ChangeinTerms.com

Truman Lewis of Consumer Affairs decided to check out consumer sentiment - the one thing in marketing that hasn’t been “endlessly measured”. In his article entitled, Consumers Fret about Credit Cards, Excess Poundage, ‘Free’ Money, Lewis lists the top ten page views on consumeraffairs.com from June 4th through July 4th. Topping the list is Chase Credit Cards -

Excerpt:

1. Chase Credit Cards Chase has jacked up its monthly minimum payments for tens of thousands of its better customers. Many say they won’t be able to make the new, higher payments and will soon fall behind, at which point one might expect Chase to raise their interest rate, making the monthly hit even higher. Number of complaints on this topic during the month: 431.

That’s 431 complaints in one month! The second round of 850,000 change in terms notices were not received until the last half of June. With any luck at all these complaints and the activism of consumers on this issue thus far is the tip of the iceberg.

I have been reading hundreds of comments all over the internet regarding this latest change in terms and the anguish it is causing beleaguered Chase cardholders. Over and over again I see the vow I made last January repeated by others. Like me, they vow never have another Chase account of any kind - not a credit card, mortgage, car loan, checking or savings account, CD - NOTHING WITH CHASE EVER AGAIN!!!

Some people are pledging to spend time each day emailing, writing letters, blogging, contacting their senators, representatives, state attorney generals, filing complaints with the FTC and OCC, etc….doing everything they can to spread the word about Chase to everyone with whom they have contact.

I am trying to do my part to make sure this story does not die. As a bed & breakfast owner, I host guests from all over the country. Often during breakfast, the subject of the economy comes up and quite often, I am able to tell my Chase story during the course of the discussion. In the past week alone, I have hosted guests from Laurel, MD; Poway, CA; Vancouver, WA; Manassas and Ruther Glen, VA; Scotch Plains, NJ; Medina and North Canton, OH; Greensburg, Mars, Claysville and Wallaceton, PA - and a good many of them heard about Chase’s despicable actions.

Chase may think that the damage to their business, caused by their unilateral change in terms, will involve only the 1 1/2% of the customers directly affected. What’s 1 1/2 percent? No big deal, right?

We have the power to make it a big deal. We need to rid ourselves of any connection to Chase as soon as possible and never do business with them and never put another penny in their coffers ever again, no matter what. We need to tell as many people as possible about Chase’s shameful treatment of their best customers. Presented as a cautionary tale because we want them to avoid falling prey to Chase’s predatory practices, we are doing an enormous favor for everyone we warn. Chase has proven they cannot be trusted to keep their word and it is important that as many people as possible know this, and that they know it as soon as possible.

I believe that Chase has chosen the wrong group to pick on and it is up to us to make Chase regret their actions against us. In my case Chase’s offer was absolutely the best interest rate my husband and I could obtain at the time for medical and business expenses for which we were going to have to borrow. Choosing the best fixed rate was a smart and the best decision under the circumstances - especially since during the prior ten or twelve years Chase had always done what they said they would do.

What Chase didn’t count on was the number of consumers who were savvy enough to accept their heavily and aggressively marketed “low fixed interest for the life of the loan” offers were also customers who could not be suckered into continuing to use the card for other purchases or be late with or miss payments. We didn’t fit Chase’s “ideal customer mold”, i.e., in due time such a customer was expected to be late, miss a payment, go over their credit limit or continue to make charges on the account so that Chase could impose outrageous fees, penalties and interest on these loans.

When that didn’t happen in sufficient numbers, Chase resorted to Plan B - blindsiding us by jacking up monthly payment requirements by 250% FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN THAT THEY CAN! And for the first time, Chase did what no other credit card company had done to this point….they provided NO OPT OUT OPTION.

Thus, loans marketed as a way to ease financial burdens has instead created financial nightmares for hundreds of thousands of honest, hardworking, bill-paying, TARP-providing Chase customers. Customers who Chase is now portraying as laggards and deadbeats who are not making progress on loans….implying that we deserve what we are getting, instead of the truth which is Chase is doing all it can to wring every last cent out of consumers before the new regulations kick in.

Isn’t it funny that the credit card companies which lobbied for a 10 month delay for the effective date of the new regulations pleading they needed time to gear up for them, were able to turn on a dime to inflict new punishment on the very consumers the new regulations are designed to protect?

If 1,250,000 current responsible Chase customers pledge never to do business with Chase ever again; and some of their family members, friends and acquaintances can be influenced to do the same, who knows how great the ripple effect will be?

