IN MY ENTIRE 66 YEARS, I HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH AN AMAZING RUN-AROUND IN A BUSINESS MATTER; NOR HAVE I EVER BEFORE ALLOWED MYSELF TO BE AS "RIPPED OFF" AS I HAVE WITH CAPITAL ONE CREDIT CARD!
I HAD MY CARD FOR A FEW YEARS; NO PROBLEMS WITH PAYMENTS OR ANYTHING. THEN ONE DAY ABOUT 8-9 MONTHS AGO, I NOTICED THAT MY APR RATE WAS 29.8%. YIKES... MUST BE AN ERROR, RIGHT? I CHECKED MY OLD HISTORY, AND SURE ENUF, THE RATE HAD BEEN 12.9. SO OF COURSE I CALLED THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE #.(THIS PART WAS BEFORE THE NEW 2010 LAWS STOPPING SUCH RAISES WITHOUT CAUSE.)
FOUR TIMES - I WENT THRU PHONE CUSTOMER SERVICE (WHICH I AM SURE IS INTENDED TO BEND YOUR BRAIN INTO SUBMISSION THRU PAIN). FIRST, WAS TOLD "SO SORRY... WILL FIX THAT... YR NEXT MONTH'S STATEMENT WILL SHOW CORRECTION." SECOND TIME: "OH NO, WE FOUND THAT YOU HAD PAID LATE ONE MONTH (COULD NOT DEFINE THE MONTH FOR ME!), SO THE RATE IS THERE FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS."
I WAS NEVER ABLE TO FIND MY ERROR, BUT PUT IT DOWN TO MAIL SYSTEM OR MY OWN ERROR. SO WAITED FOR 6 MONTHS. CALLED AT END OF 6TH MONTH TO CONFIRM CORRECTION. "OH NO, CANNOT DO THAT... YOU PAID LATE." I INSISTED ON A MANAGER/SUPERVISOR (WHO SPOKE ENGLISH). THAT MANAGER REVIEWED ALL, GAVE ME HER NAME, SPOKE CONFERENCE CALL WITH THE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ME... AND MADE CORRECTIONS TO MY ACCOUNT - AND APOLOGIES FOR THE PRIOR MISTAKES. EVEN GAVE ME A CLEAR CONFIRMATION # AND A CLEAR NAME FOR FOLLOW-UP IF NEEDED.
AND TO PREVENT ANY ERRORS, BEGAN PAYING ONLINE. THEN THE CORRECTION WAS NEVER MADE. CALLED, USING CONFIRMATION # AND THE CONTACT NAME. "OH NO, MA'AM, WE CANNOT FORWARD YOUR CALL TO A SPECIFIC PERSON." "NO MA'AM, THERE IS NOBODY HERE BY THAT NAME." "NO MA'AM."
TODAY, REACHED SOMEBODY (SHEESH!) WHO SAYS THEY CAN FIX EVERYTHING! I TOLD THEM I WOULD BE CLOSING THE ACCOUNT & TRANSFERRING BALANCE TO ANOTHER CARD. "NO NEED, MA'AM! IF YOU WILL STAY WITH US INTO JUNE OF 2011 AT YOUR CURRENT RATE, WE HAVE A SPECIAL SALE WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO PERHAPS DROP YOU TO A 10% RATE!"
ARE THEY NUTS?????JUNE 2011? "MAYBE"? "PERHAPS"? WHAT A RIPOFF THEY ARE PLAYING. THEY MAY FOLLOW THE NEW LAWS ("PERHAPS") BUT THEY ARE AMAZINGLY ARROGANT WITH THEIR NASTY TREATMENT OF CUSTOMERS!!!
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