Wrong.

I just pulled out copies of my three credit reports. As you said, Cap One does not report the credit limit. Trans Union also didn't list my Filene's credit limit, and Equifax missed almost all my credit limits.

But, I am not being reported as maxed out. And neither are you.

There is a place on the listing for each card's credit limit. Some have the amount entered, some don't. Experian puts N/A in the space.

So you are not being reported as having a maximum credit limit of $151. Cap One doesn't list the information, and any credit company that deals with these reports a lot of the time will be aware of that. The reports do list a high amount for the year, and that's about it

Wrong.

Three reasons why:

1) I've been religiously checking my Equifax credit report monthly for the past year or so. Last month when my Cap One was at zero and my other cards around $800 I was under 20% debt ratio. I know this because Equifax's Credit Expert service has a scale that tells me at what ratio I am at. This month, all my other cards are at zero and my Cap One is at $90, and yet that same Equifax scale shows that I am over 50% ratio! The only balance that went up from last month is my Cap One. $90 of $500 is NOT over 50% ratio. But $90 of $151 is 60% ratio. So not only does the math adds up, but also Equifax itself is telling me that I am maxed out (or over 50% ratio, the highest level on the scale). So yes, I am being reported as maxed out.

2) The book I mentioned said so. I'm going to B&N tonight to buy it and I'll post that section here if you want. It said that Capital One is known for doing that in order to deter competitors from contacting their clients, and that they have been getting a lot of heat lately for it. So apparently I'm not the only one complaining. The example the book gave was basically the same as my case.

3) The service rep from Cap One himself confirmed that is the reason that my credit was affected. He also came up with the max-out-your-card-momentarily solution that I described. When the company itself admits to this, what more proof do you need? The only difference is that the rep didn't mention that it is done on purpose.

It's clear as day. Even if it never happened to me, #2 and #3 are reason enough to believe it. Just because it isn't affecting you it doesn't mean that it doesn't affect me. Which makes me wonder how do you know it is not affecting you? Did you know what your score was before you carried a balance on your Cap One for the first time?

Regards,

Javi