Oh how quickly they change their story

On May 7, 2009 I received the following from Chase:

Dear Swindled by chase;

This letter is in response to your April 2009 inquiry regarding your credit card account.

Your letter indicates that you called customer service to request the credit protection you were paying for be utilized. Your statements show that you have not been billed for credit protection. Unfortunately, credit protection does not cover this account. Enclosed please find copies of your billing statements for the past 12 months.

If you have documentation indicating that you have paid credit protection for this account please send us the documentation.

If you have any questions regarding the information above please call me directly at the number listed below. I would be happy to help. If you have new concerns regarding your account, or if you would like general payment or balance information, please contact cardmember services at the number printed at the top of the page.

Sincerely,
Rebecca Kassal
Quality Customer Care Specialist
(888_ 622-7547 Ext. 2850


After I received this letter I checked my statements from Washington Mutual, the original owner of this credit card. It did show I had credit protection and that I had paid for it. I also had the welcome letter and package from when I originally signed up to credit protection. I sent Chase all this documentation. Today I receive this letter:

Dear swindled by chase;

We are responding to your concern about the credit protector program.

We have confirmed your enrollment in the credit protector program was processed on November 14, 2008. This plan was canceled at your request on December 5, 2008, when you called regarding pricing terms on your account. No charges posted to your account for credit protector between November 14, 2008 and December 5, 2008. Based on dates of service you were not eligible for benefits on this plan after December 5, 2008.

If you have any concerns regarding your account, or if you would like to discuss payment options, please contact cardmember services at the number printed on the top of the page.

Sincerely,
Carol Kramer
Financial Services Advisor


This constant roller coaster of contradictory letters is mind boggling. So they say I never had it. I provide proof I did have it. Then they say I canceled it. How convenient for them. Also why would I cancel credit protection on the one card I owed the most money on? It makes no sense because it NEVER happened.

Their phone calls are now so frequent, threatening, and rude that I've unplugged the phone.

I received a postcard from Chase

It reads:

As your credit card company, we value your business and want you to be completely satisfied with your credit card account.

Right now, we simply want to inform you that we've received your inquiry about your credit card account. We have begun looking into this matter and will write you shortly to respond to your questions. Based upon our findings, we will make any necessary adjustments to your account and include them on your monthly billing statement.

Thank you for calling this matter to our attention. We are pleased to offer a variety of opportunities and services to our cardmembers. If you have any other questions or would like information about transferring balances or special promotions and products, please call us at the toll free number noted on the back of your card. You can also visit us online at the web site noted on your monthly billing statement. For your convenience we are available 24 hours a day to assist you.

Sincerely,
Cardmember services

I'm not the only one

Links to others with complaints against JP Morgan:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/chase_bank.html

http://www.complaints.com/CHASE-Bank--Complaint-129998/0

http://www.nad.org/site/pp.asp?c=foINKQMBF&b=2687445

http://www.my3cents.com/search.cgi?criteria=Chase+Manhattan+Bank

http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/chase-bank-a6981.html

http://www.medlawplus.com/classaction/chasecreditcardcomplaints.tpl

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/418/RipOff0418329.htm

So they refuse phone calls from the deaf and rip off senior citizens. The more I read the more upset I get. I just want what I paid for nothing more and nothing less. I could turn this into a big sob story about how I'm disabled and not working and yadda yadda yadda but at the end of the day I just want this company to stand by their word and treat me like a human being.

I also want to thank The Consumerist Blog for giving me the knowledge I need to take care of this. While it is draining and time consuming I'm currently unemployed so I'm going to use the time I have to fight for my rights. http://consumerist.com/

And so it began...

On February 14, 2009 I called the customer service hotline at 866-892-9268 to notify them that I was laid off and that I needed to utilize the credit protection I had been paying for. The customer service representative asked to put me on hold. After holding for quite some time he came back online and said that my credit protection had been canceled on 12/5/2008. I asked him by who and how and he said there were no details. I asked to speak to a supervisor at which time the man I was speaking to said “My manager will just tell you what I’ve just told you.” I told him that was unacceptable and that I wanted a supervisor.

I was on hold for an additional 10-15 minutes when the same customer service person came back on the line and said that after researching my account further that he was able to tell me that I had called and canceled my credit protection. Not only is that not true but on 12/5/2008 I was in England. I never called and canceled and I had been paying for it. My company had been having lay offs and I put the credit protection in place in case I was laid off. I told the customer service representative that his information was not correct.

