POLL: Worst / Best Credit Card Issuers (2008)
Vote or see the results for worst / best credit card issuer…
If you’re like most people, you’ve probably had some positive– and some negative experiences with credit card companies over the years. Let your voice be heard! Give us your opinion about the best– and worst credit card issuers for 2008. If you have experience with any bank or financial institution, please vote in our poll and leave comments to help our visitors. Or, just view the results below and see what others had to say:
Other Polls: Most Popular Cards | Most Popular for Business | Most Popular Bad Credit
Loading … Loading …Be sure to see our complete lists of American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Citi Bank, Discover and Chase Credit Cards.
* PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT (BELOW) if you’d like to elaborate on your experience with a particular credit card issuer or if you have experience with an issuer not listed in our poll.
January 13th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
My best experience has been with my NFCU (Navy Federal Credit Union) credit card. You have to be active duty Navy - or related to an active duty member, but it’s a great card if you’re able to qualify. HATE CAPITAL ONE!
January 24th, 2008 at 5:21 am
My favorite credit card has been my State Farm Bank rewards visa. They are always nice and they don’t cheat you. Capital One has been the worst by far. Add me to the list of people who HATE “CRAPITAL” ONE!!!
January 27th, 2008 at 1:26 am
This is a good poll you’ve started. In my opinion, collect a review of each credit card and add as a post then give a link to this poll. This will enable visitors to identify good and bad issuers. Also they can have a self assessment with their own credit card. Nice poll… keep it up.
January 27th, 2008 at 11:12 am
THANKS FOR ALL THE COMMENTS SO FAR! KEEP THEM COMING!
It would be great if people could clarify why they like or dislike specific issuers. A couple visitors said they “HATE CAPITAL ONE”– but what is it that you hate so much? Poor customer service? Excessive fees or high interest rates? We’d love to get some detailed feedback so our visitors know what to expect if they’re considering any of these companies.
THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR INPUT!
January 27th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Thank you for inviting us to post your survey on my blog (which I did). I want to invite your readers to review the opinions of the experts on the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650, see www.HoustonBusinessShow.com). Or, visit http://hbs.typepad.com/calvin_b/ for information on Calvin’s comments.
January 30th, 2008 at 11:43 am
HATE CAPITAL ONE and the games they are playing. They raise your credit limit for 6 months ( with written notice ) and then lower it with no written notice or time to pay the card off. I paid on time every month ( more than the minimum payment ) and they still lowered it. When I called to speak to them. I was told it was a system error and it should have never been raised to begin with. The second person at Capital One said it was a system error that it got lowered but they could not raise it. Thank GOD I stayed below the original credit limit issued. Just imagine how many people got sacked with over the limit fees with this “system error”.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
My ABSOLUTE WORST EXPERIENCE EVER was with CAPITAL ONE. I did a balance transfer with them for $10,000 at a 4.99% rate. My interest rate on the very first statement from them was 11.99%. I made several calls over the next few months and got a different story from each person I spoke with. They even admitted that my file had a comment regarding a 4.99% rate but, either that rate did not apply to me, or there was never a promotion for that rate at the time I applied.
It made absolutely no sense! I sent a letter to a Capital One VP then transferred the whole balance to American Express. Months later I received a reply to my letter stating that I was indeed offered a 4.99% promotional rate, I had applied before it expired, however my application went to an approval committee and it was approved AFTER the promotion had expired. They were sorry, blah, blah, blah… Riiiiiiight! They basically played a “bait-and-switch”, then Customer Service lied through their teeth about it. I can’t imagine how anyone could possibly think this was an appropriate way to conduct business. Thank goodness I was able to make a balance transfer to American Express for a lower rate and with absolutely no problems whatsoever.
