Capital One Payments applied to a lowest rate balance first... Charlotte North Carolina

I'm sorry that this happened to you, however I can tell you it was in the offer and there was a legal disclosure included with the card. If the offer was made via the phone, the info about lower interest rates paid first would have been in the legal disclosure they had to read you, and then printed and mailed to you as well. Most people don't listen to the disclosures, or read the inserts, so they find this out the hard way. What I can tell you is that all card companies have this policy. So if you do a balance transfer in the future, pay it off before you use the card. Good luck!

http://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/products/10279/10/disclosures.php?linkid=WWW_Z_Z_v1_CP27910_D2_02_T_CP27910D

Things You Should Know About This Card
How Do You Apply My Payment?
We will apply your payment to pay off lower-rate balances before paying off higher-rate balances.

The exact same situation happened to us!

We didn't buy a motorcycle but went to Europe and made purchases on a 0% balance transfer card.  We also made payments of $2500 assuming the amount would take care of the purchase rate.  Wrong!

These comments defending Capital One Terms are ridiculous.  Its one thing to state Fees or Interest Rates in the Terms and Conditions, but these policies are REVERSIBLE or a COMPROMISE can be reached.  For whatever reason, this policy is NOT REVERSIBLE, no exception.

I talked to 3 Capital One reps and even my boy and head supervisor Rudi, who sided with me, but sadly said he couldn't take care of the problem. 

So here’s a condition that is not fairly disclosed; no exception can be made; you don’t get your money back; you are screwed if this happens to you.

That is terrible disclosure of a zero tolerance policy.

All Capital One has to do is put on the statement or while making an online payment:

 "Payment applied to Balance with lowest Interest Rate"

Had this "policy" been properly disclosed:

- I wouldn't have used this Capital One card already with a 0% balance transfer
- I wouldn't have made $2000 payment,

I’ll even give capital one credit that they are better than the norm at disclosing fees and rules whether it’s on the website or statements.  But this is one major issue that needs to be addressed by Capital One. 

If the policy cannot be changed or exempted IT REQUIRES FULL AND SUFFICIENT DISCLOSURE.

The exact same situation happened to us!

We didn't buy a motorcycle but went to Europe and made purchases on a 0% balance transfer card.  We also made payments of $2500 assuming the amount would take care of the purchase rate.  Wrong!

These "suggestions" defending Capital One Terms are ridiculous!  Its one thing to state Fees or Interest Rates in the Terms and Conditions booklet - I REPEAT BOOKLET  - but these policies can be REVERSIBLE or a COMPROMISE can be reached.  For whatever reason, this lowest interest rate payout policy is NOT REVERSIBLE, no exception!

I talked to 3 Capital One reps and even my boy and head supervisor Rudi, who sided with me, but sadly said he couldn't take care of the problem.  "There isn't anyone who you can talk to that will make an exception"

So here’s a condition that is not fairly disclosed; no exception can be made; you don’t get your money back; you are screwed if this happens to you.

This is terrible disclosure of a zero tolerance policy.

All Capital One has to do is put on the Account Statement or while making an online payment:

 "Payment applied to Balance with lowest Interest Rate"

Had this "policy" been properly disclosed:

- I wouldn't have used this Capital One card already with a 0% balance transfer
- I wouldn't have made $2000 payment
- I wouldn’t be paying interest till august 2010 when I intended to have this card paid off

I’ll even give Capital One credit that they are better than the norm at disclosing fees and rules whether it’s on the website or statements.  But this is one major issue that needs to be addressed by Capital One. 

If the policy cannot be changed or exempted IT REQUIRES FULL AND SUFFICIENT DISCLOSURE.

 

The exact same situation happened to us!

We didn't buy a motorcycle but went to Europe and made purchases on a 0% balance transfer card.  We also made payments of $2500 assuming the amount would take care of the purchase rate.  Wrong!

These "suggestions" defending Capital One Terms are ridiculous!  Its one thing to state Fees or Interest Rates in the Terms and Conditions booklet - I REPEAT BOOKLET  - but these policies can be REVERSIBLE or a COMPROMISE can be reached.  For whatever reason, this lowest interest rate payout policy is NOT REVERSIBLE, no exception!

