Capital One: Your Account Is 0 Months Past Due, But Don't Worry — It Can Happen To Anyone
A Capital One robot has been calling reader Catherine but she's been ignoring their calls. Then, today, she checked her account and found out that she was "0 payments past due."
Catherine says:
This week I've been getting phone calls from Capitol One, those annoying automated calls that expect people to actually wait and be transferred to a live person. I always hang up. Today I logged into Capitol One's web site to check my account. It says I'm 0 payments past due. My next payment is due July 22nd. Below is the message that was waiting for me.
I can't decide if being 0 payments past due is good or bad but according to Capitol One it can happen to anyone. That's a comfort. Of course if I make my next payment by the due date all will be good with the Capitol One universe and I won't be reported to the credit bureaus for not being late.
Balance: [redacted]
Amount Due: $41.00
Payment(s) Past Due: 0Dear CATHERINE [redacted],
Your account is 0 payment(s) past due and we know that can happen to anyone. If you're having problems making your monthly payments, we'd like to help. That's why we wanted to let you know that it's not too late to put your account back in good standing. And you can now click here to make a payment online.
Making a payment of $41.00 by 07/22/2009 will make your account current. This will keep us from having to report your account as past due to the credit reporting agencies.
And remember, the better your credit, the more likely you may be approved for new credit and lower rates in the future. Depending on your situation, even a partial payment may help keep your account in better standing with Capital One.
We understand your financial situation is unique. But finding the right solution to help you get through life's little financial hiccups is what our specially trained associates do every day.
So please don't miss another payment - call us Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. (ET), at 1-800-955-6600 or click here to make a payment online today.
Sincerely,
Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.
Hey, at least they understand that your financial situation is unique. That doesn't really bode well for Capital One, does it?
(Photo:Taberandrew)
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Comments:
Maybe Capital One is adopting a "pre-emptive strike" collection policy.
@chucklebuck: Because if you are going to take the time out to write a letter, shouldn't you take the time to make sure you spell things correctly? Otherwise, I can't take this complaint that seriously.
@Marc Melton: But why do YOU personally care? The complaint is not from you or directed at you. Maybe Catherine should care, maybe the robot reading the mail at Capital One should care, maybe Meg should care, but I can't figure out why you care.
@nycaviation:
I can see that, they are coming up short on reserves to meet lending requirement and they try and hit people up for an extra payment.
This is Capital One's new "You're not in default yet but just in case you might be going in that direction at some point in the future, we'll just start assuming you are from this point forward" policy.
I got a letter from the city stating that I had a parking ticket, and that if I didn't immediately pay $0 they wouldn't let me reregister my car.
And not spelling Capital means.......??? She is lying? This is a joke? I don't understand your point.
@chucklebuck: Note to OP: In the future, please spell Capital with an "a" or Marc Melton won't take you seriously.
@chucklebuck: Apparently, you are missing the irony of complaining about a mistake made by the bank by way of a mistake ridden letter...
I get the same messages when logging into my Capital One accounts. After several hours of phone calls, it was explained that because I sent a cease and desist letter to stop them from harassing me with phone calls, that put my account with the collections department. Even though my account is not in collections, the account resides with the collections department. That is the only way they have to stop the phone calls.
This is not a direct reflections of the OPs problem, but there are cases where this can happen even if the account is current.
OT: That picture was taken a stone's throw from my house. I don't think CapOne has anybody in those buildings anymore, though.
@rbb: Agree, and I also take complaints more seriously when the person complaining gets the details right.
Nevertheless, it looks like Capital One really messed up.
Premeptive default. If you're not 1 payment ahead, they default you anyway.
You really need to watch your statement to make sure they don't up your rate for not paying before your statement closes.
As much as this message is completely unnecessary its not actually wrong in any way. So just another humorous petty annoyance.
@Marc Melton: What does it matter?
- You can't spell "trade": [consumerist.com]
- Nor can you spell "is":
@Munchie: I wouldn't bet on that.
