First off, I would cancel that payment protection immediately. Even if you maxed out your card, your minimum payment would only be like $20, so that is a total waste.

Secondly, I do find this disturbing. However, if your credit has improved since you got the card, perhaps you can either a.) get them to give you a different card with no fee or b.) get a new credit card.

The real problem is that this card is likely helping you improve your credit and if you close it, your credit will drop. Seems like a bit of extortion. I hope I don’t hear to many stories like this. Makes me very frustrated.

I am glad I could be of assistance. Thanks for taking a moment to let me know I helped. I very much appreciate it.

Ana.

I don’t believe they can charge you until the year is up. They may be increasing the fee in January and notifying you now. If this is the case, and you don’t want to pay the fee, this will leave you some time to find a new credit card. However, if they are trying to bill you now, you may want to call and fight it or cancel the card. I don’t think that is either fair or legal. You may actually come out ahead, as there are plenty of no annual fee credit cards currently offering 0% balance transfer deals that last over 18 months. By switching, you could save money on interest and save on the annual fee. Something worth considering if you find Capital One inflexible.

Thanks for your attention to this concern?

Ana Gabriel

I apologize, but I cannot post the comment you sumitted, as you provide no reason for your stance on this company. Please feel free to post the reason behind your negative review and I will approve it.

I strive to keep this forum open so everyone can have a voice: I do not edit or ignore any comment that is backed by experience. Your comment clearly displayed your anger, but did not provide any assistance to other readers, since the reason is not stated at all.

Jeff

Around this time last year, I wrote an article expressing my concerns about this issue. At that time, Capital One was sending opt out notices in the mail. Unlike most other companies, the rate increases were slated to take effect a year later, rather than in a few months. My concern then was that people wouldn’t notice the letters or that people would choose to keep the cards open with unrealistic expectations of getting their cards paid back.

Having heard literally thousands of complaints about all the major credit card companies, I have actually grown to think positively about the way Capital One handled rate increases: they were not as high as some companies (Citi raised rates to 29.99% on some customers) and they did give people time to repay their balances.

That said, I believe you are not alone in not getting your opt out letter. I think these things do get lost in the mail and it was also quite possible that it simply looked like a piece of junk mail that you tossed aside. And, even though I appear to be taking Capital One’s side, I really am not. I just think they were better to their customers than other banks.

Unfortunately, Capital One customer service is not great. I would try calling and speaking with a supervisor (ask for a U.S. rep), explain to them that you never got the letter (why would you have run up a balance if you knew the rate was going up?) and see if you can get a deal. If not, you might want to do a balance transfer to a card with a 0% interest rate.

If you do a balance transfer, don’t close your Capital One account. Leaving it open with a $0 balance will help your credit score.

Hope this helps. If you want to learn more about 0% balance transfers, see the main section of Smart Balance Transfers.

Lastly, if you have success dealing with Capital One, please come back and share.