February 12th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
This poll is a great idea. I would like to publish updates on my blog and will encourage visitors to come by.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I have about six different cards and have had positive experiences with all the companies except for Capital One… After getting my new card, they put a “fraud alert” on it after my second use. It took me about 20 phone calls, and 10 hours to finally get the issue resolved. They have a lot of stupid policies and incompetent customer service people working at Cap1.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
First Permire Bank is the worst they charged me 189.00 just for getting the card and if i get a credit in crease they charge me for that, 50.00. there custmer service is poor. I have an orchard bank card and it is great, i have a problem and they had it fixed within seriously less then 24 hours i highly recomend them.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:51 am
With my experience capital one has to be the worst.I made a mistake of one dollar and they called me for weeks breaking my balls saying i had to get back on track aside from the fact that they charged me 39.00 for their mistake. Would,nt go back to capital one if they offered me a card for nothing. their customer service sucks
February 26th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
My experiences so far: Orchard Bank is the worst card for persons either establishing/re-establishing credit. The customer service reps provide anything but and the card is nickled and dimed to death via fees. BTW, if you are delinquent with other accounts, you will not qualify for a CLI but will qualify for a rate increase! The only other CCC that monitors your credit that closely is AE (but they deservedly have that right, HSBC doesn’t).
Imagine card issued by First Bank of Delaware has been awesome. This card is good in that it forces you to be responsible with spending, payments, etc. The annual fee is relatively high, you also get charged $10 monthly if you carry a balance but that just forces you to make sure you don’t spend needlessly. I have received 4 CLIs in the 1.5 years that I’ve had the card which has nearly doubled the limit I started with. CS is always pleasant and professional whenever I call them. They deduct my payments automatically for the amount and on the date that is indicated on the website. Though they are a subprime cc, I really couldn’t ask for a better bank to do business with.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:37 am
Bank Of America is the worst. But I must say, Capital one is right up there as one of the worst too.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I HATE, HATE, HATE HSBC / Orchard bank. They call 10 times a day - and even though I’ve spoken to 4 people already - they keep calling over and over. Then, when the answering machine picks up they don’t even have the decency to leave a message. I’m at work! When I get home I see 4 calls from “card service 800-684-8429″ - all left before 10 am. What the hell is that about?
Finally, when I do talk to them at 10:30am to tell them that a payment was made 4 days ago - they have the audacity to CALL THREE MORE TIMES BEFORE 2pm! That is 8 calls in 6 hours! What the hell is wrong with this company? When I called them to ask them to stop calling, they blamed a computer glitch and promised to “fix” the problem. The card is PAID and they still keep calling! If that isn’t harasment - what is? I HATE HSBC / Orchard Bank! If anyone is thinking about getting a card from them BEWARE…
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
HSBC / Orchard bank has to be one of the worst. I’m never late with payments and pay more then the min - then I get a change in APR from 11.24 % to 25.74 %. Makes this the second time they have done this in 9 years. Should be a law against CC companies doing this to consumers.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I banked with Chase throughout highschool (with parentals) and college. However, in college about every 4 months I’d get some random fee from $25 to $50 for not keeping my account balance above $25000. The first time they told me this I just about died laughing. I had never seen $25K in my life when was I supposed to have had that balance? Anyway after about a year of going back and forth with them I changed to a local bank.
I use Citi Cards now because my parents did and cause the rate was low. The rate is still low but they have no idea of what customer service is. I’ve been trying to get my companion ticket from them since December 07. It was part of the upgrade offer. Everytime I call I get a new timeframe and a new story. They can’t keep their story straight and they refuse to acknowledge anything is wrong. They just expect you to sit there and take it. And they act like you are trying to scam them. I have reported this to the Better Business Bureau (BBB.org) I would encourage anyone else who has a genuine compliant with information to support it to do the same. We get bullied because we are many small voices and they are “corporate America”. We need to stand as one voice and say “That’s crap and I’m not taking it”. We’ve taken it for too long for the companies like citi to think we actually care.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I just had to pay off and close my account with capital one. I went to use my card today and it was refused. Knowing I was no where near my limit I got real concerned and called Capital One. I still can’t believe what they told me. 2 Days ago they lowered my limit to below what balance I had on the card. Charged me an over the limit fee and we all know whats next, higher interest rate for being over the limit. So I called the accounts manager specialist named John because I wanted an explanation. I told him that I can’t believe what had happened and it seemed to me that capital one was pulling a scam. He did mention something about a FICO score but I don;t believe that. I didn’t ask capital one to be concerned about my FICO score nor do I need them to babysit my credit.
