Capital One - Blame it on Royal Mail! (Capital One)

Member Name: Littledreamer

Product:	Capital One
Date:	28/05/08 (236 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good offers to start with

Disadvantages: Lack of sending statements, unreliable,not good customer service, unable to see things from customer

Capital One drew me in with one of their offers on Balance Transfers and 0% on purchases for a year, which was a great deal. I used the Credit Card for a good couple of years, until things started to go wrong. I didn't use it every month, and if I did, it was mainly for everyday things like petrol and food and if I could afford it I paid the full payment. I certainly always paid the mininum or more.

I sent a cheque payment to them once, and the next month I received my statement saying that they hadn't received a payment,so they added interest to my account and a late payment fee. I was not happy about this,so I rang them up and they claim that it had not reached them at all. I rang my bank and they confirmed that the cheque had not been processed, so there was nothing I could do except believe that it had been lost in the post and pay the charges.

A few months after this incident, I realised that I hadn't received my statement,so I rang them up. They claim they had sent it, but sent me another one. I thought it was unlikely that 2 things relating to Capital One could get lost in the post!

A few months past, and the same thing happened. I rang up again and they said they would send another. They didn't and the time for payment was getting very near. I rang up again and I offered to make a payment for the whole amount over the phone. They said this was not possible as they don't take payments over the phone and I could just send a cheque with a covering letter and this would be fine. By the time they recieved the cheque, the payment date had obviously passed. This came to light when I received my next statement.

Even though I had explained what had happened with the missing statements (their fault), they charged me interest and a late payment fee.

I rang up, got put on hold for ages, then got through to someone who really wouldn't help me. I said I refused to pay these charges as it was their incompetance and this wasnt the first time they had messed me around. After a very heated discussion, the advisor told me they would let me off one of the charges, but I still had to pay the other. I told her I would be closing my account, so I ended up paying one of the charges, which was around £7 and I closed my account there and then.

I wouldn't use Capital One again, as the service just got worse.
The offers look good to start with, but their customer service and admin is terrible. I want a card I can rely on and don't want to have to keep chasing for my statements.

They may have changed things now and it may be available online, I'm not sure, but this still wouldn't reassure me.

Summary: Unwilling to take responsibility for their mistakes