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Capital One - Low Limit, High Charges

Capital One • Low limit, high fees • Unauthorized account • Trouble closing account • Payoff plans • Identity theft • Fraudulent transactions • Late posting of payments --- News • Capital One Shuts Down Mortgage Unit, Will Cut 1,900 Jobs • Capital One Hikes Interest Rates, Agrees to Disclose Credit Limits • Capital One Blitzes Credit Reports Looking For New Prey • Capital One Harms Credit Scores by Withholding Data, Suits Charge • Capital One Buys North Fork Bank • WV Sues Capital One for "Deceptive and Illegal" Practices • WV Subpoenas Capital One Records

Marlene of Bronx NY (3/30/04):
I had an account with Capitol One Bank with a $250 limit. I used the card but did not get a statement for 2 months. When I finally got the statements 3 months later there were 3 $35.00 late charge fees even as I continued to call and find out how come I have all these service charges no one could give a good reason. I fought back and forth with the company. It was removed only to show up again 5 months later.

Also I noticed that there was a charge of $15.00 twice. When I called and asked what were they for I was told it was for credit protection agaist identity theft and life isurance. I told them please cancel because I had such a small limit and I also had life insurance on my job. I got a transfer balacnce from another credit card which was to pay off my balance. The check was cashed but never credited to my account. I also found out they were still billing me for the insurance fee and the life insurance fee.

This credit card is a terrible card company. The Goverment should step in and closed this company down or investigate their practices. I'm in civil court with them now because a $250 limit which I have paid off have turned in to $3,072.00 judgement against me. This is totally wrong I have paid this debt back 10 times over. There is something really wrong here.

William of Gainesville FL (2/20/04):
I applied on-line; credit limit $500 in 2002. I live on disability and part-time jobs. I was not properly made aware of Membership Fee. I went over my limit in 2003, just in time for my membership dues to be paid. Then they hit me with finance fees. Now, my debt to them is $1012+ and I've tried to close my account and even cut up my card.

Diane of Olathe KS (5/3/04):
I first got my card when I was right out of high school. I never had a credit card before and I thought it was a good idea to start establishing a credit record. My limit was only $200. My balance had gotten up to about $180.00. I sent them a check for the whole $180 about the same time I moved to a new apartment. I was going to call the company and give them my new address, but I kept on putting it off, since I knew I had paid them off and I had not charged anything else new on the card, I wasn't that worried about receiving my statements. About 2 months after moving, I had almost completly settled in to my new address and thought to call the company with my new information. When I called, I learned that I owed almost $300! This came as a total shock as I knew I had paid them off and made no new charges.

They not only showed no record of recieving my payment, but also has added on tons of late fees, which put me over my $200 balance, so they also added tons of overlimit fees. The fees were growing by the month. I called the company to work something out, but they were unwilling to work with me. A few days later I called my bank to see if the check I had sent Capitol One had cleared - It hadn't. I was really scared that it was lost in the mail or something. I decided that I was going to cancel the original check that I had sent them and send a new check to pay the original $180 and all the fees. I was disappointed that the check had been lost in the mail.

I called Capitol One to tell them that I was going to send a new check. When I called, my balance had been reduced to about $120. What happened? They finally found my check that I had sent several months earlier - the one that I was going to stop payment on because I thought it was lost in the mail! I told them that it was their mistake that the check had not been credited to my account and that I wasn't going to pay the $120 in fees. The phone rep told me that she could put my account on hold while I worked the problem out with management. She said that I wouldn't accrue anymore fees while I was in the process of figuring it out with them. She advised me that the concern would have to be dealt with through the mail.

So, I wrote a letter and sent it to the address that she had given me. I waited for 9 months to get a responce by mail, pretty much saying that it was not their fault and that I had to pay them all these fees. After this response, my account was reinstated with fees that had accrued during the 9 months. My balance was almost $500. I was so angry, but I didn't know what to do or how to fight. I didn't want it to ruin my credit. I ended up settling my account with them for $250. So, in the end, I had to wrongfully pay $250 and my credit was wrongfully reported negativly.

Janet of Stockbrdige GA (7/19/02):
This was a new gold Mastercard with a $200.00 credit limit, no cash advances, a $49.00 deposit (billed with the first month) and a $39.00 annual membership fee (billed with the second month) and 0% apr for the first 6 months. I charged a total of $183.82 and when I got my bill it was for $381.07. Before I received the first bill they were calling and telling me I was over my limit and I told them, no they were mistaken, let me get the bill and see.

The day I got the bill I called immediately and got no response except for you have to pay. Here is the breakdown of the bill: 36.36 in misc. charges, a total of $147.46 to Lassters Online, a $115.00 cash advance fee relating to the Lasseters Online charge (that's 77.98%), and a $29.00 over the limit fee?

$200 credit limit, $183.82 in charges.

They called the next day (and everyday since) and I told them I dispute the bill and I cannot pay $200 in fees. I offered to pay for my charges in full and terminate the contract. They told me I had to contact disputes and gave me a P.O. Box to write to. Same response -- pay pay pay. Three letters and 4 months worth of harrassing phone calls later, I get a call from a collection agency saying I am gonna go to jail for credit fraud. This was last night. I feel I have been greatly wronged. I recieved a letter today from the collection agency stating I owe $748.53. In my opinion I owe $182.83.

Benjamin of Toms River, NJ, writes:

I received a Capitol One credit card with a limit of $200 which was maxed in the first month. My problem is that they didn't send me an initial statement, the first statement I received included a late fee of $25 and another fee of $15. I called Capitol One to adjust this and got no satisfactory response; instead they sent another statement with an additional late fee and other charges.

Now my statement shows I owe approximately $600 on a $200 card. This company has taken liberties not specified in their account agreement statement. First of all they should have sent an initial statement and afforded me the opportunity to pay a scheduled amount. Not fixing this situation has put my credit rating in dire straits. Acquisition of this card admittedly was probably a mistake on my part, I should have checked the company out first.

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