Don’t give up….Keep fighting…..Chase is committing business suicide….Let’s help them along by spreading the word…..Share your story here, there and everywhere!!

…for their recent change in terms effective August 1, 2009 which increased the monthly payment requirement from 2% to 5% of the outstanding balance for another 850,000 cardholder accounts.

I did not realize at the time that Chase had issued two different change in terms notices, both effective August 1, 2009, for the same type of accounts (fixed low interest for the life of the loan…). When I saw the change in terms pamphlet in this month’s statement I admit that I panicked. I read “5%”, “balance” and “opt-out” and little else. I assumed my payment on my second Chase account was being increased to 5% of the outstanding balance just as my first Chase account in January had been. I immediately called to “opt-out” before Chase changed their mind. I had the conversation as recorded in my two previous blog posts….confirmed my payment would stay at 2% of the outstanding balance. I talked with Jim, the Chase supervisor from Loyalty Services about this as if my payment would have increased to 5% if I didn’t opt out. He didn’t correct my misunderstanding.

I apologize for my mistake and for raising what turned out to be false hopes to any of the 850,000 Chase cardholders who read my story and tried to act upon it. I am embarrassed that I thought I had successfully opted-out of the increased payment requirement last week. I was so happy to escape the onerous burden that I posted my “success at opting out” story to share my joy. Only to discover later that apparently no one else had been offered the same opportunity. Now I know why - I wasn’t offered it either. I am sorry.

Perhaps my biggest mistake was believing that Chase had realized the error of their ways, decided to be fair and offer the opt-out for this change in terms. That since they testified before the Senate Banking Committee that they offer their customers an opt out when they issue change in terms notices, they would, in fact, offer the opt out. You know, keep their word.

However, my hastily jumping to the wrong conclusion, acting on it and even posting about it in error, does not excuse Chase’s actions, i.e., unilaterally increasing payment requirements by 250% per month for 1,250,000 of their best customers - continuously on 400,000 customers since January 1, 2009 and imposing the same egregious increase on 850,000 more customers beginning on August 1, 2009.

Chase blatantly lied to all of us. We are customers who diligently paid our bills, were never late, never missed a payment and expected Chase to keep the original terms of the agreements as promised. There is no excuse for this. It is pure evil perpetrated on hundreds of thousands of the very same taxpayers whose 25 BILLION DOLLARS bailed Chase out last fall. Even if Chase has paid back the TARP funds as they claim, they are not justified in treating customers in such an abusive and unfair way.

OK - here’s my challenge to Chase. I made a mistake. I admitted it. I publicly apologized and set the record straight with this blog post. It is not easy to admit a mistake, it is humiliating and embarrassing but it can be done. How about admitting the error of your ways by giving the 1,250,000 customers affected the opportunity to opt out of the increased payment requirements as outlined in your January 1, 2009 and August 1, 2009 change in terms notices?

In the comment section (now up to 65 comments) of the Another Exciting Episode in the on-going Chase “Twilight Zone Saga” post, several people report being told by Chase that no one had been offered an opt-out under the August 1, 2009 Change-in-Terms notice.

There is a copy online of the PDF from my online statement which details the change in terms I was offered. It very clearly includes the right to opt out by July 22, 2009. See for yourselves:

August 1, 2009 Change in Terms with the opt out option

I saved a copy of the document to my computer in case Chase takes it off line but as of my writing this, you can access this version of the August 1, 2009 change in terms from any internet browser. If it is taken off line by Chase, please email me and I will be happy to send you a copy of the document in pdf format.

After reading the comments section, I realize my tongue-in-cheek “Twilight Zone” title is for real. We really are in the “Twilight Zone” with Chase. This is getting very scary.

After receiving my change in terms notice on Monday, I dialed the Customer Service number on the back of my statement - 1-800-945-2000, was connected to a man who greeted me by saying…. “Thank you for calling Chase, this is Jim, a supervisor with Loyalty Services” - all of which I documented in my blog entry….and now Chase says there is no “Loyalty Services” department? And that no one who received the August 1, 2009 change in terms was offered an opt out? And no one can talk to a supervisor?

Honestly folks, from what I am reading on other blogs and on the internet, I may have been the only customer to be offered the opportunity to opt out. If Chase sent the August 1, 2009 change in terms notice to 850,000 customers as appears to be the case, Chase is eventually going to be in a world of hurt. They can’t treat that many people that badly and not have it come back to bite them in the butt (excuse my language).

