Capital One - Late Payment not my fault!

moonmonkey71

Hi All I'd like some advice please....

I recently took out a Capital One Visa card to help rebuild my credit rating as I've had some problems in the past. In the first month I used £280 of the £300 credit limit as I was moving house and the plan was to pay it off in the next 2 months in full at the 0% interest rate offered for the first 3 months.

After unsuccessfully trying several times to register my Santander Visa Electron card for payment on their website and also trying via one of their call centres (which unsurprisingly was of no help whatsoever) I set up a direct debit for the amount of £140 which I would then change back to the minimum payment after the balance was paid off.

Guess what - I checked my Capital One account today and I have been charged £12 for late payment as the direct debit hasn't been taken.

Is it me or are they making it deliberately difficult to pay? I'm trying to rebuild my credit rating not destroy it!!!

How can I make sure that this late payment which isn't my fault doesn't show up on my credit report? I sent a strongly worded email to them this morning saying I would no longer be using this card unless this was sorted out quickly.

Some advice would be gratefully received.

YorkshireBoy

Did you ask to set up the direct debit before your first statement was produced?

Did the first statement say they would collect by direct debit?

Toe-Jam

You get your statement nearly a month before the due date my statement date is 7th and due on 2nd thats more than enough time to get it sorted.

You could have sent the payment by Bill payment from online banking and it would have been there in 4 days from Santander (1 day from most other banks). Or used the slip on the bottom of your statement again there in a max of 4 days.

It says very clearly on the statement when they are going to take the direct debit,



If says something similar on your statement, and it wasn't claimed, then you should be able to get the charge back. But if its there on the statement, then I doubt any letters you write will make a difference.

BugsyBrowne

Yeah unfortunately you took a bit of risk spending £280 on a £300 credit limit.

onefortheroad_2

say good bye to your 0% aswell

moonmonkey71

Well I was aware of the payment date although I never received a statement in the post and I did set up the direct debit with plenty of time to make the payment date.

What I'm concerned about is the fact that I tried to make payments several times with my debit card and was unable.

At the end of the day I don't mind paying the £12 late fee but I'm much more concerned about the effect on my credit report.

Has anyone else experienced problems making payments?

wornoutmumoftwo

Electron cards are not accepted on a lot of sites, I pay my capital card using online banking and it shows up the next day.

cbrpaul

As its a new card ,

Call them and explain what happened nicely, that you were trying to setup up a DD, and I think you will find you will get 1 chance and the charge wil be re-funded !!

But dont let it happen again !!

PARIS_5000

moonmonkey71 wrote: »

Hi All I'd like some advice please....

I recently took out a Capital One Visa card to help rebuild my credit rating as I've had some problems in the past. In the first month I used £280 of the £300 credit limit as I was moving house and the plan was to pay it off in the next 2 months in full at the 0% interest rate offered for the first 3 months.

After unsuccessfully trying several times to register my Santander Visa Electron card for payment on their website and also trying via one of their call centres (which unsurprisingly was of no help whatsoever) I set up a direct debit for the amount of £140 which I would then change back to the minimum payment after the balance was paid off.


With regards to the statement you may have online statements but Capitlal

Guess what - I checked my Capital One account today and I have been charged £12 for late payment as the direct debit hasn't been taken.

Is it me or are they making it deliberately difficult to pay? I'm trying to rebuild my credit rating not destroy it!!!

How can I make sure that this late payment which isn't my fault doesn't show up on my credit report? I sent a strongly worded email to them this morning saying I would no longer be using this card unless this was sorted out quickly.

Some advice would be gratefully received.

I make my payments through my online banking and it always received the same day. As this is a credit building card you cannot afford to not pay the bill on time.

Capital One give you nearly month to pay the bill and they email you on the date that your statement is ready so that you cannot forget to check.

I have paper and online statements if you prefer to have both log into your account to request this.

It takes time for a direct debit to be set up which could be why the payment was not taken until you were sure the direct debit was sent up then it was up to your to make the payment.

Did log into your online banking and see that the direct debit had been sent up if so then you may have a case for them to refund the late payment and not to record it on your credit file.

Toe-Jam

wornoutmumoftwo wrote: »

Electron cards are not accepted on a lot of sites, I pay my capital card using online banking and it shows up the next day.

The OP has Santander Online Banking, its a 4 day thing with them, they never bothered to get faster payments off the ground.

exel1966

moonmonkey71 wrote: »

Capital One - Late Payment not my fault!
.

Ah, but it was.

Historically an electron card is not a debit card, therefore not accepted at many places.

You clearly didn't leave enough time for the DD to be set up. If you did it would have been confirmed in writing that payment was being collected this way.

You have electronic and paper statements with Capital One so saying you didn't receive a statement is no excuse. They also e-mail you to say when it's available to view.

As for Santander they do FP's up to £300 for manual payments and £1000 for standing orders.

Capital One also accept faster payments so payment should be registered the day it's made providing it falls within the outgoing banks limits.