Don't ever bother to try to close a checking account with this bank either. They will send you a check in the wrong name and when you return it, they will demand you get a notarized statement to "prove" its wrong.
It took more than 90 days for me to reclaim my $7 and many phone calls and letters.

"I felt extremely insulted at this outrage,"
Don't be. Its not a personal attack against you. They don't know who you are, and they don't care.

"that not only could my financial future be in jeopardy that it was totally out of my control, I could only sit back and what my credit score go up in flames"
What? Over one late fee? Over-dramatic much? You financial future is and always will be totally in your control.

"I have yet to check the actual numbers after this incident, but I can assume that it's not going to be good."
Stop living and dying by your credit score. Its not a measure of success.

"Is there anything that can be done, some type of retribution to get back at chase?"
Yes, and I'm glad you asked. Stop using credit cards. When you play with snakes, you'll eventually be bitten. 'What can go wrong? I pay in-full every month, i use online bill-pay and paperless billing. What can go wrong?' Easy, they can simply change the rules mid-game. You'll likely find little difference from one credit provider to the next - they're all playing the same game and you're not winning. Since they make money every time you swipe your card, stop swiping. And take a chill-pill.

I loathe, abhor and don't trust Chase at all.

I had a "Prime for Life" card through Wachovia that I used for more than a decade. When Wachovia went from a regional bank to national, my card was sold. It ultimately turned up with Chase.

When I got the card, I called and quoted the original "Prime for Life" card. They accepted it. For two years, no problem. It hovered around 8%.

I pay 4 payments a month beat interest payments and pay well over my "minimum due" every month.

With my last statement, I went ballistic. Chase had raised my rates to 12.9%!

I called and got a drone. No way were they going to lower my interest. Not with logic, proof of no late payments, nothing.

My goal is to pay the card off in the next 9 months, terminate the account, and tell Chase to kiss my white ass.

They don't deserve my business.

I wouldn't worry too much about your financial future at this point. A lot of financial institutions won't report 30-day lates to the credit bureaus. In fact, there are a fair number that won;t even report up to 60-days late.

For those who haven't yet learned all the nasty little tricks the credit card companies use to rip you off, I highly recommend watching Frontline's "The Secret History of the Credit Card", you can watch it online here: [www.pbs.org]

If stories like this don't make you tear up your credit cards, watching this report may finally convince you.

A Tale of Two Citi Cards:

Citi Card A and Citi Card B used to be due the same day (or one day apart). Both bills would come in the mail together.

Citi Card B's due date began shifting away from A's. Now Citi Card B's due date is about 1 week ahead of A's.

So B is due earlier than A, but the B bill always comes a few days after A's,

The solution: Checking and paying the bills online. I honestly think they are shifting due dates to get late fees, especially from those who pay off their bills each month and who carry no balance.

On a very happy note, Chase's stock value is quickly falling. This makes me happy because I hate them... so very, very much.

Anatak has it spot on.

When you try to out think these guys,you're playing against the best there is. They do this for a living and you're just dabbling in finance.They not only play the game better than you do,they set the rules (and change them when you figure them out),they choose the playing field and the score is what they say it is.Just in case all of that is not enough,they choose (and pay)their own umpires.Knowing all of this, we are still lined up 6 deep to play the game.

"But, shitfire, Snarkysnake "! (You might say) "If the game is rigged against me,how can I win?"

Answer: You can't win their game,so play another game.Save your pennies,eat out less and less often,drive a piece of shit car,watch free TV,and generally go uber cheap for as long as it takes to get out of their clutches.Then don't buy anything that you don't have the money to pay for when the bill is due.Then pay the fucking bill and thank these assholes for a free 30 day (or 26 day or etc..) loan. There. That wasn't so hard,was it ?

It depends who you speak with. I happen to be in collections at chase and the other day I spoke with a young man that fell behind due to moving around alot and being out of work. His age was at around 20 something. He just made a huge payment ( around 125.00...not THAT huge but then again he's a college student. lol ) about one week prior. He was genuinely upset about the current state of the account and the impact on his credit score. Plus he just got a new job that gave him 38 hours a week however he had to wait another 2 weeks to get paid. FURTHERMORE, he had two mid-terms to worry about. After speaking with him and listening his situation I refunded two late fees to help out. It's really sad when reps at companies don't follow thru with their promises. Stuff like not following thru has happened to me before so I make SURE as an employee I take care of customers.

Anyways, I hope he does well on his mid-terms.

Folks, there's a simple way around ALL this mess. DON'T USE CREDIT CARDS!!!!

They are single-handedly the most sure-fire way to ruin your life, both financially and personally. When you are in debt, you play the bank's game and are subject to their petty rules and whim of the week.

Snarkysnake has it right on, if you don't have the cash in hand, you can't afford it. Period. Devaluation of our dollar has more to do with the excessive amount of personal debt in this country than it with who sits in the White House this year or next. Its time for folks to start taking some responsibility in their lives and stop making excuses or passing the buck for their own bad choices. Pay the bills you have but in the meantime, cut those cards up and don't use them again!

I have had a Chase Card for years and have never had a single problem-but mine is a rewards card for Southwest Airlines...maybe LUV pays something extra for Chase to provide decent customer service.

Screw them and sue them. At least threaten to sue them in a certified letter addressed to the legal department. Quit playing their game of "runaround" and get serious.

Even after reading all of this, I have to say that I STILL love my free 30 day loans. I think I've been late twice completely by accident and both times I was refunded the late fee. Neither incident involved Chase, however.

Chase are a bunch of loan sharks. They screwed me with a due date scam. This is part of their business model to extract every last cent from consumers. NEVER EVER TRUST JP MORGAN CHASE.

He can also dispute the ding on his credit score... Consumerist did a post on this awhile back, and I used it to get a ridiculous credit card fiasco deleted from my credit history.

@ckaught78: But they use any dirty trick they can to make your account into default so that you have to pay 30% interest or more. I can't count how many times these scams have gotten played with me. I just close the account and move on. I'm down to two credit card companies I trust: USAA and my credit union. And I'm nervous about my credit union.

"Is there anything that can be done, some type of retribution to get back at chase?"

Yeah - pay your card off in full. Don't have a credit card where you can only afford the minimum payment each month.

And for the future, write down every CSR's name you speak to with dates and times - it'll help in the dispute process (with Chase and/or with credit agencies) later down the road.

The way I see it for credit cards, it's either: "Screw them over or they'll screw you over." No middle ground there.

I always seem to have run-ins with Chase (either myself personally or myself through proxy). When I've tried to open a banking account, I was asked to sit and wait in a "pen-like" enclosure. Fair enough. I started to read a thick novel from scratch. I was a little less than halfway through when I noticed that I haven't moved an inch and neither has any of the people in front of me. Needless to say, I had a few choice words to say to the manager (who obviously took pleasure in doing nothing to help the situation) and say goodbye to the front desk employee. Then, dealing with CS for a Chase credit card that my dad has... ooh boy, I don't think I'll even get into that.

Needless to say, I don't have a single Chase product and Washington Mutual and Commerce Bank are combined safekeepers of my money and both are also my creditors.