David got suckered into Chase’s Payment Protection plan and was stuck with a monthly charge of nearly $30, all because he unwittingly authorized his membership by accepting information about the program.

He writes:

Chase charged $27.48 to my credit card – by enrolling me in their “Payment Protector” plan without my consent!

Here’s how. I said no, I wouldn’t enroll in their plan. They then offered to send me information about it. But they didn’t tell me that requesting that information AUTOMATICALLY ENROLLS YOU IN THE PLAN!

That’s what I was told today by a Chase supervisor.

Chase had then sent me an envelope with a catchy slogan on the outside. (“The Chase Payment Protector Plan now has you protected.”) I figured I’d review the plan they were offering me later, so I didn’t even open it. So I was shocked when the $27.48 monthly fee began appearing on my next credit card statement.

Chase says it’s a 30-day trial — but if for some reason you don’t notice it on your statement, then you’re enrolled. I’m ashamed to say that’s what happened to me. I hit the roof when I discovered the $27.48 on my statement, and was even angrier when I realized they’d also taken out $27.48 the month before!

I’m not the only person who’s been enrolled in this program without their consent. I saw several others when I Googled it on the web. I also found people who’d paid the money to enroll in the plan — only to discover that Chase wouldn’t even deliver the promised “payment protections” when the supposedly-covered situations actually occured.

So when I called Chase, I was insulted that their rep first tried to explain the benefits of this plan to me. (“If you’ve already enrolled me in this plan, then shouldn’t I know these benefits already?” I asked.) She claimed that everyone who enrolls in this plan is recorded — but then she later contradicated that claim. (She said that when you’re activating your card, it’s possible to select the “Payment Protection” option just by pushing the wrong button!) Her name was Suman Vandam, and she tranferred me to a supervisor named Tim.

To be fair, the supervisor did promise to refund all of my money and to get me out of the program. But he said it might take two billing cycles before that would appear on my credit card statement. He said there was a possibility that it might appear in my online statement within 10 business days. Someone on the web says they received this promise, but then did not actually receive the refund — so honestly, now I worry that they’re lying to me again.

The Payment Protector people also refuse to accept phone calls about this over the weekend. I even began wondering if Chase timed the delivery of my statement to arrive on Saturday, just so I’d have to wait another 48 hours before being allowed to follow up.

I call this “stealth enrollment”. I think it’s outrageous. They pretend they’re just sending you information. Then they enroll you without your knowledge, and make you jump through their hoops to try to get out of the program. I had to spend 15 minutes on the phone before I finally got a promise of a refund.

I was so upset that I just filed a complaint with California’s State Attorney General.

If you’ve wound up in one of these near-useless programs by accident, please tell us what it took to get out and get your money back.

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