Saturday, July 29, 2006

The Chase is On



My credit expired. I went to use it at a store and when it was declined, I was rather surprised. I had just made an online payment several days earlier. The payment amount had been successfully deducted from my checking account, so I knew it had been received and processed by Chase.

Mmmm...

The guy at the register looked closer, at the decline code, and realized that the card had expired.

Odd. They never sent me another one.

I called Chase and asked about the policy and procedure about issuing replacements for expired cards. The woman apologized and told me that apparently, through some computer glitch, the card had not been automatically printed and sent. She said she would get right on it and send one out. This was on July 22. I told the woman I would be leaving the country on August 3rd, and that I really needed the card for my trip. I asked her if she thought I should have the card overnighted. She reassured me that overnighting the card would be expensive and unnecessary. The card, she said, would arrive in 4 days. I asked her if she meant 4 business days, and she said, "no, 4 actual days."

Today is 29 July. By my calculation, that puts me 7 days out from the phone call to Chase. I have not received a new card. I just called. They told me that the card had been delayed in being sent out. It was just sent today.

Not to mention, the phone number listed on expired card as being the 24 hour a day, 7 days a week customer service number, got me connected to a voice mail telling me that the offices were closed.

Huh?

I'm not feeling very confident in Chase right now. Their 24 hour hotline was closed. Their 4 day mailing time has turned into at least a 9 day affair. (Today is 7 days, tomorrow, Sunday, a non mail day, makes 8, and Monday, the earliest I can get the card, is 9.)

In order to contact somebody (you might be wondering, if the offices were closed, how I got in touch with a person), I had to contact the, "If you're dialing from overseas" number.

Piece of advice....

When I dialed the overseas number, I got a person right away. Not a machine. Not a recording. Not an automated, "punch-in-your-account-number" voice mail number. Just a person.

What remains to be seen is whether I get some outrageous bill for calling that number.

If so, Verizon Wireless can take it up with Chase. And then, the Chase will really be on!

3 comments:

LizFwiz said...

I hate Chase Bank! I just had a run in with them myself! I guess I had their credit card a long time ago, and let it go. I never recieved bills so I didn't pay. I'm a visual person, if I don't have a bill how would I know to pay? I know, I should be more responsible. Anyhow, the guy from
Chase called me on the Eve of my wedding telling me of my debt and how I have ignored the (imaginary)bills. So I told him, look I'm gettin married tomorrow, I will make a payment over the phone as soon as I return from my honeymoon. So I set up a payment date with him on the phone for the Tuesday after we returned. Well, on Monday night after a 17 hour travel period my phone rings at 9:30pm. It's a friggen collection agency. Chase did not honor my set up date to pay them the next day and sent my debt to collections while I was in Hawaii. The collectors are assholes! They have threatened me and harrassed me and are forcing me to pay them money I don't have, by tomorrow, or they will garnish my wages. I paid them $400 last week, and they want 1200 by tomorrow. I tried working out payments with collections, no such luck. I tried calling Chase, they wouldn't return my calls. Long story short, I'm screwed and I HATE CHASE BANK!

JoviFan said...

Liz,
See if you can transfer your chase balance to another card. I'm sure you get those "0% interest rate" offers all the time. My mailbox is constantly flooded with those things. I'm not sure if the balance can be transferred if they have already passed it off to "collections." But still, it would be so much better for you to have that balance on a zero interest card and to start slowly chipping away at the balance without these jerks looming overhead.
I am going to cancel my Chase cards as soon as I come home. I just don't have time to sort out a new card before I go overseas on Thursday.

Canoes under my shoes said...

I had a Chase card once. I forget why or how they screwed me, but they screwed me. I cancelled the card and never looked back. There are too many people offering me credit these days for me to refuse.
(I only use one card...and it doesn't come from Chase)