You might want to think again and opt in favor of a card that lets you speak to a human being when you need to. I've just spent more than twenty frustrating, unsuccessful minutes trying to get through their telephone maze to find a live person to straighten out a mess. NO way. Doesn't seem to be possible. Why do business this way? Sorry for the rant - but seriously, I advise against doing business with these guys if this is how they treat their customers (and I've had a C One card for years and years). If anyone has any advice for getting thru to a live person, I'd love to hear it!

I have a Capital One card and have only had two occasions to call them but both times I used the 800 number on the back of the card and had no trouble getting to a live person.

Humm, I have Capital One "investment" products. Never had a problem with getting a live person or one who I can understand! I quess it depends on how much money they are making off of you.

If you are going on a trip, call them to let them know so they won't block any charges they think might be fraudulent. They give you a toll-free number to call collect if you have any problems while traveling. Although I haven't had to use the toll-free number, I would have to think a real person would have to answer to accept the charges.

Calling credit cards and banks before going on a trip is something I always do.

I also have a Capital One card and only had to call a couple of times but don't remember it being a problem. However, I had a hard time getting a live person when calling American Airlines yesterday.

C'mon now, everyone should know anyone who spends as much $$ on advertising as Cap 1 does...well, they are going to have to cut corners somewhere. Perhaps customer service is the area in which they have chosen to make their cut-backs. lol

MikePin, That was the reason for my two calls to Capital One. Both times I was going out of the country and wanted to make sure my credit card was not blocked. My husband had one blocked in Paris once. Fortunely we had another credit card but we usually take no more than one each on trips.

Well then, I'm not sure why tuckerdc had such a problem because I also had no problem getting through to a person. And that was fairly recently -- early September. Maybe tuckerdc is phone-menu-challenged

Hi tuckerdc, a few times when I called an 800 number and couldn't reach a live person, well actually I couldn't reach a dead person either come to think of it...I pushed 0 (zero) on my phone pad and I did reach a represenative. But I don't think that works will all companies. Have you gone to their website? I was thinking perhaps you could email them. Best wishes, I know how frustrated we all can get trying to deal with large companies. Not very service orientated are they.

Oooooh, tuckerdc! Me too!! I cannot tell you how frustrated and annoyed I was. So here's the trick:

When you call the 800 number, do not push any buttons at all. Just stay on the line and eventually a real person will pick up.

The direct number for the Fraud Dept is 800-427-9428. That's who you call to tell them you will be using your card out of the country, and you do get a live person.

However!! I was told that the info on being out of the US would only stay in the computer for 7 days after I phoned. I said, but I'm going to be gone 3 weeks. Then you have to phone us every week to renew the information. Here's a toll free number to call from Europe.

Now how stupid is that??!! (BTW, I didn't call to renew it and I didn't have any problems. But still.)

I've had the same problem.

Thanks Marilyn!

-Bill

Gee Mike...I don't think of myself as phone menu-challenged. And don't think you should either.

Thanks Marilyn and others for the helpful replies.

I tried the punching "zero" trick, but it doesn't work with them.

Reading the posts about notifying them re travel reminded me that I did exactly this just a few months ago. Though I don't remember how I got through at that point. But I was given that same song and dance about having to call them every week....and didn't do it. And used the card with no problem.

I'm will try the "just hang on the line" technique and see if that works.
And once I get this resolved - if that happens! - I intend to cancel the card. This is just one more reason to love companies that treat their customers with courtesy and respect.

I've got a whole bunch of complaints about them, but until I find another free card that doesn't charge an extra percent for foreign transactions, I'll keep their card. Also, I've got about $150 towards an airline ticket now, so I want to use that.

But they will no longer be my cc of choice for daily transactions. I'm going back to my AA MasterCard.

Marilyn,

Why do you like the AA Mastercard?

-Bill

Sorry, tuckerdc, I guess I should have put a smiley face after my comment so you would know it was just a joke.

They didn't tell me I had to call every 7 days. What they did tell me was to call within 7 days of when I would be going so the instructions would be "at the top of the screen" for any of their people looking at my account.

Come to think of it, I think I got the phone number to call from their website, which gives different numbers depending on what you want.

Sorry again, tuckerdc, but IMO the service you get with ANY credit card company is likely to be the same as, or worse than, Capitalone. Personally, I have never had any problems with Capitalone. I think I have had their card for 8 or 9 years now. And it can't be that they like me because I carry a big balance. I do use it a lot, but I pay the entire balance each month.

Because I already have a gazillion miles in my AA account from business travel in another life, and the MC miles go into the same account. So even though I just used 125,000 miles for FC to Europe, I still have almost 100,000 miles left.

Have never had a problem with Citibank MC (that's who it really is). I can get through to a real person without much hassle. They've been great about conflict resolution and a recent identity theft problem. Really great.

They've given us a more than adequate credit limit.

Downside: I do pay an annual fee for the card (I think it's $35). They do charge the extra percent on foreign transactions. It is usually frustrating to try to book award tickets on AA due to lack of availability. But I'm so annoyed at Capital One right now that I don't care.

Yes - the ol' inscrutable internet, Mike, does send wrong messages sometimes! And then, I'm still sailing on residual agita from this morning's phone aggravation with them.

Hey Marilyn, if you don't use your Capitalone card any more, how are you EVER going to accumulate enough additional miles for a ticket? (smiley face goes here)

I'll use it outside the US, mike, which is often where we travel. My Capital One card gives me double points for every dollar spent, although my redemption multiple is 125. Still a very good deal, which is why I went for this particular card. What I didn't know, and a MAJOR reason I am so po'd at Capital One, is that they slapped a $5000 credit limit on that card as a sneaky way of limiting how many miles I could rack up. (So unless I pay it off every 2 weeks when we're traveling, it ends up being a huge hassle because we hit the credit limit.)

Just so you know, I did ask for the credit to be increased and was told flat out no. We also got another card from Capital One and that one has a $30,000 credit limit. I asked if we could switch the credit limits between the two cards and was told flat out no. That's when I put 2 and 2 together. I really do not like this company.

When I called last July to inform them that I would be out of the country, they just asked for my departure and return date. No mention of calling again.

I like my Capital One because of the cash back. I made over two hundred dollars last year. I pay it off every month so no interest also no annual fee. I probably am not their favorite customer.