When it was time to activate the card, we called customer service and that was when everything started going downhill. Well, my father doesn’t speak fluent english, given that he does understand the basic but doesn’t know enough to start/hold a conversation. So when the agent told us that he needed to go and answer a few questions in order to activate the card, and I told her that since he doesn’t speak english and won’t be able to answer can I put him on speaker and help him translate. Well, apparently I can’t do that and he needs to answer it himself, so I asked if she can help us get a translator for him. And she said…No. Wait what? So I was asked her how can we activate the card if he doesn’t speak english and she won’t provide a translator on their end and that’s when she said she’d get her manager.

Her manager then asked me to hold so she can check their company’s policy on this matter, and when she came back she told me the same exact thing the other agent told me with no answer to my question of ‘What do we do then?’ And when she finally answers me she told me to ask my father to write them a letter to them to activate it and I can’t translate it for him, it needs to be his own words. What the hell? If someone can’t speak a language how does one expect them to know how to write a letter?

So I was fed up with this and decided to just cancel the card, and once again they told me that we needed my father to speak to him in order to cancel it, and if he can’t then mail them a letter. What? Didn’t we JUST go through this? By this time I was beyond frustrated so I asked the manager, do they always do this to customers who can’t speak english? Are all their customers always english speakers? The manager then replied me with this answer ‘Well at this point all you can do is….Well, I’m sorry this is as far as I can help you with on this matter’. Well that was stupid. How does that in the slightest sense answer my questions and how was any of that information helpful to me?

After she said that I was just about ready to go off on her so I decide to just say thanks and hang up. This was the first experience I had with Capital One and its surely the last. Apparently Capital Ones iron rule is that if one doesn’t speak english, they aren’t welcomed to use their company’s credit card. So now we’re just planning to keep the card and just leave it unactivated because we can’t activate it nor cancel it.

This whole thing just left me dumbfounded, I mean now a days no matter what major company you call, their is always either a language option or you can request a translator. I have never come across a company where the the choices are English or nothing. They usually try to find ways around that but in Capital Ones case its just ‘Sorry, we can’t help you in this matter’. Absolutely ridiculous.

Nonetheless, they really do have horrible customer service reps. I really wish all the credit card companies would bring these jobs back. I realize people do it for a few dollars an hour there, but our country needs jobs. The credit card companies could pay people minimum wage and no benefits and I think customers would be happier and the economy would benefit.

Here’s what happened: First I received the card in mid-February but didn’t activate until around March 3. I got my first bill last week and was shocked to find a past due charge. WHAAAT?? How could it be past due when it hasn’t even been activated 30 days?

They tell me that a bill was sent out in February (please note that this was BEFORE I even actually activated or even decided to keep the card). I never even received this bill.

So I call and ask about it, the first person I talked to was somewhat helpful. While she did take the past due charge out, she also “blackmailed” (in a way) me into making my first payment which wasn’t even due until April 12, but gotta give her kudos for being as helpful as she was.

Anyway I started thinking about that first bill I never got (hey good one, she told me “It may have been lost in the mail, I got a good chuckle out of that). But I digress, on the second call I got someone who couldn’t speak much english. All I wanted to know what “how can you bill something and then add a late charge before the card was ever activated. Wow, he really blew it then, “The charge has been reverse for you so there is no further need for this conversation.” I said, “Except for the fact that I want to know why, in fact I have a right to know the why” (don’t know if did or not but what the heck right?) He got so crappy with me that I was flabberghasted. He actually said, “Lady we fixed problem, no need us to explain anyting”.

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You are definitely in a much different position than a lot of people I hear from these days. However, even though you don’t plan on needing a loan, etc, in the near future, you may want to reconsider closing this account, as the high credit limit and 0% credit utilization may be the main reason your score is so high.

When you get into the excellent credit range, it is very easy to slip into just good credit and much more difficult to get back into excellent. For example, closing the Capital One account may cause a 20 point drop in your credit report, which would be difficult to get back.

You can use a free credit monitoring service to get an estimate of how closing the account will affect your credit scores. There are a number of them listed in our free credit report section. With one of these tools, you can find out how closing the account will change your score and cancel the service before racking up any fees. It may be worthwhile, just to be sure you are doing the right thing.

Unfortunately, you will have to deal with Capital One if you want to close your account. The credit bureaus will not do this. If you choose to do this, you will probably have to comply with their documentation requirements. However, I was actually told by a representative there to ask for a US representitive. I suggest you do the same, not only because it will be easier to understand the person, but also because it helps keep jobs in the US!

One thing to consider before closing an account is the effect this may have on your credit score. Closing accounts decreases your available credit and can have a negative impact on your credit score. Sometimes, it can have a big negative effect. If you are not being charged an annual fee, you may be better off keeping your account open, from a credit score perspective.