When there’s some miscommunication between your bank and your credit card company, you would hope that the two parties could act like professionals and sort it out — especially if they’re both part of the same financial institution. But that’s apparently not the case with Chase.
Consumerist reader Jason has both checking and credit accounts with the big bank. He’d even had another credit card account with the bank that he chose to close three years back.
All was going well until a couple months ago when Chase somehow reopened that closed credit card account, which was now showing a $350 charge.
So Jason called up the bank to see what in the world was going on.
“The guy on the line laughed and said it was a simple computer error and said they will send me a check to put back into my account to pay off the balance,” he tells Consumerist.
He continues:
Two weeks later I receive the check and made sure my statement was still current. Yup… $350 charge still there. So I proceed in depositing the check and everything went fine. The balance returned to $0…then a big STOP PAYMENT! RETURNED CHECK FEE slapped my face as I wondered what happened.
I called again asking why this happened and I got the most hilarious response. In a nice way it was pretty much summed up to: “Looks like trolling.”
Right after they got the check deposit, they retroactively credited my CLOSED credit card account, making the check void. Then to recoup the cost of giving me the check, they slapped me with a fraudulent check fee of $10…
They wont refund me anything because the credit card and checking departments cant mess with each others’ accounts.
“It’s not me crying over $10,” Jason explains. “it’s the mere fact that I got COMPLETELY trolled. The only thing they said was, ‘This is something we can apologize to you for. Looks like a cruel joke.’”
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CREDIT UNION
OR SMALL LOCAL BANK
POTATO SALAD
CHEESE CAKE
FRIES WITH THAT?
Will not help. I made a payment on my loan at a CU, but the teller credited a CLOSED credit card account instead. When the payment didn’t credit to the loan, I went to the CU and they opened an investigation. They discovered what happend, but couldn’t correct it. They told me the credit card dept would need to fix it, and because the credit card was closed, they would probably send me a check. After many calls & visits, I finally spoke to a lady in the credit card dept, who advised that they couldn’t credit my loan directly, or my checking, or savings account. They sent me a check….4 MONTHS after the initial mistake. And no, I didn’t get reimbursed for the late payment. It was my fault for making a payment in cash, with a teller.
The next year when I moved suddently, they would not accept a change of address by phone, fax or mail, but required me to do it in person. So I did and closed the accounts. That is the last time I ever had an account with a credit union and will never make the mistake of doing so again. CU suck.
These responses are getting old and tiresome. These screw-ups are being made by people. Last I knew credit unions employed people as well.
Thanks. I’m getting tired of pointing out that credit unions are not the freaking solution. I’ve had three really bad experiences with local credit unions and am seriously thinking about leaving the fourth one soon.
I bank with USAA primarily but also keep a local account for cash deposits and emergencies. Since I can’t seem to find a CU that’s working within the 21st century (deposits take too long to credit, website interfaces are antiquated, etc.), I’m thinking about switching to US Bank, since they currently have my mortgage.
After a string of failures, sometimes it is best to ask, “what is the only thing consistent between all these experiences?” If the answer is YOU, then look inward for the solution.
This is nonsensical, considering the number of people that have had repeated problems with major types of company, including ‘internet providers,’ ‘shipping providers,’ and ‘cell phone providers.’
Yes, but usually by people that give a flip and have a goal to provide good customer service.
Question: how did the card get a $350 charge on it?
Find out where/how, then have the bank reverse the charge (as it is fraudulent). Why bother with a check to begin with? Sounds fishy to me…
The OP didn’t say it, but he did imply it was Chase that made an internal error, resulting in the $350 debit.
And remember, accounts and credit departments can’t alter eachother’s changes, so they HAD to send him the check to fix the other department’s error!
This is easy, call up your local police department and report that Chase wrote you a bad check. It is actually probably illegal to do what they did here in most states.
At which point, Chase will conveniently have lost all documentation and innocently claim to have absolutely no idea what Jason is talking about.
Which will at least get the $10 credited. No documentation = no proof that money is due anywhere.
Even then, there’s about a 99% chance that the officer would tell you it’s a civil dispute and s/he can’t do anything.
So you’re saying that writing bad checks to a bank is a civil matter, not a criminal matter?
Then how do people wind up in jail for writing bad checks, if it’s strictly a civil matter?
Companys are people. Humans are just scum.
BOA, Chase, Citibank … they all suck.
