Why Chase Bank USA Sucks
A few months ago I was doing a bit of pasalubong (gifts for friends/family when you go visiting them) shopping on Amazon when the site offered a cross-promotion deal with Chase Bank USA of a $30 credit if I signed up for a Chase Amazon business credit card.
What the hell, I'm a sucker for free money and since I never carry a balance anyway, I sign up for the card.
Some time later I get a bill for the items I purchased, the offered $30 credit, and a $79 charge for Amazon Prime membership. Weak. Still no big deal..I call chase to tell them I dispute the charge and ask them to take it off.* Chase's customer service transfers me to their "dispute" center..and the call promptly goes to dialtone.
Rinse and repeat 4 times.
Finally I call back and immediately ask for not only the charge to be reversed, but the card to be cancelled as well. Incompetence and poor customer service I can do without. The customer service agent agrees to reverse the charge and puts me in touch with what I assume is a retention specialist who begs me to give Chase another chance and apologizes profuseful for the call drops. Somewhat mollified by the agreement to get the charges removed, I forgo card cancellation and consider the issue closed.
Until a month later where Chase sends me a new statement for a balance of $79 brought forward, $15 in "late fee" charges and $1.81 in Finance charges. The finance charges is a nice touch..charging me interest on a charge I didn't authorize.
So fine..I call back up Chase and immediately enter the Twilight Zone. No one has any record of my calls and any agreement to remove the charges. So I ask for a transcript of the previously recorded call conversation...they say they don't provide that and have no access to it. [Why bother recording the calls then?]
I'm told "its impossible that to remove the charge nor can I dispute them"..I'm also threatened with a subpoena for making false statements in regards to charges (the very one that I can't dispute).
A few escalations later, I'm still getting nowhere. Chase refuses to acknowledge that I ever called in to discuss the bill, refuses to reverse the charges and refuses to accept my dispute of the charge over the phone.
To make a long story short, a conference call with Amazon was setup (with me involved) and they (Amazon) agreed to credit back the account -- exactly what I had asked Chase to do from the very beginning.
At this point of course I'm beyond pissed at the poor customer service I've received and decide that I not only want to cancel this particular credit card, but every chase bank credit card I/my family has. I ask to speak to someone who can get that done..and surprise...dialtone. Now I'll admit that there is no way that they Chase would retain me as a customer, but I think its symbolic of their poor customer service that they drop my call before I can cancel my cards.
I estimate that lifetime Chase has forgone approximately 200-300k worth of net profit from myself and my family. This of course doesn't include all the friends whom over the next 40 years or so I will steer far away from ever doing business with this corporation.
I've noted that corrupt banks never really die, they just get merged into larger banks. That said, the least I can do is contribute towards the outsourcing of every customer agent that Chase uses once the corporation inevitably goes through a "restructuring" due to their poor service.
What the hell, I'm a sucker for free money and since I never carry a balance anyway, I sign up for the card.
Some time later I get a bill for the items I purchased, the offered $30 credit, and a $79 charge for Amazon Prime membership. Weak. Still no big deal..I call chase to tell them I dispute the charge and ask them to take it off.* Chase's customer service transfers me to their "dispute" center..and the call promptly goes to dialtone.
Rinse and repeat 4 times.
Finally I call back and immediately ask for not only the charge to be reversed, but the card to be cancelled as well. Incompetence and poor customer service I can do without. The customer service agent agrees to reverse the charge and puts me in touch with what I assume is a retention specialist who begs me to give Chase another chance and apologizes profuseful for the call drops. Somewhat mollified by the agreement to get the charges removed, I forgo card cancellation and consider the issue closed.
Until a month later where Chase sends me a new statement for a balance of $79 brought forward, $15 in "late fee" charges and $1.81 in Finance charges. The finance charges is a nice touch..charging me interest on a charge I didn't authorize.
So fine..I call back up Chase and immediately enter the Twilight Zone. No one has any record of my calls and any agreement to remove the charges. So I ask for a transcript of the previously recorded call conversation...they say they don't provide that and have no access to it. [Why bother recording the calls then?]
I'm told "its impossible that to remove the charge nor can I dispute them"..I'm also threatened with a subpoena for making false statements in regards to charges (the very one that I can't dispute).
A few escalations later, I'm still getting nowhere. Chase refuses to acknowledge that I ever called in to discuss the bill, refuses to reverse the charges and refuses to accept my dispute of the charge over the phone.
To make a long story short, a conference call with Amazon was setup (with me involved) and they (Amazon) agreed to credit back the account -- exactly what I had asked Chase to do from the very beginning.
At this point of course I'm beyond pissed at the poor customer service I've received and decide that I not only want to cancel this particular credit card, but every chase bank credit card I/my family has. I ask to speak to someone who can get that done..and surprise...dialtone. Now I'll admit that there is no way that they Chase would retain me as a customer, but I think its symbolic of their poor customer service that they drop my call before I can cancel my cards.
I estimate that lifetime Chase has forgone approximately 200-300k worth of net profit from myself and my family. This of course doesn't include all the friends whom over the next 40 years or so I will steer far away from ever doing business with this corporation.
I've noted that corrupt banks never really die, they just get merged into larger banks. That said, the least I can do is contribute towards the outsourcing of every customer agent that Chase uses once the corporation inevitably goes through a "restructuring" due to their poor service.
posted by Wetkarma | 11:59 PM
3 Comments:
It seems like a lot of people have negative things to say about Chase. Rediculous fees, poor customer service, APRs that change without notice - the list goes on and on!
We'd love to get your feed back. We recently started a poll on the Worst / Best Credit Card Issuers. Feel free to stop by and give us your opinions.
Ah yes, I cannot agree more. After a banoce of $100K in my checking account they charge me $3.00 for having direct deposit go into my savong account and not my checking. It was there cutomer service rp who dircted me to the wrong type of account. All the for .02%. Let them rot.
I had read at bankrate.com that chase was changing the way they calculate our APRs. "As of March 1, they will no longer change your APR based on a declining credit score. Your credit card account will be judged solely on how you manage your accounts with Chase."
Just got off the phone - my third call this afternoon! Last month's statement, they changed my payment due date, with no prior notification. As of my current statement, they have decided to jump my rate from 7.99% to 17.99%! Supposedly, they sent a letter last November informing me of this - I think I would've noticed something like that! The only remedy they were willing to offer was a phone number for a credit counselor.
Amazing isn't it! My rate gets upped after years of on-time payments, because my credit score dropped from 786 to 679 due to being laid off - the same month they will no longer be doing this! Having no income certainly plays games with your debt-to-income ratio... No matter that even with being unemployed, I have MADE SURE that not a single payment has been late - with anyone!
On top of all that, I check my credit report and find that an account I had closed with chase in Dec 06 was still listed as open! No apologies from them on that one either...
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