C(r)apitol One

This is my warning to all who enjoy having their sanity - never
sign-up for a Capitol One card!

I have been a credit card user for about 12 years now. I have
excellent credit. I pay my cards in full and on time consistently.

A few months ago I had work done on my car that left me with a $700
bill. Yikes. So, you can imagine my panic when I received my credit
card bill and found I had been charged TWICE for the service from the
mechanic! ..

I went to the mechanic and because they use a third party to do their
billing, they couldn't just refund me on the spot. They did offer to
get a hold of the credit card company for me, or fill out whatever
paperwork the company required. And, I received a letter later in the
month from the mechanic apologizing for the error and that I was not
the only one of their clients to fall victim to a computer
malfunction.

I called Capitol One, expecting to be told I could deduct the amount
in question from my payment to them. To paraphrase - I had to make
multiple calls and was put on hold for extended periods of time and in
the end, once they got their heads out from under their bums, was told
they could find no record of this second billing in question anyway
(even though I could see it on my card activity record on their
website), I was told to fax a letter with about 52 facts included,
along with the auto bill I paid, receipts, my handprint, cheek swab,
and a signed letter promising to name my first kid Capitol.

Oh, and I had to PAY the charge in question (I had to dip into my
savings in order to pay it and keep my financial world balanced). I
have never had a credit card company insist I pay a charge in
question.

It has not been settled yet, but once I'm reimbursed, I will be
canceling my account, for sure.

Oh, and in order to look into how many "reward points" I'd earned
through the account, I had to do a Google search for "No Hassle
Rewards" because it is in no way connected to the main website for
Capitol One. No Hassle my ass!