I talked to 3 Capital One reps and even my boy and head supervisor Rudi, who sided with me, but sadly said he couldn't take care of the problem.  "There isn't anyone who you can talk to that will make an exception"

So here’s a condition that is not fairly disclosed; no exception can be made; you don’t get your money back; you are screwed if this happens to you.

This is terrible disclosure of a zero tolerance policy.

All Capital One has to do is put on the Account Statement or while making an online payment:

 "Payment applied to Balance with lowest Interest Rate"

Had this "policy" been properly disclosed:

- I wouldn't have used this Capital One card already with a 0% balance transfer
- I wouldn't have made $2000 payment
- I wouldn’t be paying interest till august 2010 when I intended to have this card paid off

I’ll even give Capital One credit that they are better than the norm at disclosing fees and rules whether it’s on the website or statements.  But this is one major issue that needs to be addressed by Capital One. 

If the policy cannot be changed or exempted IT REQUIRES FULL AND SUFFICIENT DISCLOSURE.

 

Stop saying "fine print" because in all the terms and disclosures the only bold print is the categories for the "fine print". You were just dumb and didn't read the terms.

 You realize they have to print and send that stuff to all of there customers so of course they make the font small so it is less to print. But let me guess if you were in control you wouldn't make it "fine print" no matter how much it costs (Bull Crap)!

They send that stuff to you for a reason. It's not like they send that stuff to you because they hope you fire up a bubble bath, light some candles, and hope you have a good read.

No Chuck, you're the moron who defends this zero tolerance policy.....

yeah, I learned from this and, yeah, I could've prevented it had I browsed through the booklet.  But I've followed the rules up to this point and have made every payment on the card.  I'm not out to cheat the system.  But Capital One couldn't give two s&*% and refused to make a one time exception and apply my payment to the higher rate!  They make exceptions for everything else in their "fine print" booklet, like late fees and interest rates.  But not this!?!?!?!  That is Bull Crap Chuck!

And that is the issue Chuck...if this is a zero exception issue than state it clearly in 12 font typing on your stupid Monthly Statements.

But you know what everyone who defends this ridiculous zero tolerance policy, it doesn't matter anymore.

This exact issue has been reversed by 2009 Credit Card Reform act, where starting in February 22nd 2010 credit card companies will have to apply payments to the highest interest rate on the account.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Fact-Sheet-Reforms-to-Protect-American-Credit-Card-Holders/

"Enforces Fair Interest Calculation: Credit card companies will be required to apply excess payments to the highest interest balance first, as consumers expect them to do. The act also ends the confusing and unfair practice by which issuers use the balance in a previous month to calculate interest charges on the current month, so called "double-cycle" billing. "

 

Jerry

 

I work for a credit card company and they do not as you say "make exceptions for everything else in the booklet".

It doesn't matter if as you say you "followed the rules to this point", they didn't do anything wrong. They gave you the information in advance and YOU chose not to read the policy to keep yourself informed.

You can say zero tolerance all you want but Capital One did not choose to take a trip and use the card. Why do you think that you don't have to follow the rules that everyone else has to follow? THIS ISN'T SOMETHING THAT YOU GET A ONE TIME EXCEPTION, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID IT!

And again they send that to all of their customers so yes it will be 12 size font.

You are absolutely right, you should also ask if you can get a one time exception if you get pulled over or if rob a bank, that's kinda what you were trying to do. That is totally how things work in the real world. You do something and have no consequences. PLEASE DO ALL OF THE HUMAN RACE A FAVOR AND NEVER PARENT CHILD, ESPECIALLY IF YOU GIVE THEM THIS MINDSET!!!!!!!

GET OVER YOURSELF AND GROW UP, STOP COMPLAINING! AS YOU ALREADY SAID, JUST WAIT UNTIL JANUARY FOR THE CARD ACT, WHY ARE YOU COMPLAINING?

Chuck- you are a walking billboard for why I will NEVER do business with any of these  card swindlers again.

Your attitude and arrogance are exactly what we consumers have to deal with whenever we have any issue with our cards.  You sit on the other end of the phone (or computer in this case) and insult us, tell us that we should have read the TOS better, ask us why we got the card if we didn't intend on paying it, so on and so forth. 

