I think they do it on purpose

Well, I have just spent the last 65 minutes on the phone with Capital One. See, I have a Capital One credit card. They show these commercials all the time, and their website says, you can change your reward structure any time you want to. So heck, I believed them, and thought I would give them a call to make a change.

As soon as they found out the change I want involves lowering my interest rate, I got transferred to another department. There I was on hold for 23 minutes. I timed it. Then I got cut off.

So I started again. This time I started pushing "0" as soon as I was connected, to get a real live person. I got one, he was VERY friendly and accommodating, but he just didn't have the authority to make that kind of change, so he transferred me to Tammy in Account Management. Tammy was also pleasant and she said I had to talk to the Rewards Department. After being on hold for just 9 minutes this time, Tina in Rewards picked up the phone. She gave me all kinds of information about my existing account, information I already knew and which really isn't pertinent to the request I am making today.

When I told her my request, she said "You have to talk to an Account Manager to make that change." I said "but I just did talk to them and they transferred me to you!" ... pause ... "Can you hold while I explain it to them?"

So then I was back to a very nice man who sounded as if he was talking to me from India, which he probably was, but he was using a tin can and a string.

He confidently told me that I needed to apply to open a new account, then transfer the balance, and then close my existing account, and that he would be more than happy to transfer me to the people who could process all of that over the phone.

Hooray!

So he transfers me and I get a recording.

"Thank you for calling Capital One Account Opening Specialists. Our office is closed."

And I am still paying the higher interest rate.

They won this round.