This is half a rant and half an invitation for any insights for anyone who has experienced this situation or has known someone who has gone through the following:


I paid by most recent bill a week ago. I used the card yesterday morning. Tried using it again in the afternoon, but it didn't work. I called customer service to make sure my payment posted--and it did. This morning, it still didn't work. I checked my account online: Account Restricted.

I called customer service. I was informed my account was compromised and I was issued a new number--my new card would arrive in the mail soon. I was too pay attention to the next bill and let them know if there were any transactions I didn't make. I was too in shock to ask the relevant follow-up questions.

I called back an hour later. I asked the relevant questions: what do you mean compromised? When? What are the specifics?
It's like pulling teeth. It took a while of expressing my confusion, frustration and asking more questions for the the second woman to do some looking. It turns out that Capital One appoints a dept that looks into transaction activity. If there's any significant change in the activity, they flag it. They put an account restriction on it--this dept itself will file a lost/stolen card thing.

S I'm wondering A. will I get a notice about this in the mail in a few days. B. would I have gotten any notice had I not called the first time this morning. Again, I have to wait until I get my next bill to see what, if any, weirdness shows up.

I've had a Capital One visa card for a few yrs. In the past couple of years, I started using it exclusively for beverages and at stores that don't accept Discover. 90% of the purchases are Starbux and Caribou. There's maybe gas once or twice every two months. Smoothie king. cafeteria & cafe at work. coffeeshops. That's essentially it. I don't use it online.

they said they'd mail you a new card. i'm assuming the details for this action will be listed in documentation you receive with the card. wait just a little bit, and though it's a bit annoying, perhaps be happy that they're keeping your account in check. it's better than finding out someone charged a whole lot of money in your card and finding out about it in your next credit card statement

Indeed. Thanks for the response, Watcher.

A friend of mine told me that what might seem normal buying behavior to me may not seem normal to them. And the card companies have their criteria for determining what could be unusual activity but don't share the info.

usually they call to confirm unusual activity, its kinda weird they would just issue you a new card

^
My CC company contacted me on the day I used my CC 3-4 times. They thought it was an unusual behavior.

I'd be like WTF if I walked into a restaurant, ate, and my card said DECLINED...

i hate capital one. they have ridiculously high APR, cascading levels of penalties and fees, low credit limit, no grace period, horrible customer service and no rewards or cash back.
the most important thing of all: they screwed up my credit.
when i paid everything off and closed my account, they assured me everything was going to be okay...then later i see all these mistakes on my next statement. i wrote letters and spoke to a lot of customer service reps and their supervisors. they all apologized and said they will take care of the problem. it's been a couple years now and the issue has not yet been resolved.

wow. Many google searches I've done yielded similar sentiments towards Capital One. Oddly, though, it seems that every credit card company manages to displease at least one person, making the situation you described apply to American Express, Discover, Mastercard--not just the card itself but the bank behind it.

I hate capital one .... I'm helping my brother paying off his captial one credit card.. and I reallie dun understand why.. they always charge like these stupid charges because i told them specifically to cancel the card. Its stupid!. I cant wait to finished off paying capital one...

On top of that, when i change the address.. it literally took them effin 3 months to do it!.... its ridicilous. I hate captial one.. and I will not WANT a card like that.

I couldn't have summed it up better. Capitol One is the absolute worst for ALL the reasons you have mentioned. Particularly when it comes to trying to close your account. I know numerous people (including me and my wife) where it literally took months to close because they constantly tack on small amounts of change (pennies~!!!) each month as interest for the previous balance. They rest assure to you that this will be the last payment and the following month you see another remaining balance. Most people would assume the account is closed and the next thing you know you have all sorts of fees and penalties amounting to hundreds of dollars after a few months because of a couple of cents they tacked on to your balance without your knowledge. To make matters worse, this reflects in your credit report and you have to repeat the same process all over again. I actually know one guy who paid extra to cover himself and he later found out his account was not closed (due to a positive balance) and he received a fee for holding a positive balance labeled as an administrative fee (how ridiculous). I don't know of a single credit card issuer other than CO that does not cancel the account on the day you request it. CO has a stupid 30 day policy where your account has to have no activity before they close it. This includes activity from CO such as issuing of late penalties and fees. It even includes an attempt at a charge (if you have any automated payments). This requirement further complicates the account closure process.

As for the original poster... another thing I am learning about the horror of CO. Granted all creditors these days have some kind of transaction monitoring and response, who actually goes ahead and reissues you a new number right off the back (without your consent and/or knowledge). I would imagine some kind of suspension/lock, but a complete reissue??? Thats crazy, especially considering it seems like the charges aren't to any significant amount.

I would avoid CO like the plague~!