Stay away from Capital One; predatory lender
Written: Dec 12 '03 (Updated Dec 13 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Customer Service: |
 |
|
| Web Site Experience: |
|
|
|
Pros: Bottom feeding for bad credit report victims they help perpetuate
Cons: Predatory lender; No Grace Period; Quick to damage your credit; treat customers like dirt
The Bottom Line: Stay away from this PREDATORY LENDER
|
|
|
| sakkijarvi's Full Review: Capital One Secured Visa |
My personal experience points up that Capital One is a predatory lender.
I am amending my review with the following, from the book, "Credit Card Nation", by Robert D. Manning (Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group; published in 2000):
"Even cardholders with squeaky-clean payment histories are not immune to this corporate backlash. For instance, when Lizbel Lopez accepted the 8.9 percent teaser rate from Capital One Bank Visa of Richmond, she understood that the interest rate would rise to 12.9 percent at the end of 12 months. What Lopez did not know was that Capital One would punish her for increasing the balances on her other two credit cards; they totaled about $2,000. Even though she had always made the monthly payments on time, Capital One raised her interest rate to 24.9 percent. As Lopez exclaimed, "Who would have thought that I'd get slapped on the wrist just for using the credit that was already extended to me?" More recent complaints against First USA (corporate subsidiary of Capital One Bank) inspired a 1999 Nightline program that examined its practice of levying late fees on customers' accounts even though their monthly statements were mailed after the computer-generated due dates."
By way of introduction, I am a veteran of 10+ years in the collection industry, familiar with its laws and practices as regards debt collection. I have a degree from a major university in Business Law and Public Policy, as well as Marketing and a BA in American History.
Over the last couple of years my interest has been focused on the study of credit grantors, including firms like Capital One, 'Payday' loans, and other forms of predatory lenders.
With the exception of persons DESPERATE to carry some form of plastic, Capital One is the last firm one should do business with. They have spent millions of advertising dollars to lure you in. They don't mention the following:
a) NO GRACE PERIOD;
b) Immediate application of irrevocable LATE FEES;
c) Eager to damage your credit.
In the parlance of the credit card company, a person that pays their balance in full every month is a "deadbeat". Yes, despite all the kindly worded pitch letters you may receive, it is the customer that carries a balance that is the preferred customer in this industry.
Late fees are welcome, and eagerly sought by companies like Capital One, and represent a multi-billion dollar industry today. Bad credit customers are their stock-in-trade. They seem to want MORE people to have bad credit.
Capital One has NO GRACE PERIOD. Wish to dispute a report of 'late' payment? According to "Stephanie, Customer Service Representative Operator ID 1752", you CANNOT speak directly to a decision maker at Capital One. These are the "company policies" according to Stephanie and her staff-mates. So what happens if you don't receive a statement, for a $10.00 minimum payment, even if you pay your balance in full EVERY MONTH. Courtesy call? Follow up of any kind? Treatment as if you are, say, a valued customer. No. You receive a negative notation on your credit report. And a late fee. And stonewalling b.s.
See, unless you carry a balance and allow them generate frequent LATE FEES you are their WORST customer. They don't make any money off of you. Although my experience is limited to research about predatory lenders like Capital One, and my personal experience is limited to the ONE experience I outline above. See, my wife and I are "deadbeats that pay our full balance every month.
At Capital One, they're in the BUSINESS of generating late fees. That's why they have no GRACE PERIOD, no CUSTOMER SERVICE function, or any other reason you should do business with them.
Unless you are desperate to carry plastic. Then they are a bottom-feeding, predatory lender just waiting for ... YOU.
Read the fine print. Carry another card. Stay away from Capital One unless you want to be treated like a sucker. And even if you have the lowest FICO score known to, well who the hell knows (Fair, Issac and Company keep 'their' FICO 'formula' secret ), you do not deserve to be demeaned, ripped off, or robbed from by PREDATORY LENDERS the likes of Capital One.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
sakkijarvi
|
|
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
44 year old male. Married 17 years. Three children. Business owner. Hometown: Bronx, New York.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.