On behalf of everyone who has ever been insulted, belittled, badgered, harassed, or otherwise ridiculed by your holier-than-thou BS attitude, I hope that one day you yourself fall victim to the same situation and you get screwed royally.  Today's economy is a bitch and God help you if you ever find yourself on the other side of the fence.  Or fall sick and can't pay your bills on time. Or suffer from a loss.

Maybe then you will come down from your pedestal and realize that everyone of us can make mistakes.  Every one of us is human.  Everyone of us deserves a little respect if nothing else.  You may not have the power to fix it, but you certainly have the power to be kind.

The problem is that you don't care.  You don't have to.  Your not paid to.  You get nothing but angry people calling all day long complaining about how your employer has screwed them and instead of trying to be sensitive and work with them to improve their situation, you would rather laugh with your other fast food wage earning buddies while you hurl insults.  Feels like grade school antics in a grown up world.

So let's combine your total disregard for human emotion with your employers unethical marketing and business tactics and you get a big pile of poop called SUB PRIME CREDIT CARD COMPANIES-

One final thought- what kind of crap are they feeding you?  Do you really believe they make the print small to save paper?  I don't even know what else to say other than you are a gullible SOB if you believe that.  Have you worked there so long that you think that is true?  It's a marketing fact:  You print small the things that might deter a potential customer and you dress up the positive things. 

After all, don't your customers pay enough fees to deserve a little good, old-fashioned customer service?  My REAL bank would NEVER treat me like that.

chuck- i must apologize.  i misread and thought you were an employee of the company in question.  please take my mistaken angst and apply it to some dim-witted Capital One employee instead.

1.My arrogance?

Would that be me expecting people to follow the rules of an agreement they AGREED TO?!

2. Your right I'm totally hurling out those insults...

From my count its currently 3 insults I've been called to 2 I've said.

Post# 6 from Me:
"You were just dumb"
Post #7 from Jerry:
"No Chuck, you're the moron"
Post #8 from Me:
"PLEASE DO ALL OF THE HUMAN RACE A FAVOR AND NEVER PARENT CHILD, ESPECIALLY IF YOU GIVE THEM THIS MINDSET!!!!!!!"
Post #9 from You:
"otherwise ridiculed by your holier-than-thou BS attitude"
"you are a gullible SOB"

When you act like that why would anyone want to show you any respect? If you show the other person respect you'll get respect in return.

3. Sympathy

I'm all for the sympathy when its is deserving, when there is a real problem. This is something that the author was informed of in advance with the terms.

Just as you customers deserve respect don't you think that it would be wise to be respectful to the people who you are asking for help from. You think it's easy to sit and get yelled at all day a lot of which is because people don't read the info we send. Good luck with that skewed sense of thinking.

4. Small Print

IF it's a marketing fact to make the terms in small print WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU NOT READ IT! That's just fucking stupid.

By the way it may be a way to deter people as you say but THE BANK WANTS TO SAVE MONEY. THEY CAN SAVE MONEY BY MAKING THEM SMALLER. ITS A BUSINESS!

5.Fees

Customers pay fees because they are either late on the payment, over the limit, they don't pay the balance off in full, they making purchases in outside countries. These are fees as a result of customer actions.

Say what you want about customer service but YOU ARE BORROWING THE BANKS MONEY.

PS. You sound like you are what I like to call "A Repeat Offender". One who is late a lot or consistently over the limit. Say what you want but thanks for paying my salary with your fees.

I have 2 main issues:
1)  These companies prey on persons in great financial distress.  I am a marketing and PR professional by trade and don't think for a minute that I don't understand the tactics used in order to drive that customer demographic into signing a contract with as little attention to the "fine print" as possible.

If they want to save money, perhaps the millions of dollars they spend on data mining credit reports to find high-risk leads could be better spent on a more fair and transparent method of advertising.

2)  When there is a problem, be it a customers fault or the banks fault, the CSR on the phone should represent his or her employer with nothing but the highest of customer service.  By taking the "You should have read the agreement" stand, you not only make yourself look like a complete a**, but you present your employer as a cold, insensitive brand.  As you said, customer fees pay your salary, and your job is to address customer issues on behalf of and as a representative of your employer.  Unless you employer specifically tells you that it is ok to treat their customers as sub-human and hurl insults, then you are not representing your employer in a positive light.  I'm fairly certain that the suits that run your fine establishment would not condone the tactics you and your cohorts use.

