FYI on CapitalOne

Just in case you are looking at advertisements and thinking about getting one of those CapitalOne No Hassle cash credit cards, I thought I'd let you know mine's actually been a lot of hassle.

First, I'm pretty sure it is actually designed to be a hassle. When you go to the web site for bill payment and old statements and so on, there are no links to redeem your cash rewards. To actually claim your rewards, you have to realize this and type in a special web address that is printed on your statement. You have to make a separate account in the rewards system, and you claim your rewards there. Maybe not a hassle exactly, but if your trademark is "No Hassle cash" I don't think that really meets the bar.

But for me it has been a real hassle, because the rewards system has lost my account information. I noticed it last month when I could no longer login to the rewards system. So I called CapitalOne, who verified that I have a No Hassle cash account (just like it says right on my card). They transferred me to the rewards folks, who seem to be a separate group. The rewards folks proceeded to inform me that I had no such account, but they took down my information and promised to straighten it out with CapitalOne.

It's been a couple of weeks, and the web page doesn't work for me yet. So I called again this morning. The CapitalOne phone system assures me that I have $71 in rewards to be claimed, and again the rewards folks have no idea and are calling supervisors. I'm a little put out, because I could have been earning points on my Amazon.com visa card and frankly this is getting to be quite a hassle.

There are so many cards that offer rewards and most of them really are no hassle. I think some ought to slap CapitalOne for being stupid and take their trademark away.