What in the world is Chase thinking? Actually, they aren’t thinking. They arrogantly assume that they can do anything they please to anyone they please then continue to rake in billions in profits.

If you read my change in terms you will clearly see the opt out option but Chase does not make it clear that opting out means continuing to pay under the original terms of the agreement. I had to verify that over the phone when I called to opt out. I said, “Now this means that my account is closed, I may not use the card but I will continue to pay 2% monthly of the outstanding balance at 4.99% until the balance is paid in full, is that correct?” “Yes, that is correct.”

However, after reading about the number of people whose change in terms did not include an opt out option, who were told that no one was offered an opt out and were afforded no way to lessen the burden of a 250% increase in the payment requirement, I wonder what I will find when I get my August statement. Surely I was not singled out -as the only one in 850,000 to be offered the opt out.

I am the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed against Chase but I hardly think that would afford me any special privileges. If anything, I would expect harsher treatment.

Note: I am sorry for not responding to the many posts but I was unaware that some comments were being held for approval. I didn’t realize there were dozens and dozens of comments queued up for posting.

6/29/09 UPDATE: “I was wrong to give Chase credit for offering an opt-out…

Ok, so we all know about the change-in-terms that Chase unilaterally foisted on 400,000 of its most credit worthy customers last January.

And, by now, most of us have heard that some of these same customers had more than one Chase account - one of which was subjected to the egregious change-in-terms and one or more of which were not.

Last month my second Chase account (fixed 4.99% rate for the life of the loan, with an outstanding balance of about $6,000) statement afforded me the opportunity to “SKIP A MONTHLY PAYMENT”. I had earned that right due to my being such a good customer. I didn’t take Chase up on that ridiculous offer….

Apparently Chase is extremely miffed - very hurt at my rejection of their overtures.

This month’s statement came today and GUESS WHAT???? A new change-in-terms will automatically go into effect on August 1, 2009. No longer will the monthly payment requirement 2% of the outstanding balance….oh, no, now Chase is going to require 5% of the outstanding balance in payment each month.

So the $118.00 I owe this month will morph into $295.00 a month. Just as I was knocking down my large Chase account to just over $800/month, my obligation will once again balloon to over $1,100/month.

The same company that wanted me to skip a payment on this account last month has discovered they can’t survive without an increase of 250% in the amount of payment due next month on that very same account. Chase must be in worse shape than anyone could have imagined. Poor babies….

Chase reminds me of spoiled brats who are never satisfied.…the 25 Billion in TARP funds didn’t do enough; the savaging of 400,000 of their best customers wasn’t sufficient; treating their already defaulting customers with kid gloves didn’t suffice.

The prowling Chase executive decision makers look around for new prey. Finding none, the “never wrote an agreement they wouldn’t mind defaulting on crowd” return to their first “kill” to see if there are any survivors capable of giving up yet more funds on the alter of Chase greed. Voila - let’s do a second round of change-in-terms! That should do it.

I think we need to coin a new term for this phenomena….“Battered Customer Syndrome”.

But, don’t lose heart, my fellow consumers, Chase has learned something from the last episode of their special version of “The Twilight Zone”. This time there is an “opt-out” option and no $10/month additional finance charge.

Anyone want to guess what I plan to do with this Chase credit card account?

Dialing the phone….

I am greeted by a supervisor (Jim) who began our conversation with this icebreaker, “Thank you for calling Loyalty Services“. I nearly guffawed in his ear. I asked him “Did you say Loyalty Services”? Indeed he did. “How can I assist you today?”

He noted that I had been a customer since 1998 and have had a long and admirable history with Chase. I informed him that while I had treated Chase fine all these years, I had not been treated well by Chase these last 6 months. I briefly described my complaints. It was evident that Jim had heard it all before. No, he could not reverse the increase in payment of 5% of the outstanding balance. “Is there anything else I can do for you today?” “Yes, close the account and let me opt-out of the newest change-in-terms.”

After subtly “threatening” me that Chase would be notifying the credit reporting companies (oh, horror of horrors….) that I was closing my account, Jim agreed that the account would be closed and confirmed I would be allowed to pay off the account under the original terms. Hooray! Relief!

“Loyalty Services”…..twisted Chase Twilight Zone logic. Welcome to the Brave New World of Chase Card Speak. “Up is down. Day is night. Treating customers like dirt generates Loyalty to our company.”

Chase Decision Makers: Let us know how that works out for ya over the long haul.

6/29/09 UPDATE: “I was wrong to give Chase credit for offering an opt-out…