And yes, I know you get the crappiest, rudest customers on the line.  I know they can be asses.  But your JOB is to be better than that.  Put a smile on your face, treat them with kindness, and maybe you can change the anger that they have into a more positive image of the bank.  Don't reinforce the already negative attitude they have by playing the game too..

Now, on to your other points:
No. 1:  I already have addressed

No. 2:  This isn't grade school.  We arn't keeping track of who called who what.  You are the professional.  Act like it.  Put a smile on your face and do the job you were hired to do without being an a**.  There is no other business that I can think of that wouldn't fire you right to the curb  if they heard you acting that way toward a customer.   This isn't a show respect-get respect field.  You have to stand tall and be better than the a**hole customer on the end of the line- period.
By the way, my statement  "otherwise ridiculed by your holier-than-thou BS attitude" is not an insult, it is an opinion.  It is an opinion as to how I feel your presenting yourself.

No. 3:  Sympathy.  My friend, it is all in how you handle a situation you are presented with.  If you have a customer who is clearly at fault, then you have the opportunity to handle it with professionalism and remain a steward of good business or you can be judgmental and inflict your opinion and hurtful words.  You make the choice.  Your choice reflects the person you are and the ideals you stand for. 

No. 4:  Small Print.  Again, you are just being judgmental.  You are not the marketing professional of the company.  You do not know or have any need to know the reason the CEO's and Marketing folks made the print so small.

Is it bleeping stupid that someone didn't read it, as you suggest?  This is that "holier than thou" attitude I referred to.  You would have read it.  Good for you.  Do you want a cookie?  How dare you pass judgment on others.  It is not your job to decide if they were stupid, ignorant, illiterate, drunk, etc and so on when they signed it.  It is your job to be a good customer service rep and assist when they call.  Period.  Everything else is your opinion, and opinions are not necessary in your day-to-day tasks of assisting customers.  Keep those for after work.

No. 5:  Fees.  I know why customers pay fees, thank you.  I also know when a company uses every possible excuse to impose fees.  $10 here, $40 there, $25 for this, $20 for that.  It's all in the contract, as you said.  But come on, at some point, can't one stand to say that the bank is nickel and diming its customers to death, at every corner?  That's all.  It just seems that maybe, rather than breaking it up into 8 fees that total $179, it would be more honest and transparent to say "the starting fee for opening this line of credit will be $179"  Ah, yes, $179 sounds a little less attractive than the broken down version.  It's the way it happens that makes it a little deceptive. 

And lastly, to give you my status:  when I was in my early to mid 20's, I had no concept of how to properly manage my credit.  I guess its the same way some people were good with math in school and others were better at history.  For a while, I was a repeat offender.  I am 36 now and have pretty good credit. I actually bank with a real bank that would fire someone on the spot if they ever treated me like Capital One treated me.

 2 years ago I went back and looked at my Experian Credit Report where an old Capital One report was just about to fall off of it.  It made my stomach turn.  I remember how the operators would talk circles around me, insult me, and basically put me so far in the ground that I would cry.  I was never mean to them.  I just wanted to understand why I would "bring the account current" with every last penny I could afford just to find out that I would get knocked back into overdraft with a $6 monthly fee that they told me would be covered by my payment.  Over and over.  Time after time.

The system is set up for people who can't manage their credit.  Once you screw up, which is exactly what they expect high-risk people to do, it is next to impossible to get it strait.  Fees add up, operators laugh in your face, and your credit is damaged.  Sure, I signed the agreement.  And guess what-  they had me profiled before I ever signed it.  There was a high probability that, based on my credit report, I would be a person who would be bad at managing the card.  They knew that.  I'm exactly the person they wanted.  They made a TON of money from me.  Once I made one mistake, they took advantage of me.  And they insulted me and made me feel like a poor excuse of a human being in the process. 

