WORDS...

So something has come up unexpectantly and I need to fly home to see my mother who lives 1,000 miles away. Airfare is about $500 for short notice, and no, I don't have that $$ onhand. Spare me the berating please. Anyway, I've had a Capital One card for 4 years (spare me again...I got it my first year of college) with a $500 spending limit. That is my only credit card, I've NEVER paid late, and my credit score is good (790) with enough credit to back it up. I have about $300 on the card and called CO to get an increase to try to fly home to see my mom. I was told in no uncertain terms by first an automated message and then a person that my account was not eligible for credit increases.

I'm pissed. I asked if it was my credit score or just the type of card itself that made me not be able to increase, and I was told that no, credit increases had no basis on my credit and were done on an arbritrary basis and I would be notified if they ever decided to increase it.

So the question is, is this normal? I don't know about credit cards since I only have one and don't use it much. I'm pretty pissed, seeing as how I've been an on-time customer of theirs for 4 years and don't feel appreciated. If I switch to another company, can I expect the same thing? If I do switch, any suggestions?

6/20/2007 10:07:42 AM

capital one is the worst card to have.

but right now your biggest issue is that you have an 80% debit to credit ratio. That does hurt alot.

I would suggest contacting your bank and seeing if you can get a second credit card. In the long run i would pay off capital one, and while it will hurt your score some to lose that credit history, i would eventually cancel them because seriously capital one sucks.

6/20/2007 10:11:09 AM

not unfair. policy is policy.

anyways capital one sucks. that was your first mistake.

6/20/2007 10:14:57 AM

I like my Citi Dividends a lot and for a first time credit card, they gave me a pretty high limit. I always pay it in full and always on time and they haven't offered me a credit line increase yet either though.

6/20/2007 10:17:50 AM

I've been declined once by them when I requested an increase while still in school and had excellent credit. I think it was because my credit limit was based on my income at the time. I had a $500 limit as well.

6/20/2007 10:28:17 AM

Quote :

"don't use it much"

if you used it often they would have raised the limit by now more than likely - unless they view you as a risk for some other reason - have you been late on payments...

6/20/2007 10:29:50 AM

over 7 years my limit went from $300 to $11,000 on one of my credit cards. granted i never spend more than $200 a month on it but yeah, i would think over time your credit card would increase some

good luck

6/20/2007 10:30:23 AM

Quote :

"That is my only credit card, I've NEVER paid late, and my credit score is good (790)"

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 10:37 AM. Reason : ]

6/20/2007 10:36:35 AM

You need to use the card for them to like you. You probably buy very little, but what you do buy you need to put on the card and then pay it off every month. I heard they really like that.

That said, go ahead and apply for another credit card, it can only hurt you if you are turned down.

6/20/2007 10:48:18 AM

what did you put as your income when you filled out the application - i've never tried to update mine but i wonder if you can if it's changed and that can have an effect

how do people even have these problems - seeing as how most ppl don't i'd imagine it's something you've done/not done and not random

6/20/2007 10:48:25 AM

Forget increasing your credit limit. I kinda believe that the credit increases are random because I know that I've gotten credit limit increases seemingly out of the blue.

I think that the best thing for you to do is to just apply for another credit card. Just pick through your mail and pull out the best looking pre-approved one in the pile. You can apply for it online and it moves fairly quickly. The ones you're already "pre-approved" for just seem to move faster and more smoothly than just randomly applying for a credit card.

6/20/2007 10:54:17 AM

Well that's why I was so concerned. When I called, I was immediately told "no". Like within 2 seconds. Not "Let me look at your history and see", or "I'll put in a request and we'll get back to you". I have excellent credit, have never paid late on the card, and have been a customer for 4 years. I was told that the "no" answer was standard and not a reflection on my credit. I'm thinking that Capital One is just the shittiest excuse for a credit card you can find, and I plan on switching.

6/20/2007 10:59:11 AM

Yeah capital one sucks, first card I ever got was a Chase Platinum Student Visa card and I think it started out with a $2000 credit limit, and I think that's up to like $3500 or so by now since I have never been late and always pay off my card in full every month.

6/20/2007 11:07:06 AM

^I've heard really bad things about Chase. You never had any problems with them?

6/20/2007 11:12:23 AM

I have chase. No problems thus far.

I just called capital one to increase my limit which is currently $1500 and got denied.

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 11:21 AM. Reason : capital one]

6/20/2007 11:20:06 AM

I have a Discover Card. My husband has a Capital One Card. And we jointly have a Chase card.

My Discover Card is my favorite one even though it's not taken everywhere. I have never had any problems with them, they'll send out automatic Emails for any number of things that you select, and I like their little 5% back deals.

The Chase Visa card is pretty good. It is our highest limit card and taken just about everywhere. It doesn't quite have as many Email options as discover, but it's still a good card. It's not anything special, but I cannot find a single thing to complain about. We've never had any problems with it.

My husband's Capital One card is pretty crappy. It was his first card. It has an extremely low limit and he has had a few problems clearing up error like being doubly charged for items, etc. Even though the double charge wasn't the credit card company's fault, they were still pains in the ass about him going over his limit due to the double charge.

6/20/2007 11:21:16 AM

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

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"capital one is the worst card to have."

6/20/2007 11:23:58 AM

^^^^ I have never had any problems with Chase at all. I always check my statements online and have some email alerts for if anything is bought over a certain price. Of course since I always pay it off in full every month I probably wouldn't be one to have any problems in the first place.

It's got one of those points bonus systems where you can get gift certificates and junk after getting so many points. ($1 = 1 pt)

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 11:27 AM. Reason : ^]

6/20/2007 11:24:54 AM

Sweet, chase just doubled my limit. Fuck you capital one.

