Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Chase Ink Credit Card Services Suck

On March 6, I contacted Chase Ink MasterCard about a charge on my card from Enterprise Car Rental of approximately $600 for a rental charge that should have been about $75.
Chase Ink told me they would put the disputed amount in abeyance and contact the vendor and that I could deduct the amount from my bill until the matter was resolved.
I was on a business trip last week and noticed on my on-line Chase.com Ink account that my card was overdue.  I also got a message from Enterprise that they had made an error on my account and that I would receive a credit for approx. $525 since they had made an error.

I called Chase to clarify the situation since my payment should not be delinquent.  I was informed that not only was my payment delinquent, but also that my charging privileges had been suspended.
I explained the information above and that I was traveling on the road and that I would greatly appreciate removing the suspension until I resolved the matter with them when I returned home in 2 days.
They informed me that the first thing was to discuss the matter with the folks in the disputed transactions department. I was transferred to the disputed charges department and I was told that Chase had unilaterally and without notice to me reversed the suspension of the charges associated with the transaction two days after they had spoken to me in March and that there was a late charge of $39 on my account in addition to everything else.  I told them I wanted to get the suspension of charging privileges lifted. They told me I must speak with the customer service department and that they would transfer me to them again.
I waited on hold for 1/2 hour for someone to get to me while I was on the phone.  I gave up and called back.  I spoke to the customer service department and explained the situation again.  They read the notes, found the credit for $39.  They informed me that they could not lift the suspension of the charging privileges.

I usually carry more than one credit card with me when traveling.  In this case I also had my American Express card.  Unfortunately, the magnetic stripe on the back of the card had worn down enough that I could not use the card.  So, I was temporarily without any credit cards in New York City.  A precarious situation.

I have now returned home. I called Chase Credit Card Services.  They have acknowledged again that my disputed charge was not properly handled but my charging privileges would remain suspended until such time as I made a payment to bring my account current by paying for the disputed charges.
I have gone to the local Chase bank branch and explained the situation.  No action so far.
I have now called Chase Credit Card Services and spoken to a supervisor from both the Customer Service Department and the Disputed Charges Department in a conference call.  After about 3 hours of discussion Chase has finally decided to re-suspend the disputed charge, bringing my account current and I will have charging privileges reinstated in two business days. However, I note that it is already time for my next monthly payment, so the matter will, in fact, not be resolved until after I make my next payment.

Thank you Chase for the approximately 10 hours of my time that you wasted on this matter and the suspension of my charging privileges while on a business trip without even a hint that you were going to do so.

Now the plot thickens.  I was waiting the two days for my credit charging privileges to be reinstated by checking my on line account.  After two days, today, the final day for payment, I noticed that while my charging privileges have been reinstated, they show that I still owe them a tidy sum of money that is due by today the latest.  Now, if I had not looked on line, I suppose I would have become delinquent again and they would have suspended my charging privileges in another few days.

A call back to Chase has confirmed by deepest fear.  No one can explain the charges, Yes, the disputed charges are still suspended.  I called my local branch again.  They called Chase Credit Card Services for me.  After another few hours on the phone it became apparent that I had two choices.
1. not pay the sum that I didn't owe and incur late charges and card suspension, which would be reversed (so, they say) if I were to call them in a few days, or
2. pay the sum they demanded and that in a few months this would all work out.

I don't like being put into this kind of a situation. What I don't like is the fact that the very same kind of suspension of charging privileges would have occurred again, without any notice to me beforehand about the situation and the fact that their system has a glitch in it.

Sorry, JP Morgan Chase, I will find another credit card company with which to do business.  In fact, I will find another bank to do business with.
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9/6/15 Update.
Yes, in fact, I now have a new credit card, but I thought it necessary to explain what else has happened in the meantime.  I got a notice from Chase that they were cutting my credit limit in half. No matter, I will not be using it. I am switching everything out of Chase.  My only reason for staying right now is to cash out my rewards points.
I just looked on line and Chase has me with four credit cards with outstanding balances on all.  Sorry, I have only one account.  What is this?  I called Chase to find out that they cannot recognize me because I could not answer the security questions correctly. I have to go down to a branch and identify myself before they will deal with me.  Done that. I have no idea what their problem was.  I spoke to the billing department about the 3 phantom credit card accounts.  They say that they have been having problems with their on line system lately.  I should say so.  Chase cannot get their act together.  I cannot chance this kind of screw up, especially on business trips.  Good bye Chase.