Credit companies "score" you based on many risk factors, including income, income to debt ratio, debt to available credit ratio, number of recent inquiries, "negative" events, own or rent, etc....
If you are turned down, request a copy of the credit report(s) used by BankOne in making their decision. The decline letter they send you will include instructions on how to do this. I cannot stress how important this is. It will not cost you a thing, and they are required by law to provide it to you.
When you get the report, make sure there are no inaccuracies. Sometimes errors are made that negatively impact you, and in the worst cases, you can be the victim of identity theft.
If you find anything fraudulent, obviously you should contact the authorities and the creditor to try to resolve it.
If you do have negative events on your report, particularly if they are old, try writing a letter of apology to the creditor, and explain that you were late due to extenuating circumstances, and that you now pay all your bills on time (assuming you do, of course) and would appreciate it if they could remove the blemish from your credit record. Some will do this.
Also, when you pay off cards, its not always the best thing to close them.
He called and talked to someone else and was basicly told that credit card companies do not like customers that do this. They aren't making money off of you (interst/ possible late charges) therefore, some don't like to extend credit to these types of people.
Its extremely unlikely that they actually turned him down for this reason. Even if you pay off the balance each month, the credit card company still makes the transaction fee paid by the merchant. When he gets the letter, tell him to ask for the credit report. If nothing else, he can get the satisfaction of knowing he caused them some extra work!