suspiciously missing* Unfortunely the customer service reps have to take the heat for policies like this.
Again I apologize to Jenney if I offended her that was certainly not my intention.

[PRICEPLUS]

Nitro Glycerin is= safe when used properly but if not it goes boom. CC companies want to reel you in, get you hooked, and have you pay for as long as possible. Yes, it is true that many use CCs carefully but I dare say there are more who do not.

I am still of the opinion that it is better not to use CCs if you can help it. Save up for what you want.

[tener]

Originally Posted by timeouttiffany

Recently I decided to take advantage of a Lowes Capital One card. big mistake ! When I went to make my first payment I tried to register online at the capital one website I was told that my account was not supported and I wouldnt be able to make online payments, so i called their 800 number and found out if I wanted to make a payment over the phone it would cost me a $10 fee to make my min $10 payment. I asked if I could take a payment into my local Lowes store and of course that wasnt an option either. by this time I was to late to make a payment by mail so I paid my fee in protest.

seems you had the worst experience imaginable.... why would you pay a $10 fee to use the phone service? how do they justify that?