Is that fair?  Is that what "helping people rebuild their credit" means?  What made me deserve to be treated like that?  Because I made some mistakes?  You know, if they had just made a choice to treat me different, then I may have actually been able to correct my mistake and continue.  I had to get a personal loan (with the help of a relative) and pay it off once and for all.  And then I had to fix myself.  I had to understand how to manage my credit.  I had to rebuild my self esteem that they had managed to drag all over the ground while they robbed me of every cent they could get out of me...  by the way, credit limit: $300.  Total fees:  Over $900.  Bank Profit Margin:  $600 +.  Yeah, Chuck, that's really fair.  I guess I should have aspired to be a perfect person, just like you.

1.
You feel that the bank would be better suited not checking to make sure their customers are credit worthy? Maybe you should stick to what you know which is obviously not banking.

2.
Every customer has a choice. If they are entering into a contract and choose not to educate themselves on what they are getting into it is no ones fault but that customer.

The terms are not in fine print online meaning they are not trying to dupe anyone. If they send a giant booklet to every customer it would cost them a lot of money, how do you not understand this?

I'm not being judgmental, it is common sense that if there is a contract they you are agreeing to you should read it to make sure you understand it.

3.
Listen, I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience in the past. I highly doubt that you were insulted and laughed at by operators. Its sounds like you were upset and took the fact that they weren't able to help you personally.

If for any reason you were insulted and laughed at, why would continue to talk to that operator.

4.
You can be upset all you want that you were charged fees, but the point is and you've said it, IT WAS YOUR MISTAKE!

This IN NO WAY  was one mistake! If it was late fees alone it would've been 15 LATE FEES! ARE YOU SERIOUS! YOU choose not to make payments, YOU allowed the account to go over the limit.

Why do you think that you can borrow the banks money and not pay it back. The minimum payment even with the account at its max it would've only been about $37 for the first payment. You would've had to be continuously late and over limit for it to get to $600 fees.

5.
My job does NOT entail being on Ripoffreport.com! I do not have to be a professional when I am on this website. I'm not getting paid for doing this, I can act or say whatever I want with no consequences.

You know what your problem is, you wake up asking what can the world do for me, you need to get over yourself and realize that your an adult and need to act like one.

When you make a mistake why do you think people are going to bend over backwards to make you feel good about yourself, that is not the operators job.


 

Chuck, this is it for me.  I'll finish my story but I'm calling it quits.  It's exhausting and never seems to go anywhere.

I had injured my back in a work-related accident and was receiving workers compensation which was significantly less than my take-home.

I made some good choices: I chose to pay my rent, utilities and buy food.  You know, the essentials. 

...and I made some bad choices.  One of those bad choices was that I avoided a few bills that I couldn't afford to pay that were non-essentials:  one of those choices was a credit card with a $300 limit.  I should not have avoided the issue, and that is what I said I have to chalk up to youthful ignorance.  The other bad choice was my live-in girlfriend at the time.  That one was just plain stupid.

So yeah, I was going through a lot-  financial hardship, lack of mobility due to the injury, depression, and  a codiene 7.0 every 6 hours to alleviate the pain in my back and leg due to the herniated disk.  That ordeal lasted about 4, maybe 5 months.  I made a few bad choices, but when I did finally face my fears and call (or pick up the phone), I wanted someone to at least act like they gave a crap without harassing me.  I wanted to be able to call and get the same answer twice.  Instead, operator B never seemed to know or understand what operator A had told or promised me just a day before and everyone was more than happy to remind me over and over that this was all my fault.  Well, folks, that constant ridicule was probably a significant part of my psychosis behind avoiding the bills.

Unfortunately, by estimate, ninety-some percent of those that I talked to sounded just like a broken record of blame.  No empathy, no solutions.  Just blame. I didn't want blamed and ridiculed with statements like "Well, I have a wife and kids and a mortgage and manage to pay my bills.  Why don't you pay yours?"  Yeah, someone really said that to me once. 

I never meant that anyone needed to bend over backwards or go out of their way for me, just improve the way that they treat me, the customer, while dealing with my problem.  It's not just me, there are reports all over the internet from people facing the same treatment.  You can say what you want on here, but I sure hope you arn't someone that carries his feelings over to the phone.

And for crying out loud, I haven't hurled a single insult at you, but I have to here...  Don't act like such a dipsh*t.  I didn't say they need to display it in big 1st grade print so that it takes up 6 pages, but hey, how about at least disclosing the important stuff in normal font on the front page?  Surely that won't break the bank and it would let all of those people you attack have a better shot at comprehending an important part of the big legal contract.  Sorry to call you a dipsh*t, but that one really bugged me.

