Capital One
Finance Charge Applied Despite Zero-Interest Cash Advance Check Offer

For the first time in my life, I decide to take advantage of an offer from Capital One, whose credit card I've had for a number of years. They sent preprinted checks with the advertisement that if you agree to pay 3% of the amount you write, but not greater than $49, you can write yourself a check and there will be no interest charged on the amount of the check you've written through 12/31/07. I was fine with the cash advance fee, but I expected I would have "free" use of the cash, meaning without finance charge, through the end of the year.

When the first statement arrived that contained this check, I made sure to pay it off in full, MINUS the amount of the check. So, for example, if the statement totalled $2500 of which $1500 was for the cash advance check, I paid $1000, figuring there would be no interest on the $1500 cash advance check.

I guess I was wrong. The next statement contains a finance charge. When I called customer service, I was told the finance charge was for purchases. No matter how many times I explained the situation, the "supervisor" insisted that the finance charge was legitimate and was being applied against purchases made, not against the cash advance check. I tried to explain that my payment of $1000 was a repayment of all the purchases I had made, but to no avail.

Of course, I asked to speak to her supervisor, at which point she rudely said that "there is no one higher".

What am I missing here? To me it does not seem complicated, but I guess in the world of credit cards nothing is straightforward.

Thanks for your help explaining this to me.

Company: Capital One
Country: USA
State: North Carolina
City: Charlotte
Phone: 8008670904
Site: capitalone.com

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