Credit advice (long)

[69HemiGTX]

I currently have three credit cards, two are from Capital One and the other is from Washington Mutual. I just read about how Fair Isaac (FICO) scores are going to be recalculated under a new formula sometime this year. My current FICO score (as of DEC07) is 701, which isn't too bad. The reason why I am asking a question is that I finally have zero balances on all three cards. The WM card was by-far the biggest payoff, but the others were near their maximums for a while. I had pay issues when I PCSd to my current unit, and I had to live on them for a couple months. The WM card was used to buy the one-way tickets for my wife and stepson to Oklahoma from Korea ($!!). Anyways, it turns out that Cap1 does some fairly shady stuff when reporting to credit bureaus, like not reporting your credit limit along with the current balance. What that does is make the bureaus think that you're maxed-out, hindering your score. IOW, if your limit is $1000 and you have a $300 balance, they think you are maxed at that, while you are actually only using 30% of your available credit. Apparently Cap1 won't disclose the limits either, even if you ask them to. I know it's not a good idea to close accounts because it hurts your score, so I may just use the Cap1 cards for very small purchases just so they stay active, and pay every card in-full each month to avoid being charged interest. I would rather simplify my credit cards and keep the WM card, but I guess I'll just hang onto the Cap1 cards instead of closing them. Of course, having zero balances is very desirable, but as we all know, charges come and go. Any advice y'all can give would be appreciated.

[SYKO]

close those F'n capital one cards!! there a bunch of M F'er BAs ards!! when my dad passed away, he had a capital one platnum card, since he was older he had the insurance he paid on it everymonth in case of his death the card would be paid off....well after he passed they said we were liable for the amount ($10000) and that we could get in trouble with it, well we had to get a lawyer involved.. CAP1 said he never paid that insurance payment for that.. well thanx to my dad keeping paper work he had every old statement since 1999 in a box! and since 1999 it showed everymonth where he paid that insurance!! the lawyer copied and sent this all to CAP1 and they tried to say they were forgeries!! WTF?! almost a year later we are still fighting them on this matter! So my opinion on CAP1 is that they can go F themselves!

[KASEY]

cap1,,,,,,,, we HAD them.... some how theives got my wifes card number,,, well cap1 says that they are very secure,,, HA!! SOMEONE CHARGED $3000 to her card form the midwest,, it was at sears . com and had it delivered .. how hard would it be to track that one it was delivered to an address,,, they tried for 6 months to make us pay it,,, we pay for fraud protection ,, and with the help of an attorney we finally got out ,,, so we tore the cards up!!! with some good advice from a good friend we got a alaska airlines card from B of A which pays airline miles for all the money you spend,,, in just 2 years we have 4 free round trip tickets,,, your spending the money anyway ,, so get something for it!!!!

[oldskool83]

i would close all of them and only have 1 card. i have a $1000 credit limit on my card and thats all i ever will need.

i could care less what percentage it is....i always pay it off right away. thats my .02 cents

[69HemiGTX]

I agree with the perceptions about Cap1, especially after reading what I did yesterday. It's all on MSN Money, so y'all can check it out if you want. It turns out that they also do some other shady stuff, like offer multiple cards to people who have had a blemished credit history. Hmmm... I wonder why I have two cards? They do this in hopes that the customer will lose track of payments, missing one or more, and then they swoop down like the vultures they are and charge $35 for a late/missed payment. I should know, because one of my payments got delayed in the mail, and they sure didn't hesitate to tack an extra $35 on my balance. I don't care who you are or how much money you have, a $35 fee for something like that is outrageous, and in no way reflects the amount of work necessary to annotate it. It turns out that they even levy the charge if your payment is delayed by only hours! I plan on putting the cards into a strong box so I'm not tempted to use them often, but I will use them periodically to keep my accounts open. The way I see it, I'll only close them after I secure a major loan like a mortgage or an SBA loan so my credit score isn't affected until afterwards. I'm just glad these vermin aren't getting a single penny from me anymore!

[The Goat]

i personally use Chase cards.

one day at a gas pump, the pump i was at was out of gas after authorizing my card. moved to another gas station down the road...got gas. then realized i wanted smokes, went inside and bought smokes. that's 3 authorizations in about 20 minutes. Chase called my cell phone 5 minutes later saying they noted some funny authorizations on my card. Told me to hang up, call the number on the back of my card, provide them with validating information, and they would reactivate my card immediately, until phoning them my account would be frozen. It took me a whole two minutes to do, and it's a comfort knowing that if my cards do get stolen, the people won't get far.

[ceaserthethird]

Yes Watch out for these Blood Suckers .... Money Money Money

[ATC-Eric]

I have a sams card, thats it!!!!

Im bad with cards, and HAVE been burned by Capital One as well. I wont touch that company again, IF I get another.

[Howdy]

Check out http://www.suzeorman.com/ for a lot of good info on credit / financial health.
Howdy