I also am perplexed by your statement "You know what your problem is, you wake up asking what can the world do for me, you need to get over yourself and realize that your an adult and need to act like one."   No I'm not.  Really.  I told you, I'm straitened around now.  Have been for almost 8 years.  It's just that I still remember the anger like it was yesterday.  My opinions on the methods and ethics of the sub-prime credit industry stand firm, and I will always fight for better treatment of delinquent or negative account holders.  

Could the problem really be that in order to cope with the demands of that type of work, some people in your field desensitize themselves?  I mean, it would seem logical that after getting yelled at by angry customers for about a week or two would probably cause me to become the same way.  Customers become lumped into categories-  good (paying) and bad (late, overlimit, etc) But we are not all the same.  Some people act, some people react.  Some people are positive, some are negative.  Some are really trying and struggling while some could really care less that you're calling. 

So how can we consumers fight back?  Well, I started recording the calls- you know, for quality assurance. I hooked up a mic to my computer, held it right up to the phone, and used some free recording software off the internet ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net )  to get a good, legible recording of the conversation.  At the beginning of each call, I informed each and every operator that the call was being recorded.  Some operators reluctantly continued, some hung up. 

What was consistent across the board was a noticeable improvement in the behavior, attitude, and helpfulness of operators once they knew that I had a physical copy of everything they said or promised. If the conversations went that way on recording, I was prepared to deliver it to anyone that might be interested:  an attorney, news desks, newspapers, lobbyists... It's truly amazing how effective that was.  It's not a bad thing.  Most company's do this already.  I just want MY copy since they have theirs.  Like I said, quality assurance.

I encourage anyone dealing with this type of issue to spend the $9 to buy a cheap computer mic, get the free software ->  http://audacity.sourceforge.net , hold the phone up to the mic and hit record!  Don't forget to say clear and concisely at the beginning of each conversation "This conversation is being digitally recorded.  Do I have your permission to continue?"  Don't speak to anyone who doesn't agree.  Don't provoke- be nice.  Watch the level of customer service jump by eliminating the character assassination aspect of the call.

This will be my last response, but I will read whatever response you post.  We obviously will never see eye to eye, but maybe instead of finding ways to blame and  insult, we can learn from each other and share that knowledge with others.

P.S.  I spent the last two very long responses telling you a story- my story.  I hope you can see past your image of me and see me as a person for a few minutes.   I am trying to picture you as a real person with real feelings, so that I understand why you feel so strongly about this.  Extend that same privilege to me and tell me something other than how it's my fault. Now you know why I am so charged about the issue, why are you?

Well I'm sorry to hear about your accident and I hope you are feeling better.

I don't work for Capital One, I do not know how they treat customers or the way they speak to them. I would appreciate you not making assumptions on how I categorize customers. I don't consider customers good or bad by the status of their account, I don't know the circumstances of their finances.

I categorize customers by the way they treat representatives. If they are jerks then I consider them "bad". I'm still willing to help "bad" customers but I just end up being annoyed after them. I'm very willing to go out of my way for all customers like I said, but the poster did NOT have a real problem. It is something THEY chose to do and THEY chose not educate themselves on the allocation of their payments.

In regards to the Terms, it is the same size font online for EVERY piece of information. It is all font size 12. Actually, I believe the the interest rates are a bigger size font. You can't really determine what parts of the terms are going to be more beneficial for the customer because all of it is important for the customer to know.

PS. I am "charged" by the issue because I deal with this all day and I know that this something that customer could have easily avoided by a quick call to Capital One or by reading their terms. They are here complaining about a mistake they made and trying to not take blame for what THEY CHOSE to do.

They need to act like an adult and own up to the mistakes they made, this in no way was a bank error but people think that because they don't know about it was a bank error which is BS.

I've had overdraft fees before, I over drafted by a $2 dollars and that shit sucks. I got charged $35 for my $2 dollars but it was my mistake. I forgot to put it in my register and I payed the price. I didn't call my bank complaining about it because it was my fault and I understand it. I just wish that people would understand that when they make a mistake there is no reason to take it out on the operator. THEY DID IT!