So, I needed a credit card to buy a ticket to Iceland, so that I could bring a guest to accompany me on my Team Diabetes trip, and I decided to call Capital One. What. A. Mistake.
My journey began about two months before I was supposed to leave for Iceland. I was approved for a Capital One credit card in the amount of $3,000, which was just what I needed, so I figured, “There – problem solved.” Hahaha – I was so very naive.
First they said ‘Congratulations, you’re approved! You’ll have your new Capital One credit card within 10 business days.’ Perfect! And did I mention....hahaha....
Then I got a letter in the mail telling me that I was going to get another letter telling me how to get my new credit card...huh? A letter telling me that I’m going to get a letter? Okay...that’s a little weird, but I’m a pretty patient person, so I figured I’ll just go with it.
Then I get a letter telling me they need to verify my identity, so I went into the post office as instructed, gave them my ID, they did their thing and sent everything back to Capital One. \
Then I waited. And waited. I finally called Capital One to see if my credit card was on the way, and they said that they couldn’t make out the info the post office had sent because although the post office sent them the original documents, this department I was speaking with only receives a faxed copy for some strange reason that they couldn’t quite explain to me. They couldn’t make out the information in the fax, so they had to wait for the original documents to arrive. This was getting stranger by the minute, but fine, I thought, I’ll continue to wait, I still have time.
Then after a couple more weeks I called Capital One again, and asked them once again if my credit card was on the way. The agent I spoke with said, ‘Wait a minute! We only have your street address. We can’t send the card to a street address, we need your P.O. Box.’ So I gave it to her, though I thought it was a little strange that it wasn’t in the system already, and she said she had to cancel the first card and send a new one to my P.O. Box, because I wasn’t going to receive the card that had been sent to my street address in error. Fine! Whatever I needed to do.
So finally, a few days later, I was delighted to find my credit card in the mail. I called to activate it and guess what? It had been cancelled, and a new one sent out. AAAAAAARGH! The funny thing was, I had said to my boyfriend a couple of days before, ‘Watch this. I bet I’m going to get my card, call to activate it and it will be cancelled.’ I was joking, figuring there was just no way they could be that clueless, but that’s exactly what happened. I called to ask them why on earth they had cancelled a perfectly good card, and was told that the agent shouldn’t have done such a thing, she must be new. So I continued to wait.
Meanwhile, the people organizing the trip are waiting for me to pay for my trip, and I’m feeling awful for making them wait so long. My Team Diabetes coordinator was awesome and allowed me to pay for my guest well after the deadline had passed, so I’m very grateful for that, but they must have been starting to think I was trying to scam them (and I wouldn’t blame them) because surely no major company could be as disorganized as I was making Capital One out to be. Wrong.
By the way, this credit card comes with an annual fee, and what do you know, my first bill came right on time! I got the bill before I was even able to use the credit card.
I’m not sure what they’re doing over there – all I know is, now that I’ve gotten the card and it has served its purpose, I’m going to pay it off, cut it up and then tell Capital One exactly where they can put it. I’m not telling you not to get a Capital One card (don’t do it though). I’m just sharing my own experience so that if you’re ever trying to choose a card, you can make an informed decision. From now on I will get credit cards through my bank, or not at all – EVER!
There, rant over. I feel better now.
