I have had many unpleasant experiences with Chase VISA. I want to warn anyone else with this credit card, or who is thinking about getting a Chase VISA credit card, to be very wary. Whether this company is purposely deceptive or merely incompetent, I do not know. In any case, the following is most of a lengthy letter that I have written and have mailed to Chase VISA (with some numbers and names replaced with asterisks ****).
My VISA account number is **** **** **** ****. I am very dissatisfied with faulty, disingenuous information that I have received on the phone from Chase VISA representatives over the past few weeks, and I wish to register a complaint about this.
On July 28, 2006, my rewards miles balance was 15,822. I called Chase VISA and spoke with a representative (I did not write down his name). I asked specific questions, for which I received specific answers.
I asked if 25,000 miles could be redeemed for one round-trip air flight. I was told that this was the case.
I said that my most recent statement noted that 1,962 of my miles would expire on the statement date in September 2006. I asked what was the actual date in September when I would lose these miles if they were not redeemed before that time. He said that it was either September 8 or 9, but he was not sure which. He recommended that I make my plane reservation no later than September 8 to make certain that those miles were not lost.
I asked who could make the actual plane reservation. He said that I could call the VISA travel awards center at 800-603-2265, 24 hours a day, and that any representative could do that for me.
I asked if the reservation could be made on any airline. He told me that it could be made on any airline, except for Jet Blue. This was the conclusion of that conversation.
With the usual amount that I charge on my account each month, it would not have been possible for me to charge enough, in little over a month, to reach the 25,000-mile level and, at the same time, not lose the 1,962 miles from my account. I did not want for the latter to occur. So in August, I made some larger-than-normal expenditures and charged them to my Chase VISA card. For instance, I bought a laptop computer, along with a few accessories. I also decided to replace the roof on my house and charged $8,000 of the materials to my Chase VISA card. What ensued that day was upsetting.
On August 9, 2006, hours after I had made the $8,000 charge on my VISA card, I was called by the hardware store and was told that my credit card charge had been disapproved. This astonished me, since the total credit line on my Chase VISA account is $10,500. I also was very surprised that I had not received a call directly from Chase VISA asking me if I had made this charge on my account.
I had to drop everything I was doing and call Chase VISA to ask why the charge for $8,000 was rejected. I spoke to ***** in security, who asked me to verify some of the recent charges I had made on my card. ***** then told me that the charge was stopped because it was such a large amount and did not fit my past charging pattern. I told her I could appreciate this; however, I was very disappointed that I had not received a call to question me as to whether or not I had made the charge. It was a great big hassle getting the store to charge my card again, since I had lost some credibility with them. Also, the order for my roofing materials was delayed for a few days, which was a further inconvenience.
During August (I do not recall the dates), I called Chase VISA twice to make certain that I would have accumulated enough miles by September 8 to get a free plane ticket. One representative told me that he had no idea what the actual “statement date” in September was. I called back and was told by another representative that the 8,000 miles would be credited to my account on September 3, and that I had through September 8 to make my plane reservation, before the 1,962 miles would go away at midnight.
Last night (September 8), I called Chase VISA and spoke with a representative (I did not get her name). Assuming that I had enough miles to make a flight reservation (from what was told me over the phone during my latter call in August), I asked if I could make a reservation. The tone in the lady's voice immediately seemed to be one of irritation and impatience, which was not the case with previous representatives with whom I had spoken. She told me that I had only 18,877 miles on my account. I said that I previously had been told that 8,000 miles would be credited to my account on September 3. This seemed to aggravate her even more. She declared that the 8,000 miles would not go onto my account until midnight EDT and to call back after that time. I wish I had gotten her name.
I waited about an hour and called back after midnight EDT. A lady told me that the 8,000 miles would not be credited to my account until after midnight CDT. So I waited yet another hour, or so, and called back. Another lady told me that the 8,000 miles had not been posted yet, and it would be best for me to call back in the morning (today, September 9), because the 8,000 miles should have been placed on my account by then. I also was told that the 1,962 miles would not expire from my account until midnight on September 9. I further inquired if I would be able to make my plane reservation, as long as I did it before midnight on September 9. She affirmed that this should be the case.
I called back at 7:20 a.m. this morning (September 9) and spoke with *** in the travel awards center. He told me that there always is a delay in processing miles after the statement date (something I never had been told before), and the 8,000 miles would not be reflected on my account until Monday or Tuesday, September 11 or 12. He also said that the 1,962 miles would “drop off” later today (September 9). The latter, indeed, did occur. Thus, even when all 8,000 miles from my last statement are credited to my account, this will leave me short of the 25,000 miles, required for a free trip, by 85 points. I told Joe that I was very unhappy about this. He suggested that I call 800-945-2000 and speak with someone in the customer service center if I wished to verify this information.