My bf’s paycheck is drawn on a Citibank check, but the actual branch where the account is located REFUSES TO CASH HIS CHECKS. We have to actually go to a branch in another borough to cash his paycheck. :/
This doesn’t surprise me. Many moons ago, I worked for what is now Chase, and participated in the employee stock purchase progam they had. So, now, every quarter I get a check for something between $9 and $12. Obiously, it’s drawn on an account at Chase. But if I take it to my local bank, they won’t cash it unless I pay a $15 fee, because it’s an out-of-state check. They have actually told me that to avoid the fee, I’d have to go to a Chase bank in Delaware to cash it. These sorts of shenanigans are what keep me from ever banking at Chase.
Edit: if I take it to my local branch of Chase bank.
This is what happens when my brain gets ahead of my typing.
Say what? Do you have an account with them? I can understand the fee if you don’t and are just looking to cash them, but I deposit checks semi-frequently with my bank all the time, no fee.
No, I don’t have any account with them anymore. But the check is drawn on Chase. I am more than willing to provide documentation to prove that I am who I say I am. There is no good reason to insist on a fee that is larger than the value of the check to cash a check written by Chase itself and drawn on a Chase account.
But what about your bank? I don’t think I’ve ever had a bank charge me a fee to cash a check where I’ve had an account – no matter where it’s issued from.
Irrelevant. Checks from banks should be cashable at that bank, in all circumstances, with no exceptions, with no fees, for the total amount of the check, immediately, and with no other qualifications. A check is a “FUNDS TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION”, and you have taken that FTA to the exact organization which gave out the FTA. For them to refuse the FTA is inexcusable.
Thank you! You made my point far better than I think I could have.
I agree, but my feeling is that the right person to go after in that case is the person who gave you the check. If they owe you $10 and they give you a financial instrument which cannot be redeemed for $10, then they have not actually paid you.
Besides which, checks are not legal tender — you don’t have to accept it as payment for a debt.
This sounds like a job for the CFPB.
If a check is drawn on your bank, you MUST cash it, NO FEES.
Wait, no fees, even if you don’t have an account? Are you sure? When I first moved to CA, I was crashing with a friend and hadn’t established permanent residence. No one would let me open a new bank account, and I was with a tiny bank in an east coast city. BoA forced me to pay fees on checks because I wasn’t an account holder, even tho the check was drawn on them.
Wrong. I wish it were true, but it is not:
http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/get-answers/bank-accounts/checks-cashing/faq-banking-check-cashing-04.html
BSoA, Chafe and Shitibank are better names.
Actually filing a complaint with your local police department is a good idea to whatever the law reads or just ask your local police, also BBB.org and his next step should be to find a new (small) bank or credit union and open an account there. And finally get a new credit card too, then close all Chase accounts and that’s his payback to Chase.
Hey, if the local police will prosecute incidental shoplifting ($2 pumpkins and $.87 coffees), why not a bounced check.
I say go for it, just to see them squirm.
Offer to withdraw the charges if they give you $100 for your trouble and then close all your accounts and get that credit union account. At least there, you have a better chance of people working with each other.
Oops, you wrote “$100″ but you obviously meant “$10,000″. As you demand it, make sure to call it a “convenience fee” since it is more convenient for the branch manager not to be arrested.
#iwillkeepdreaming
Or, they could just file their own police report against you for felony blackmail/coercion and send you to prison for 5-10 years.
Demanding money “or else” is a crime in most places…
Left hand, meet right hand. Right hand, left hand.
That’s likely what they do all day long there…fap fap fap fap fap
I see what you did there :>
Perfect. Sounds like a great case for criminal charges. Explain you had a fraudulent check passed to you, show the police the proof that it is fraudulent (the fraudulent check fee) and ask the police to investigate and pursue the thief.
If they won’t, sue in small claims for check fraud. Seems Chase has incriminated itself.
+3, vorpal.
“Consumerist reader Jason has both checking and credit accounts with the big bank.”
Blame OP, no sympathy, TL;DR
I’ve found Chase bank managers helpful & capable of reversing charges. Get off the phone and talk to your bank manager in person.
I had the same experience when I made a lot of dumb mistakes regarding overdrafts while in college. YMMV though.
There should have been no check involved, the charges should have been reversed and the account closed. Sending the customer a check to reimburse them for money that is not theirs to pay off an account they no longer hold makes no sense. Something is not right here.
That whole problem is just asinine. If it happened to me, and I had the time and energy, I’d consider escalating to get the $10. That’s lunch for two days at work for me, or *insert $10 item of your choice*
The $350 check is a very weird way to deal with invalid charges. It should should have cleared without any more action on your part.
Take them to small claims court and make sure to add any expenses that you occur to do so.
Not every state allows you to sue for more than the original damages. For example, in many states, you can’t include the filing fee for small claims court in the monetary damages you sue for.
File a complaint with the OCC http://occ.gov/ — that’ll get their attention.