Dear Capital One,

Today I closed both of my Capital One accounts. I choose to close these because Capital One refused to wave a small membership fee. I have been a loyal customer in good standing for many years. This is the thank you I receive for all those years?

The US federal interest rate as of December 12 2008 is now almost 0, but Capital One is still trying to be greedy and overcharge their customers. Perhaps when you are all standing in the unemployment lines, you may reconsider. The bad news is then it will be too late.

I am so pissed off at your company that I may completely stop paying you any more money. I do not care what you do to my credit rating. Take my balance and go ask the government for a bailout like the rest of the companies with their greed that got this country into this mess.

How does that sound for customer service? This customer reverse servicing you where the sun does not shine!

Some things I’ve learned about CapitalOne’s fraud protection “guarantee” while trying to clear up fraudulent charges on my account:

1) When you file a fraud charge CapOne will immediately cancel your account and issue you new cards (makes sense). However, if any charges are sent through on the OLD account, they will honor them if they are from a vendor you’ve used in the past. That means, if the thief re-orders 800 pounds of cellulose cream from the same company she used the first time, even using your old, stolen card, CapOne will accept those charges, then make you file another fraud claim.

2) CapOne makes no efforts to block or otherwise shut off future charges from companies that are proven to be fraudulent. CapOne instructed me to call the company submitting fraudulent charges, give them not only my old, canceled account number but also my new, active card number, and ask them (nicely) to stop charging anything on this card. When I asked the agent if she thought that was good plan, she said “not really, but we don’t contact merchants on a customer’s behalf.”

3) CapOne will close a fraud investigation and send you a letter saying everything is OK, then months later reapply fraudulent charges and hold you responsible for them, even if the account is completely closed. Closed accounts, of course, have no internet access to statements or details, so there is no way to see what the charges are or even to pay them (if that’s your choice). Interest will accrue, however, until the account is cleared.

And my favorite…

4) CapOne customer service and the fraud dept will not help you once a fraud investigator has been assigned to a case. All communication must go through that person. And CapOne will not tell you who that person is so that you can proactively communicate.

The FBI estimates that one in four Americans will be the victim of identity theft each year, and that over 85% of those will involve credit card fraud. CapOne is NOT the company you want to be dealing with during that time in your life. If you don’t have an account with them, don’t get one. If you have one, close it and go with another bank.