I called back and spoke with ******. He verified everything that Joe had told me, which made me wonder how two employees in a row happened to know that the 8,000 miles would not be credited to my account on that day, when no one else knew this fact. I feel that I was persistently misled, at best, and downright lied to, at worst.
I feel that, as of today, I should have accrued at least 26,877 miles—well over the minimum number of miles, 25,000, required for a free trip. I realize that I can pay $25 to gain 1,000 miles on my account, but I have no interest in doing this. I also do not wish to charge more things on my Chase VISA credit card in an attempt to reach the 25,000 miles, to attain my free ticket, to which I feel that I am entitled today. I am through “chasing” a free plane flight. The frustration, dissatisfaction, and disappointment simply are no longer worth the effort to me. I do not trust Chase VISA, and that particular credit card has been shoved to the back of a drawer. I probably will not use it again.
October 17, 2006
In August, I charged $8,000 of roofing materials on my credit card. Yet, only $4,000 of that amount was credited to my rewards miles (as 4,000 miles, rather than as the full 8,000 miles). As far as I have been able to tell, the program guarantees that 1 mile will be added to my account per each $1 charged; yet only half of that amount was credited to my account. I waited until I received my October statement to see if, by some chance, the remaining 4,000 miles had been credited to my account. They had not.
A couple of weeks after I mailed my letter to Chase VISA, I received a typically disingenuous “letter” of apology. It was of absolutely no significance or relevance whatsoever to me. Here is a little bit of what it said (I have inserted and underlined two grammatical corrections):
Our goal is to provide you with the unparalleled service you deserve. We sincerely apologize if the service you recently received was not of that quality. As our valued Cardmember, your comments are critical to our service efforts, and we deeply appreciate your taking the time to share your experience with us.
As a one-time courtesy we have added 2,500 miles to your account. You will see this adjustment on your next billing statement.
Of course, the 2,500 additional miles were of no value to me at all, since 4,000 miles had not been added to my account as of my September statement, as I had anticipated. Therefore, I still am nowhere near the 25,000 miles needed to receive a plane trip. Of course, that means nothing to me anyway, since I retired that useless credit card six weeks ago. About the only thing that I detest more than sheer incompetence and deception is a “token” gift that is made to sound like it is generous and substantial.
Soon after receiving that letter, I got another one. It was to inform me that they had increased my credit limit by $3,000. Blah blah blah. They could increase my credit limit by $300,000 and it would be meaningless to me, since I no longer use that credit card. It is yet another “gift” that is meant to sound substantial but which, in reality, has zero value.
Most likely, tens of thousands of people have read this since it first was posted on September 9. Numerous people have emailed me and have given me their opinions. So far, 100% of the responders have agreed that I should be very upset. Some of them have indicated that I should be “frustrated,” “aggravated,” “exasperated,” and “infuriated” with Chase VISA. I am all of those things, and more.
Frankly, I believe Chase VISA is a poorly and incompetently run sham of an organization. Thus, I will continue displaying this page at my website. Hopefully, before long, the number of readers will increase from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. This would give me a great deal of satisfaction. :-)
November 22, 2006
On October 17, after I mailed another letter to Chase VISA, I called their Customer Service Department and spoke with a person named Singer. I asked why only 4,000 miles had been posted to my rewards miles account. He indicated that, evidently, an error had been made, that an additional 4,000 miles should be posted to my account, and that I should receive a letter within 7-10 business explaining the error.
I was out of town for a few weeks. When I returned, I discovered that I had received a letter, dated October 22, 2006, from Cardmember Service at Chase VISA. The letter indicated that a customer can earn only up to 4,000 value miles per month. This information is not included in the abundance of “fine print” anywhere in any of my monthly statements, nor in any other mailings from Chase VISA, all of which I have kept since I became a Chase VISA customer over 1½ year ago.
This just underscores another inconsistency in the information Chase VISA provides to its customers. Although I was told by Singer on October 17 that I was entitled to an additional 4,000 miles, which would be posted to my account, the subsequent letter from Cardmember Service indicated that those 4,000 miles, indeed, would not be posted.