Odds are, if she doesn't respond to the needless messages, they'll start charging her fees or hike her interest rates even without having been late. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see it happen.
Did you really just look at my post history to find 2 small mistakes that I had made in 2 totally unrelated posts?
And yes, it does matter. Because if you are going to send out a letter because you are angry or annoyed that is one thing, but it's another thing to WRITE UP THE INTERNETS OMG AND COMPLAIN before they actually called up Capital One to find out what was going on.
@Smashville: Oooh, a double-Internets sucker punch. I'll refrain from making the obligatory Facebook comment. No sense in kicking someone while they're down.
"We understand your financial situation is unique. But finding the right solution to help you get through life's little financial hiccups is what our specially trained associates do every day."
Capital One starts sentences with "but". The grammar nazi in me had to say it.
Actually Capitol and Capital are both correct according to [www.CapitolOne.com] >>Goes to>> CapitalOne.com
But back to issue of CC companies new fee scams. We have not yet seen the lengths these companies will go to to "recoup" lost revenue/profit. You will see even more wordplay that will be designed to extract cash from your pocket based on these types of communication "errors". When you own the cash cow it's hard to let go without a fight.
I think she should take a screen shot so Capital One can't claim it never said that.
@Bogart's Falcon aka Philly Falcon: I meant to add is she should also print the screen so she has something that can be emailed, faxed or mailed to Capital One as proof of what was showing up in her account.
@pbj_sushi: This is why I shouldn't proof read. I just read the sentence and inserted a comma and lower case b in my mind.
@Marc Melton: I don't know...are you really continuing a thread about someone who made four small spelling errors? At least Capitol/Capital is understandable. How did you get "if" and "is" confused? Does your keyboard have a lisp?
Oh, you also misspelled "Mark".
OP here. Yes, I spelled Capital wrong. Four times! Maybe I just LIKE it spelled that way. Ever think of that? ;-)
@pupu:
I majored in English and make a hell of a lot more than $4/hour. Thanks for the sweeping generalization, though.
@Marc Melton: Also...aren't you complaining about her spelling on the Internet without calling her to find out why she spelled it that way? Do you get dizzy sitting up that high on your horse?
Oh yeah, real funny on the name bash.
Oh wait, or you don't know how to spell or.
Guess not?
@Marc Melton:
"And yes, it does matter. Because if you are going to send out a letter because you are angry or annoyed that is one thing, but it's another thing to WRITE UP THE INTERNETS OMG AND COMPLAIN before they actually called up Capital One to find out what was going on."
Changing from 2nd person singular to 3rd person plural in one sentence seems a little confusing to me....
Or maybe, when a person's emotions are a little fired up, he/she may send off his/her response without fully proofreading it?
If I had her number or name, I might try telling her not to complain to the max because it just hurts this site by printing problems that people have without even calling the company first.
@Marc Melton: And also...the link you posted...not a misspelling. It doesn't surprise me that you don't know what a "sig o" is.
@Smashville: Nor am I. But I didn't write off a letter, I just posted it on a message board. But believe you me, when I do write a letter to a company I read it over a few times before I send it out.
@Marc Melton: I love it when people hate on those who correct grammar and spelling & punctuation. I did just that not too long ago, and got the same result found here. :D
My opinion is, your real friends will tell you what is wrong, so you can correct it. People that idly stand by while mistakes are made, I feel they care less.
So honestly, thanks Marc. :)
Oh, and thanks tbax929 for correcting the gross generalization that English Majors aren't worth more than $4/hr.
@SPENCERG:
I'm not even an English major, but it kills me when peoples first reaction to anything is OMG WRITE THE CONSUMERIST, FAST!
No, it was because I follow the Consumerist on Twitter and this story happened to upBANCO POPULAR
No, but I follow The Consumerist on Twitter and saw the story pop up (stupid word macros).
@Marc Melton: And what is your problem with her relaying something humorous like this to the Consumerist anyway?
Do you work for Capital One?
I'm sorry, but she spelled Capital wrong not once, but FOUR times.