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–>We wrote in January about a new $10 per month fee that Chase was arbitrarily imposing on customers who had transferred balances to their Chase cards. Well after having a little chat with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Chase announced that they’ll stop charging this ridiculous fee and they’ll be refunding customers’ previous payments.
According to Cuomo’s office, Chase will be refunding $4.4 million in fees to their customers, but according the Chase, they’ll be refunding $3.3 million. Chase also says they’re relenting not because of the fear that Andrew Cuomo strikes into the heart of Corporate America, but because of customer feedback.
We can’t recall the last time Chase did something good in response to customer feedback, so we’ll just say, Thanks, Andrew Cuomo!
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Andrew Cuomo wants to be the next governor. That is all.
He may be grandstanding, but at least he’s grandstanding in the right direction.
@runswithscissors: If someone wants to grandstand that benefits the consumers, by all means, grandstand away.
@runswithscissors: Yeah..he will be running for president soon but at least he is doing it in the right direction like you said.
can we send checks directly to mr cuomo’s office to thank him for the job he’s doing?
If you did NOT pay it off, or did NOT switch to the 8% interest rate for a year, you get refunded. I don’t know how many like me they drove to do something else.
Will they refund me the transfer fees for paying it off?
Will they let everyone they forced into 8% go back to 3-4% and refund the fees?
I think not!.
They will also (unless you went to the 8% deal) still have the minimum payoff of 5% instead of 2%.
Another thing about their balance transfers that needs fixing: I had a $1300 balance on my Chase Freedom credit card and I did a 6 month 0% balance transfer of $1700 from a different card. I made a payment of $1600 to cover the regular $1300 balance and start chipping away at the $1700 that is at 0%. Then I got my statement. It turns out my $1600 payment went to the 0% balance and NOT the normal balance which is at 19% so I got charged interest. That completely defeated the point of the 0% transfer. When I originally spoke to them on the phone they never mentioned that this would happen.
@Jorel: Unfortunately, it’s in the TOS of almost every card that they apply payments to the lowest interest first.
@Jorel: If you have children Jorel….Chase said…..”Son of Jorel,,,,kneel before Zod….ZOD!”
@Jorel: Sadly, as Coles said… that’s the way it always is. That’s not gonna get “fixed” any time soon.
@ogsoleysol:
Yup, every card is like that. It is the danger of balance transfers. All payments go towards the lower interest rate, allowing the higher interest rate money to compound and you don’t make a dent in it. Best bet before a balance transfer is to pay off the card you are transferring to first.
Let’s just get rid of all the people that work in banking and start over.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. It’s hopeless. You can’t a regulation for every single thing these bone heads come up with.
Hire some autoworkers. They couldn’t do any worse and will probably do a whole lot better.
@twophrasebark: Should we also let the bankers make cars?
Every night, before I go to bed, I conclude my prayers with this: “Please please God let Andrew Cuomo not have any skeletons in his closet. And if he does, may they be hidden so well no one finds them. Amen.”
@tundey: I think you need to rethink 2 things then…..he does have skeletons….and there is no god. Damn bad day for you.
Chase only did this so they reduce their chances of winning “Worst Company In America” from Consumerist
There were also several law firms sniffing around the butt end of a class action lawsuit, so it was already costing them money. Like these guys,
[www.gslawny.com]
I like Andy C., too, so dude, stay away from the hookers while you’re at it.
I had the $10 monthly charge and my minimun payment raised from 2% to 5% two months ago. I chose to keep my 4.99% rate and pay the higher 5% minimun. On March 19, 2009 they sent me this letter.
“In reviewing your account,we discovered that you were incorrectly sent a Change in Terms notice this past November.As a result,you may have been charged a $10 monthly account service charge(s) and your minimun payment due was changed to 5% of your New Balance.
We have already taken action to correct the terms on your account. We have credited your account for the 10$ monthly account service charge(s). With your next billing statement,your minimun payment due will revert to its previous calculation of either 2% of your New Balance or 1% of your New Balance plus billed interest and any billed late fees. As always, your account remains subject to all terms and conditions, including default APR actions, as outlined in your Cardmember Agreement.
Your satisfaction is important to us, and we apologize for the error and any inconvenience this issue may have caused you.”
So it seems like they are trying to pass this all off like it was some kind of error now.
You know, if Chase tried to pull this on me (and not let me go back to the old terms, close the card, and pay it off as I had been doing), I’d just stop paying them. When the bill collectors start calling, I’ll tell them why.
@Cocoa Vanilla: If you’re willing to wait for collectors, more power be to you…I personally like to work my way around the system without getting into financial trouble.
@pecan 3.14159265: Indeed, your credit would take a hit, etc… and you’d be harassed. But I’d rather deal with that than to pay those bastards.
Only way to teach them a lesson is to get them where they care: the pocketbook.
Is there a reason Citi has been absolutely hounding me about transfers? I mean, is this making money for them? I was under the impression that transfers with Citicards were free, but I don’t transfer balances (because I don’t keep them) so don’t know. I just know that I get an email every two or three days saying it’s my last chance (after three emails, it’s still my last chance, Citi?) to transfer a balance.
Giant error. I have a contrary opinion here. We need huge fees and interest rates to break the horrible credit card fever that has consumed our citizens. Making it very expensive and painful to carry a credit card balance month to month is the best way to slow down the credit card debt madness in our country.
To A/G Cuomo: Thanks, but your job’s not done yet–$10 per month is peanuts compared to the expense of Chase’s bait and switch–raising my minimum monthly payment from 2% of account balance to 5%. Apparently they’ve done this to nearly a million accounts. They offer the 2% minimum if the customer will accept a much higher interest rate (22.5%). This is extortion!