Predatory Lending & Capital One

I am very frustrated right now. I'm somewhat mad at myself but very upset with Capital One.

A little background:

Over the years, I have acquired some debt. Now, I am trying to pay it off. So, I looked at my various cards and started paying off the ones with the highest interest rates.

The Capital One card was at 9.9% "Fixed" APR.

Some of my other cards were at 19.99% and 24.99% variable APR, so I decided to tackle those first.

To make a long story short, while I was working at Camp MayMac this summer (or maybe when I was in Morocco), I received a letter that had a "change in terms" from Capital One. Unfortunately, I never read that letter until today.

Today, I found out that my interest rate shot up to 22.99% back in September and at one point was hovering around 27.65% (that was in October).

The crazy part is that the interest rate went up because Capital One started borrowing money at higher interest rates and passed those interest rates down to its card-holders. I got the notice, and I had a chance to "opt out", but unfortunately, I didn't read the stupid notice until today!

What gets me mad is that my APR was supposed to be "Fixed"! So, I wasn't worrying about it. I made all my payments online and I wasn't checking to see if the terms were going to change on me! Maybe this rate hiking is normal in the Credit industry, but I think it is wrong and it should be illegal.

I would understand the rate increase if I had been delinquent (even though I still don't think it's fair to hike rates to obscene amounts). But I made my payments on time!

So I called Capital One. That was another nightmare.

First, I talk to a machine that gave me every option I could want except "To talk to a customer service representative please press..." So, after fiddling around with different numbers, I tried "0" and it actually worked.

I was connected to somebody in another country and she kept telling me to speak louder because there was a poor connection. I then got transferred to a "Whitney" in Richmond, VA. The Capital One number there is 1 (800) 889-9939. She then transferred me to Marcus who wouldn't tell me his last name, but gave me his operator number: WLI796. They basically told me that I missed the opt out deadline of September 11, 2007... September 11! Boy, they chose a good date to execute their rate hike.

To be fair, the customer service reps did what they could. They brought my rate down to 14.99 variable. I can't complain about them, but I think I can complain about Capital One.

Anyway, because of this experience, I am never again doing business with Capital One. I hope that the CEO, Mr. Richard C. Fairbank, thinks about what his company is doing and puts an end to it.

I probably shouldn't have a credit card in the first place, but I for sure won't have a Capital One card as soon as I pay this one off!

peace,
-Tony