| Capital One: What's in Your Wallet? - A License to Steal |
| I'm starting a short series of blogs on companies that have customer service issues. Capital One wins the lottery for the first such company. Ten years ago Capital One had one of the best customer service groups in the country, and Capital One was sitting high. Now they have problems. Today, I discovered why. Capital One has lost its customer service emphasis. Their customer service reps aren't allowed to make decisions. They have to follow a very restricting script that doesn't allow them to really serve the customer. Last year when I was moving, I failed to pay my Capital One VISA card within 30 days (didn't get it until way after the time limit because mail had to catch up with me). So they canceled my good rate and started upping the charge. When I checked out my credit card statement today, they were charging 28.95% interest. Now that's just outrageous. No justification for that kind of rate, even with the most marginal of customer. And I'm not marginal. It is scary to think what credit card companies are charging. 28.95% is way over any justifiable amount. They are either really bad at investing or doing business, or they are literally stealing. What's in your wallet? I'll tell you. Simple: A license to steal. Truly scary. When I called to get my rate returned to the original agreement, the customer service representative couldn't help me. She didn't have authority to keep a customer, even after hearing my explanation for why I missed several payments (simply delayed). There was a time not many years ago when their customer service reps could make changes. Now they can't. No wonder Capital One is falling behind. Bad customer service is the harbinger of worse things to come from a company. They lost my business today. And will never get it back. They've made a ton of money via my account, but didn't seem to want to keep it. Their customer service stinks. No wonder companies like Nordstrom stand out for their customer service. It's not hard when you're being compared to services such as Capital One. Labels: a license to steal, bad service, Capital One, customer service, VISA |
posted by John Kremer @
11:16 PM
4 comments |
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4 Comments:
Citibank does win the lottery, they're selling customers' information around like sunflower seeds, call, bother, harass customers, even ones having spotless record and placed on every single "do not call" and "do not solicit" list they have. I've seen them compared to such former "bad customer care leaders" as Verizon, AT&T, Bank of America, but truly, they leave all of these in shame, they're dirtier than all the dirt from those combined.
Wait, you're complaining about the fact that they raised you rates after you didn't pay your credit card for "several" months? If you can't plan far enough ahead to leave a forwarding address and/or work something out in advance, then you are asking too much for them to be sympathetic. Don't forget they are a business. That said, though you may not be the greatest customer in the world, Capital One customer service is hellish and inflexible. I once hung up on a customer satisfaction survey regarding Capital One because it was inflexible and frustrating and didn't allow me to cut to the chase with my real complaints.
I'm not complaining about them raising my rates. It was my fault that I wasn't able to take care of all the details in my move and their bills came too late to me.
What I am complaining about is their customer service that is not able to make a decision to return me to my old rate. They have no power to make decisions and, therefore, have no power to serve their best customers.
I had been with Capital One for many, many years, always paying my bills, giving them a lot of business, etc. I have good credit. I pay my bills, always have.
Why couldn't they give their customer service representatives some discretionary power to keep a good customer instead of telling customers that they can do nothing. Is that anyway to run a business that spends millions trying to get NEW customers when with just a little extra effort they could be retaining OLD customers?
The cost of obtaining a new customer is ten times the cost of retaining an old customer (and often a better customer). Capital One ought to know this.
I completely agree. Capital One has some of the most unsatisfactory customer service I have ever witnessed. There isn't even a number you can call to talk to someone who can resolve your issues. The customer service representatives themselves may as well be automated recordings because they serve no purpose what-so-ever!
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