I asked to speak to a supervisor for a third time and was put back on hold for a considerable amount of time. Again, the same customer service person came on the line and told me that there was no manager available. I told him I’d hold until one was and he said that there would not be a supervisor available on Saturday, that even if I hadn’t canceled my credit protection that it was no longer offered and that basically I was out of luck. I was told that since my card was originally with Washington Mutual but had been sold to Chase that the credit protection was not an option with Chase so it was just ended.

I found this address on line to send this letter. I believe that the customer service representative lied to me and that he put notes in my account saying I had canceled when I in fact hadn’t. After all he had me on hold the first time to “research” the account and couldn’t give me any details other then my credit protection was canceled. I find it very odd that he was later able to find a note somewhere about me having called in and canceled when I didn’t and the date he chose was one where like I said, I was out of the country.

I fully expect that credit protection to be put back in place, as I was paying for it. I also expect it to be used starting immediately as I was laid off and can not make payments on any of my credit cards. I have credit protection on all of my cards. I do not appreciate the rudeness I received on the phone or the customer service representative lying to me and then calling me a liar.

I will not be making any further payments on this account because I am laid off and my credit protection should be turned on to protect me during this difficult time, which is after all why I was paying for it.

When I tried to contact Chase they said they had not received all the information on my account. When I called Washington Mutual they said my account was basically in limbo and that I'd have to wait until Chase took it over.

When my account left Washington Mutual I owed $5,800 by the time Chase sent me my first statement I somehow was up to $6,300. I hadn't made any purchases. Also, my interest rate with Washington Mutual was 4.6%. I received a letter in February saying that Chase has different criteria and my interest rate was now 29.99%. Having worked in the banking industry for most of my career I keep pretty close tabs on my credit rating. From the time I opened the credit card with Washington Mutual until the time Chase took it over my credit score had actually improved by over 100 points. I called to discuss this with Chase and they told me if I didn't like it I could pay the balance of in full and close the account.

After Chase actually acquired all the information on my card they started calling me relentlessly. I'm talking over 20 times a day. These calls come in starting at 5 a.m. and go up until midnight. They don't stop on holidays or weekend. I tried talking to a few of the reps but it seems most of the calls are outsourced and half the time I can't understand what the person is saying.

I finally got a half way sympathetic customer service lady. She went through my account and confirmed that she did in fact see that I had and was paying for credit protection. She offered to turn it on if I would bring the account up to date to the tune of a few hundred of dollars. I explained to her that the whole point of credit protection is so that I don't have to make any payments while unemployed. She said only their corporate office could handle the situation. I told her that I had been trying to talk to them for ages and couldn't get through. She told me to call 800 654-9230. When I called them I was referred to 888-314-4371. Both numbers insisted that I pay a ton of money before they honor the credit protection.

I finally looked up the company information on the Wall Street Journal. I found the emails of the CEO's of the company, all five of them. I emailed each of them. I didn't receive any responses. I wrote a letter to the CEO Heidi Miller of JP Morgan, 270 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and sent it certified mail. "Your item was delivered at 11:50 AM on April 6, 2009 in NEW YORK, NY 10017." Still no response.

I received a response from the Better Business Bureau saying they had forwarded my case to another division. I have yet to hear anything from Chase or the Attorney General. I requested via certified mail that the company quit calling me. As of today they are still calling upwards of 10 times a day on both my cell and house phone. They are calling from 972-512-9503. When I have accidentally answered I explain that I am awaiting a response from corporate and that they can't help me. When they insist on hearing the story I tell them and they tell me that they are turning off my account and turning me into the credit reporting agencies.

My husband happens to be a British citizen and is in the UK finishing school. He has no social security number or ties to the U.S. They actually make me file single because he isn't in the country. He was here visiting and answered when Chase called. Somehow they knew his name. Odd since not even the IRS has that information.

Today I received a postcard from Chase saying that they want me to be completely satisfied and want to inform me that they've received my inquiry. That they have begun looking into the matter and will write to me shortly to respond.

I ran free copies of all my credit reports today only to find that Chase has already turned me in and so on top of everything else they are ruining my credit because of their mistake.

I'm not sure where to go from here but plan to update this blog as information comes in.