But this is where I am really concerned John says he will waive my over the limit fee (how nice) and also waive any charges I had over the limit as long as I was going to pay the balance. Now does anyone feel this is strange? Is capital one pulling another scam on me? John said that it was their fault for not notifying me of the credit limit reduction and therefore is not my responsibilty which I had on intending to pay it off anyway because I can’t conduct business with a company i can’t trust. After reading all the post here and else where, I see that Capital One is the most deceitful company to have credit with.
I have never had problems with credit card co’s before it’s really a simple relationship I charge,they bill I pay. So, why are they targeting customers with good credit not just over all but also with them? I am just still in awww over this. Any advise?
April 20th, 2008 at 8:42 am
My mom and I got a dual American Express, paying the $300 plus yearly fee for a trip. Some months with travel, misc. estate charges, payroll etc. we would spend $8,000 and pay it off that month on time. Always paid on time each month. After almost 2 years of being an awesome customer, we decided to cancel. I asked however if I could keep mine and was told no. So we both canceled their services. Now almost 2 years later charges are still going through on cards that don’t exist. Customer service for paying $300 plus a year is unexcusably non-existant. All their ads for the high end customer, then they treat them as if they are scum of the earth.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Been with American for over 30 years. I paid all the time at the end of the month. I was saving for a nice trip with over 180,000 points. ( used about 100,000 points already my balance was 180.000 plus.) I was late one time for one month. ( I called to explain ). My card was canceled and I lost all my points because I did not pay that extra $15.00 insurance for the points. I will never use this credit card again! I called and wrote a letter. No use, I did have great service but you have to read the fine print! I switched to Bank of America ( no choice they bought the credit card company I was using ) I must say for BOA I have very good service and when the big scam with TJMAX my CC was changed and they watch my spending when I travel. Very up to date with my card if I have unusual spending I get a call from BOA , The only thing is the points saved ( rewards points) are not as good as American express!
July 10th, 2008 at 6:50 am
Bank Of America [BofA] is the WORST issuer in my opinion. Why? Because they jack up interest rates at will. Once BofA raises the rates, getting them down is a losing battle. BofAs’ customer service is by far the worst. They often communicate to customers as if they are criminals. Long term customers of banks that BofA buys, lose the benefits of their long-term patronage for becoming just another consumer of BofAs’ products.
The best bet is a Credit Union Card [CU]. A non-profit CU is usually operated locally. The CU customer service is superb! They have reasonable rates as well. There are many CUs offering varying qualifications for membership.
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July 16th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I got a capital one card with a 0% intro rate, it was for 18 months which was good. I wasn’t real sure exactly when it expired but figured it wouldn’t go that high, since their commercials say that. It went to 24% after the intro. I paid it off but was really surprised in the jump from 0% to 24%. None of the payments were late and I was never near the limit.
July 19th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Cap1 Sucks. Period. BOA is a close second. Amex is #1.
I have had repeated false fraud alerts/lock-downs on my capital one cards. I use my cards for business - my business - and whenever they do this it’s always at the worst times. Like trying to buy $25,000 of equipment for a large contract that gets delayed while I talk to India to get it sorted out. And they NEVER do!
Whenever I paid Cap1 online, they NEVER posted within the time frame shown on their own website. I have told them several times that they do not belong in the business of doing business for business’. The ‘Billy’s’ and ‘Mikes’ in India never get it.
I once had my wallet stolen and had to call Cap1, BOA, CITI and Amex to have all my business cards replaced. This happened on Thursday, Thanksgiving. The theft was reported on Friday. ONLY AMEX SENT A BUSINESS CARD WITH A NEW ACCOUNT FEDEX OVERNIGHT DELIVERY ON SATURDAY.
Now that’s a business card company! And I never talk to India when I call them.
Just send Cap1 their cards back - cut into little pieces - with your next payment. Then call and officially cancel the card. Everyone should do this - then they’ll get the message.