Chase doesn't really love me they just act like it
By glblguy
I just hung-up the phone with Chase after once again trying to request a rate reduction. I called them as almost weekly I receive convenience check offers and balance transfer offers from them for 0% and 4.99%. The cover letters always begin with “A special offer for a valued Chase Customer…your account has some exciting news for me!” Wow, I’m a valued customer and my account has some news for! They must love me! No not really…
I figured since they recently upped my credit limit and since I continually receive these convenience check offers from them, they might be willing to finally reduce my rate. Seems they still don’t love me.
Their decision to not reduce my rate makes no sense to me at all. My current APR is 26.49%. This isn’t even close to being competitive nor is it close to my other credit card rates. After the customer service representative declined my request once again, I asked her if I could use one of the 0% conveinience checks to payoff the balance. She said no. I then asked if I could write one of the checks to myself, and then just turn around and pay off the balance that is at 26.49%. She hesitated for a moment and said “Sir, if that is what you would like to do, than I guess you can do that.”
I laughed in a friendly way and said wouldn’t it be more cost effective to just reduce my balance? It would save me some time, save you check processing money, and honestly help the environment by not processing more paper.
Alas, she wouldn’t back down. I informed her that I would be closing my account in January after making my final payment (the balance is less than $1000) and they were loosing a customer as a result of this. She said there was nothing she could do. Had they given me a lower rate, I was going to transfer the balance over from my other cards.
So Chase still doesn’t love me, and you know what? That’s ok, because I don’t love them either.
December 11th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Call them again, and again, and again. Get names – and ask for a supervisor. Keep at it. That’s a ridiculous rate. Could you surf the balance to a new card? If you use one of those checks, you’ll probably have to pay a transfer fee.
NCN
BTW – I really dig your blog theme…
December 11th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Did you ask to speak to her supervisor? The low-level ones really aren’t good at changing rates. It’s pretty absurd–Micah has a card with a slightly higher rate (Chase again), but he’s a much worse credit risk than you (with all the student loans). We also don’t use that card and paid it off.
December 11th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Hey NCN, trust me I do. I call them weekly. I haven’t gotten names, but have asked for supervisors. They just flat out refuse to reduce it. It’s so close to being paid off, I am just going to bite the bullet and get rid of it next month. You’re right on the fee too. Thanks so much for commenting, and glad you like the new theme!
December 11th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Mrs. Micah – I sure did, still no. I missed a payment by like 2 days about 6 months ago and they’ve made me pay for it ever since. Perfect example of why I hate credit card companies.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Hmmn…I don’t think you can write a 0% convenience check, deposit it your bank account and and then turn around and pay your balance that is 26.4% because now you have:
1) a 0% cash advance balance AND
2) a 26.4% revolving balance
when you send in your payment (which is really from the 0% convenience check), they will apply that payment to the balance with the lower interest rate first (the 0% cash advance). Your higher interest revolving credit (the 26.4%) won’t be touched until the balance with lower interest rate is paid off.
Bottom line is you’ll gain nothing. Well, if there’s a fee for using the convenience check, you end up gaining more debt.
I’m glad to hear you’ll be getting rid of them next month. 26.4% is waaayyyy too much.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I am sorry you couldn’t get it reduced. That APR is absolutely ridiculous, and with Chase (or any other CC company) being so obtuse, it is best to get them out of your life anyway.
December 11th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
@Hilda – That’s a really great point. Figured there was something wrong with my theory…They spend a lot more time thinking about this stuff than I do.
@Watson Inc. – I agree, should have a post in January that says “Good Bye Chase” :-)
December 11th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
eh, you could always setup a $1 charge every month and have paper billing and then have automatic payment setup
December 12th, 2007 at 5:49 am
Justin, not sure if I follow you.
December 12th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Heh. Tiny charges and paper bill mailing will cost the company more money than they make on you.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Chase probably doesn’t love me, but they give me lots of money.
They gave me a sign-up bonus to open a checking account with them with direct deposit of my paycheck. And so I did that, but then I transfer most of the money to a high-yield savings at another bank, leaving a minimum amount in the account.
They give me rewards points on all my purchases — but they are not making any interest income from me, because I pay off my charges every month. This is EASY, because I can make payments online to the card straight from my checking account — as often as every three days. So I use my credit card like a debit card and collect the rewards.
I requested a rate reduction and they gave me one (from 14% to 12%), but it doesn’t matter because I won’t carry a balance. The card is one of my oldest accounts, and so if I closed it then it would have a negative effect on my credit score.
I am using the money Chase gives me to invest for future goals, and I am grateful for that.
But that said, I do NOT love Chase, mainly because of what its policies and minions do to nice folks like you!
December 13th, 2007 at 6:12 am
@Justin – Ah, gotcha…lol. Good idea!
December 13th, 2007 at 6:17 am
@speedy – Hi Speedy, thanks for the comment. I know lots of people really like the rewards programs Chase offers. Honestly if I didn’t have this huge credit card chip on my should I would probably use their rewards card as well. Sounds like you are real responsible and it’s having a positive impact on you, especially since you are paying it off monthly. That’s great. Thank you for you kind comment. Just keep a close eye on them. They aren’t making much money on you, and I am sure they would really like that to change!
December 15th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
You are NOT going to believe this, but I got a card in the post from Chase today!
It has “Thank You” on the front, and on the inside it says: “We would like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude for being such a wonderful Chase customer. Thank you for allowing us to continue servicing your needs. Happy holidays from Chase”
So I guess that Chase loves me after all. ; – D
It was a nice gesture, but I wish that Chase would not have gone to the expense of this mailing and had instead passed on the savings to all of their customers.
December 15th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Hey Speedy! Wow, a card…that was thoughtful of them :-) Bets on whether I get one?? hehe, good point on passing the savings down. Thanks for letting us know!
December 15th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Well, glblguy, I don’t know if you will get a card, too…
But I do hope that Chase will appreciate you better in the future. They would create more customer loyalty if they forgave a late payment on occasion rather than putting up the interest rate over 20%.
Have you considered a balance transfer to a new card company? Some offer 0% for 12 or 15 months. You can pay down or eliminate the balance before the 0% offer expires, and perhaps the remaining balance would be at a lower rate.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:23 am
I have, but I plan to pay it off in January anyway, otherwise I would. I just want it paid and gone.
January 8th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
A similar thing happened to my wife… she wanted to transfer some balanced etc… and called to get a rate reduction or 0% promotion. They flat out refused her.
the kicker?
she actually *works* for Chase credit cards, as a senior analyst on some of their biggest accounts – and she was talking to the special employee customer service department, not the general one!
She canceled all her chase accounts. Called up Citi, and they happily extended her 0% period for a bunch of months.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
@Ed Z – That is hilarious, they even mess with their own employees. Thanks for sharing that story, that is great!
March 31st, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Chase loves me also>I had a business >but had conjestive heart problem>>so in January I paid my Visa Chase card off!! Trying to get down to just on card because I could no longer work in a beauty shop >>Lost half my intestines because a blood clot formed on the pig value and dropped in my large intestine >>lost half of my intestines>>not a good year!!got a bill today from chase visa >>had no balance >>but they had charged me $8.95 finance charge for whatever reason they want !!! So beware Visa really cares about people as you can see>>how can you have a finance charge for >>NOTHING<<<???????? I haf a Zero balance and a finance charge on that???