Chase “Free” Banking, Not Hassle Free Banking
posted in Rantings |As we sipped on Starbucks coffee, chit-chatting about the children, the laundry and what we’re making for dinner, the subject of credit cards came up. We were all trading “war stories,” when I noticed on thing in particular. Chase was ripping off the public. There is nothing worse than a bunch of women, hopped up on caffeine stewing over the injustices done to their purse-strings.
The worst anecdote made me rush home to reassess my own credit card. One friend mentioned that she has always used her card mainly like a charge card. She uses it as protection during online transactions and as a form of security for purchases that she’s uncertain of. She mentioned that she always pays in full, but noticed that each month there was a finance charge or late charge, despite having paid in full. Even more alarming were the late fees. Not only did she pay the charges in full, but she always paid early and in person, not relying on the “We didn’t get the payment yet,” excuse.
Each month, she had to call Chase’s customer service to ask why there were fees and late charges. Each time she called she was told, “We’ll remove it this time…” as if they were doing her a favor by eliminating bogus charges. Now my friend, is pretty laid back. It takes quite a bit to get her riled up, but after the third month of dealing with the arduous phone calls, she decided to go into the branch.
Get this. Chase tells her that although she pays in full, in person, in the branch, they have no control over when the payment actually reaches the payment center. Um…WHAT?! The next month, she noticed that there was a hidden charge. She added up all of her activities and discovered that there was a $30 charge that was unaccounted for. There was no answer for this mistake, other than…”we’ll remove this fee.”
Ultimately, she ended up closing her account, but even then Chase got the last word. They insisted that, despite her paying off the balance in full, she still owed a small balance. Then they even had the audacity to imply that they were dropping her as a customer. Um…WHAT?!
So, if you are considering opening up a Chase account, or already have one, watch your bills very, very carefully and be thee warned that there is nothing “free” about Chase Bank.”