Incorrect Acceptance Letter from Capital One

Lozzi666

Hi, I hope somebody can help me please.

I received a letter this morning from Capital One confirming that I have been accepted for a Capital One Platinum Card, however the typical APR and the date on which the 0% balance transfer/purchases interest increases are different to those which I saw online and applied for!

I applied for the deal below which, as you will see, offers 12.9% typical APR and 0% interest on balance transfers/purchases until 1st September 2009:-

http://www.capitalone.co.uk/creditcards/capital-one-platinum-card.jsf

My confirmation letter says that my application has been accepted, however it states that the typical APR is 19.9%, and the end date for the 0% interest is 1st March 2009.

I have searched through the forums and have found threads where people have been told their application has been declined, and they have then been offered a different deal, however my situation seems to be different because I have not been declined, I have been accepted - they just appear to have confirmed the wrong deal to me.

I spoke to Customer Services this morning - I tried to give her the above URL so that she could see the deal for herself, but apparently her system was "not set up for that" ???! I told her that I had come from Money Saving Expert, and she said it might have been a bad link, but that doesn't add up because I have done a lot of research before applying and I know full well the deal that I saw on the Capital One website.

She suggested that I could cancel this application and apply again, however she also said that there would be no guarantee that I would be accepted for the deal shown above. I told her that I am worried that cancelling and re-applying will affect my credit rating, and she said that she could try and get the searches removed, however I am still very apprehensive about this.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? I haven't been declined, I have been accepted, but they appear to have confirmed the terms of the deal incorrectly to me in my confirmation letter.

Many thanks in advance for any help anybody can offer.

YorkshireBoy

Capital One are well known for approving you for a different card to the one you applied for.

The card they've approved you for requires a "good credit rating", whereas the one you applied for requires an "excellent credit rating". The definitions of these ratings are given on the Capital One website, so maybe you could take a look and that may explain?

Lozzi666

Thanks for your reply YorkshireBoy .... but the woman on the phone was sure that I had applied for the 19.9% card, but my point to her was that I hadn't applied for the 19.9% card, I had definitely applied for the 12.9% card - I didn't even see a deal on there for 19.9% and so how could I have applied for that?!! As I said, I have done tons of research and I knew what I was looking for.

Can they really just put me onto a different deal without informing me first? This seems really unethical, in fact is it actually legal for them to do that?

YorkshireBoy

For a while now, Capital One have had two 'main' BT cards on their website, one requiring a good credit rating and the other requiring an excellent credit rating.

Recently though, and at the time they launched the new 'until Sept 09' Platinum card, they pulled the lower score "Mastercard" for a few days before re-introducing it in it's 'until Mar 09' guise. It seems like you (and others who have reported similar problems) applied during this period.

There isn't a lot you can do to be honest*. There's probably a clause somewhere that says if they're unable (due to credit scoring) to offer you the card you applied for they'll send you an alternative one.

Whilst you may consider it unethical, it's certainly not illegal. Credit card providers don't operate illegally!

BTW, did you check you have an, as defined by Capital One, "excellent credit rating"?


* You could try an official complaint, but use the card in the meantime to show 'willing'. They may then tweak your deal so it runs until Sept 09. Then again, they may not.

rubydoiwannabee

I was declined for the 0% until Sept 09 and sent a credit agreement to sign for 0% until Feb 09 and then 19.9% after that. It clearly says in my letter that I haven't been successful and that I should check my cr rating. They also inclosed a leaflet about how to check my cr score. It sounds to me like you have been sent the wrong standard letter and that you have been declined the longer deal. No offence meant, but my thoughts are that it is a admin error.

Lozzi666

Thanks for that . The CS Supervisor called me back and has said she is going to put the matter to the IT department and agreed that it seems strange that this has happened after my being accepted. I didn't ask her what my credit score was but will mention it when she contacts me to let me know the outcome. Thanks again for your help on this Yorkshire Boy!

Lozzi666

Thanks uby yes i suppose that would be a possibility, there was no mention of my being declined the longer deal in the letter, just congrats in my successful application.

gladysgirl

To be quite honest I am not in the least surprised by anything Capital One does. In April my husband & I applied for a Cap One 0% til '09 card on their website and was accepted straight away. We received some forms to sign one being my husband's agreement - as the main card holder - for me to have dual access to the account and then promptly returned the said forms.
Two weeks went by then we received two credit cards - both in my husbands name only. He duly rang Capital One, received an apology and told a new card for me would be sent out asap. Then nothing for 3 weeks. I then rang an 09 number (ouch!) and spoke to a guy with a very heavy Asian accent and struggled to understand what he was saying. Then, quite clearly, he stated he could not discuss the account with me as it was only in my husband's name. When told about the form my hubby had signed he stated "there is nothing on our file"!. Therefore my husband had to ring again only to be told some form of ID would be required for me. These forms arrvd some 3 weeks ago, I sent 2 forms of ID as requested and they were returned last week. This morning another letter - AGAIN ADDRESSED TO MY HUBBY - saying the forms I had sent were insufficient and I would need to send more!
We have therefore decided to forget all about Capital One and stick with the A & L card with whom we have dealt for the last 30 odd years. I could understand it if we had a poor credit rating but we are classed as "excellent". No Mortgage, No debts, No store cards. Lived at same address for 35 years and married for 43 years. WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE WANT? As far as I am concerned it isn't worth the hassle.

jonnyb

Lozzi, I got the same treatment, despite meeting all the criteria they listed as requirements for the long 0% offer.

I decided to accept the alternative, but have sent a letter enquiring why, not complaining.

if they stick to the deal they offered me then they will make no money out of me, as I will use it for 0% purchases. If they extend the 0% back to the original length then I will BT an outstanding balance to them in december, and they will make the 3% fee from me.

Maldives_lover

I've just been caught out on this one. Completed online application for the Platinum card with 0% until October 2009 and guess what I was approved for a 0% until May and I get to pay a much higher interest rate as well. I've spoken to a supervisor who "isn't allowed to see any details" so can't comment on why, she suggested that I obtain credit reports but I advised here that I have an excellent credit rating and that I felt Capital One were offering these deals to get people to apply without any real intention of providing the deals to the majority. Can we not all complain to the FSA or FOS (can't remember which one) and ask them to investigate how many people have applied for the deal and how many were actually offered a different deal? Perhaps more people might actually then get the offer they applied for.

clio

Maldives
Did you get the 19.9% apr as well ??