6/20/2007 11:27:59 AM

Quote :

"That is my only credit card, I've NEVER paid late, and my credit score is good (790)"

Assuming you have any income whatsoever, you deserve better than this. Citi's been pretty good to me, or you can use one of those offers from junk mail if you're in a hurry (and read them carefully enough).

6/20/2007 11:28:16 AM

I would suggest driving....You could get there faster than trying to get a new credit card!

6/20/2007 12:28:17 PM

Either lie about your income so they'll bump you up or get something thru somebody else. Some places will approve you on the spot and give you a temporary card # you can start using immediatly. I say lie because it's an emergency, obviously you shouldn't normally.

I know with citibank my shit went from $500 to $20,000 of credit without ever proving any income and 90% of those were automated and I never even had to tell them how much money I made, etc. Also, I think your credit score is slightly higher than me so you def do deserve better than this from a credit card.

[Edited on June 20, 2007 at 12:29 PM. Reason : asdf]

6/20/2007 12:28:30 PM

you should try calling back.

CSR's can be (and usually are) lazy/stupid/etc... You'd be surprised at the variety of answers you get to your questions just by hanging up and calling back to ask the same question. Especially if it seems like they didn't go through any sort of process to come up with the 'no'.

Also, threaten to cancel. Just tell them you can't do shit with a $500 limit and you want to cancel the card. That usually does the trick.

6/20/2007 12:33:08 PM

THIS IS THE SCAM CAPITAL ONE IS KNOWN FOR

6/20/2007 1:28:07 PM

Yeah, I had a funny feeling that if I HAD paid late or gone over my limit in the last few years that they'd be knocking down my door to give me new cards and increase my limits. After reading that article, it looks like my intuition was correct. Guess who'll be transferring her balance tonight!

6/20/2007 2:20:26 PM

Capital one and Chase are both the WORST credit cards ever. I was with chase for almost 4 years (prompt payment, low usage etc.). They did bump my credit limit. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, I ended up maxing my chase limit, and voila! My APR jumped from a mere 11% to a ridiculous 28%. Explanation from chase: Credit card companies can bump interest rates at will. I had no other choice but to transfer the balance and cancel the damn card.

So far, Amex (blue) and Discover have been my favorite cards. Both offer good credit limit and don't go crazy with APRs if and when you maintain a balance (not that you should!).

6/20/2007 2:24:18 PM

I think my rate is 29.9% but it doesn't matter if you don't carry a balance. Of course they will raise your rate if you max your credit limit. That's a no brainer.

6/20/2007 2:25:42 PM

^ Discover and Amex don't.

6/20/2007 2:26:32 PM

i'm not saying what is described in that article is ethical, but why would you take out 5 additional credit cards to pay off other ones? if you're already over your head, that seems like a poor decision.

6/20/2007 2:34:08 PM

Do they know you have more income now then when you were a student? Also, I second placing a call to them and being like look you can't do shit with a 500 dollar limit. Every card I have dealt with started me off at like 4 grand even when I was an undergraduate. So you will definitely be able to get a card with a higher limit especially with that score and payment history. I would look up the past threads on here to see which card(s) to obtain.

6/20/2007 2:37:21 PM

It does not matter what he tells them they would rather give him a second card than raise his limit. He has a fucking 790 credit score, that is extremely good. It is probably time for him to open an account with a real bank that does not use the deceptive practices. My capital one card from when I was 18 has been cut up for ages. It is pretty much useless because it only has a $500 limit as well.

6/20/2007 2:39:37 PM

I'm still trying to figure out why he's carrying a $300 balance on a card he doesn't use much.

6/20/2007 2:45:23 PM

Quote :

"you should try calling back. CSR's can be (and usually are) lazy/stupid/etc... You'd be surprised at the variety of answers you get to your questions just by hanging up and calling back to ask the same question. Especially if it seems like they didn't go through any sort of process to come up with the 'no'."

And, this holds true for a vast majority of companies.

6/20/2007 2:48:10 PM

I couldn't care less about aprs and % rates because I'll never buy anything that I don't have the money to pay off with a card. Carrying a balance on a credit card = stupid. To me they're just for safety and convenience only, being in debt for life doesn't really appeal much to me.

And

Quote :

"Of course they will raise your rate if you max your credit limit. That's a no brainer."

Most all large companies are like this, of course they're after your money that's their intent. You just have to take advantage of their services without allowing them to win. I'm what credit card companies would call a 'deadbeat', which is someone who never carries a balance or goes over on their limit.

6/20/2007 3:20:00 PM

Quote :

"I'm still trying to figure out why he's carrying a $300 balance on a card he doesn't use much."

Considering that the average college student graduates with like $3,000 in credit card debt, I'd say $300 isn't so bad. I've been out for a year and still working my way up the corporate ladder, and sometimes times are rougher financially than others.

6/20/2007 3:41:53 PM

When I got my first card(citibank) they had a 2k limit, I asked them to reduce it to 1k and they wanted to send me a check for the difference. Capital one must really suck. Now they have upped it to 4k without asking me.

6/20/2007 3:42:24 PM

^Why would you want to reduce your credit limit? That makes debt/available credit ratio worse... Doesnt seem like a good idea. If you don't have the self control to not spend that extra 1000, you probably shouldn't have a credit card to begin with...

6/20/2007 4:42:38 PM

capital one keeps increasing my credit line by $2500, without any request by me....

6/20/2007 4:55:31 PM

your credit score is high enough to get another card with.

get another card, a lot of places will give you the card # immediately and send the actual card later.

6/20/2007 5:01:47 PM

Capitol One has never been a problem for me. My credit limit is up to 10k now and if you can beat their interest rate (6%), I'd be amazed.

6/20/2007 5:34:22 PM