I was pleased to find this website. It is eviddent that Capitol One's morals and ethics should be publicized more widely, e.g. in a documentary format, e.g. Fifth Estate.
Approximately one month ago I received a phone call from Capital One employee advising me that I had been "automatically" approved for one of two types of credit cards, even though I had not applied. I was to receive one of the cards within 3-4 weeks of the phone conversation. Needless to say, with all the scams that exist today, I did not feel it was very prudent to divulge my SIN # over the phone.
I was of the opinion that if this was legit, and their intention was to send a credit card, then I shouldn't have to divulge anything as they had apparently approved it unbeknownst to me. After all, it was them who contacted me. The contact whom I spoke with assured me that I would still receive the credit card, regardless of my reluctance to advise her of my SIN#. By doing so, I realized that not only was it a security issue for me but it also granted them access to my credit record and that was their motive in requesting the SIN#.
I didn't give the phone conversation anymore thought as I assumed with my refusal to offer up my SIN# the BS would end there. On April 24th., I received a letter (dated April 6th.) advising me they "cannot grant your request for credit at this time." Reason being "based on the application information for ..., there was a default on an existing Capital One account."
Needless to say I was not only annoyed but miffed as well. I do not have an existing account as it was paid off, in full, several years ago.
Capital One (Canada Trust at that time) continued to waste their time and mine by sending trivial statements to me for much less than $1. This incompetency went on for some time until I called and advised that if they erred in the exact amount of my pay-out then it was their responsibility to suffer the loss.
The contact person advised me that he would put a stop to the mindless statements which were costing their company far more than what they were attempting to collect. The statements did cease but it's sad to think no one every applied any common sense to the logic of sending them in the first place. Obviously, logic is outside the realm of their thought process.
I find it very ironic that Capital One not only approved and assured me they were mailing an "unrequested" card then tried to disguise the reason for not granting the card as "default ...".
I am convinced that the real reason for the change of heart was nothing more than the fact that I refused to divulge my SIN# even though one of the paras read "we basd our deicision strictly on a review of application information according to our credit guidelines. We did not request a copy of your credit file and therefore no inquiry will be placed on your credit report." The fact of the matter is, by declining them my SIN#, they didn't have authority to check my credit rating.
Needless to say, upon reading all the horror stories thus far, and having experienced such a bizarre circumstance myself, I am ecstatic that the line of credit didn't come to fruition.
My sympathy goes out to all of those who have been mislead and ripped off by Capital One. Live and learn!
Gerry
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Canada
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