Terible customer service, terrible company
I have 2 CapitalOne credit cards, both with decent limits. One has been open for 8 years, the other 7 years. Neither has ever had a late payment, chargeback, dispute or fraud claim. Both are usually paid in full every month. Until about a week ago, I had never had any problems with them or the need to ever call them or deal with their customer service. Then, out of the blue for no reason, everything changed. Transactions on both cards were being declined. The first time I immediately called in and was given the non-sensical reason that the charge (for about $200) was not part of my normal spending habits! I have NO “normal spending habits”. They would not explain what that even meant, though it was obvious that they had put in some new authorization algorithm, which is obviously buggy as hell. A week later, my car battery on my Mercedes died and need replacement. I called my road service company and they came right out to my home and replaced my battery. Then I gave them my other CapOne card and it was declined. Instead of calling CapOne on the spot to get it approved, I simply put it on my Discover card. Then, I called CapOne. Got a well-meaning rep in Columbia, but unfortunately could barely understand him, past the same “spending habits” reason. And, of course, the standard customer service line all companies say now, “We’re sorry for the inconvenience!”. So, I got transferred to an “Account Mgr”, who was loud, rude, disrespectful and would offer no answers whatsoever, though she did have to admit I had absolutely perfect accounts. She didn’t even bother to apologize for the ‘inconvenience’ or the embarrassment the incidents had caused. I finally had my fill and told her to stuff the cards and cancel them immediately. She started interrupting and yelling again, so I simply said do it, have a good day, goodby and hung up. Obviously my accounts have been somehow incorrectly red-flagged and despite telling them to cancel, both accounts remain open, with the declined charges listed as “pending”, despite my having placed both on another of my credit cards with companies that treat me like a valued customer. In the middle of all this,I was also locked out of my online accounts and then treated like an idiot by their so-called tech team.
Oh, did I mention it is almost impossible to call them. They print their phone number on the card in such a manner as being almost completely unable to read – very tiny type, with white on a light gray background. Ridiculous. After being a perfect customer for 8+ and 7+ years, I don’t need this aggravation, harassment and embarrassment and made it clear I won’t stand for it. Of course, I have heard not a word from them since either incident.
There are still many credit card companies that value their good customers. I will be dealing with them exclusively from now on.