But the inconsistencies do not end here. Here is a direct quote in the letter from Cardmember Service, dated October 22:
We have verified that the miles-balance of 34970 on your account is correct. Therefore, no adjustments are necessary at this time.
After reading this, I immediately called the Chase VISA Customer Service Department and spoke with Courtney. I asked her what is my present rewards miles balance, and she said it is 23,410 miles. This is not even remotely close to the 34,970 miles stated in the October 22 letter from Cardmember Service.
Furthermore, in the same Cardmember Service letter of October 22, this statement is made:
You may earn up to 40,000 miles per year and 4,000 miles per month through the Value Miles Rewards Program.
Yet, if you go to the web page that provides information about my Chase Flexible Rewards Card, about halfway down the page, it states:
1Maximum point accumulation is 60,000 Annually.
A letter from Chase VISA states that there is a 40,000-mile annual limit and a 4,000-mile monthly limit on mile accumulation. Yet, their website says there there is a 60,000-mile annual limit but makes no mention at all of a monthly limit.
Basically, then, the Chase VISA “rollercoaster ride” has returned me back to “square one,” as far as being nowhere near the 25,000 miles necessary to receive a free flight. As such, I continue to maintain, with ever-increasing evidence, that the inconsistent information I have received from Chase VISA, over a period of many months, clearly is an example of the company’s blatant ineptitude and incompetence. And I will continue to recommend to everyone, including to anyone reading this, not to consider using Chase VISA for a credit card account.
December 05, 2006
I wrote Chase VISA about the discrepancy between what was written to me in their letter of October 22, 2006 (“You may earn up to 40,000 miles per year and 4,000 miles per month through the Value Miles Rewards Program”), and what is stated at their website (“Maximum point accumulation is 60,000 Annually”). I received a letter, dated December 02, 2006, that stated the following:
Effective October 12, 2006 the Value Miles Rewards program became Flexible Rewards. The transferred miles (now points) will not count towards the annual 60,000-point cap and their expiration will increase from 36 months to 60 months from the month in which they were earned. The annual cap is based on your Flexible Rewards enrollment date and will reset annually on the 12-month anniversary of your enrollment date. The letter dated October 22, 2006 was referring to the Value Miles of 4,000 monthly / 40,000 yearly cap. This cap has increased with the Flexible Rewards program. We are sorry for any misunderstanding.
Well, that didn’t really simplify things for me at all. In fact, it sounds even more complicated than it was before. But, when dealing with a company that habitually changes the rules to suit themselves, without informing their customers that such changes have been made, why would I expect anything different? I wouldn’t.
January 21, 2007
I figured, after months of not using my Chase VISA card, that I would give them another chance. I had been sent a new card with a new expiration date, and yesterday I called the 800 number on it to activate it. This is what happened.
Today I bought a few things that I needed at the store. When I checked out, I used my Chase VISA card. It was rejected. I tried again, and again it was rejected. Fortunately, I had my other credit card, so I used it to make my purchase.
When I got home, there was a message on my answering machine from the Fraud Department at Chase VISA, informing me that my card had been stopped due some recent “suspicious charges.” It gave me a number to call, and I did. The person asked me all kinds of questions, including whether or not I had made a charge that day. I said that I had, so he reactivated my card.
I told him that I had wanted the charges from that store to go on my Chase VISA card and asked if there was a way that they could be transferred from my other VISA card. He said he could not authorize that but that he could transfer me to someone in the Customer Service Department who would know. The waiting time was 8 minutes before a lady answered.
I asked her if my charges could be transferred from my other VISA card to my Chase VISA card. She didn’t know if they could or not but said she would “find out.” The next thing I knew, she had transferred my call to someone else. The recording said that there would be a 7-minute wait to talk with someone in the Card Member Services Department. I was curious to see how long it actually would take, so I stayed on the line for 22 minutes. At that point, I figured that the problem was just that nobody really wanted to deal with me, so I just hung up, and I never called back. From my previous experiences with Chase VISA, I had to assume that I simply would reach one incompetent, clueless employee after another, ad infinitum, and that I would be wasting my time, as always.
Incidentally, go to Google.com or Bing.com, type in (or copy/paste) the following words, and perform a search:
chase visa bad experiences
You should find a link to the page you now are reading, My Bad Experiences with Chase VISA, near the top of the first page out of millions of links. It gives me great satisfaction to know that this page has become so popular. :-)
Email me about this, or visit my extensive website, if you wish. See also Others’ Bad Experiences with Chase VISA.
Ted Montgomery
www.tedmontgomery.com |