I have found that the only way to get the Marriott people to care is to contact a general manager, preferably when I am attending a conference as part of a large group, and actually staying at one of its properties. Then, I let that manager know that my feedback will be to the individuals who book the conference hotel. Generally, the travel industry is not really very high up on my list of “customer service” superstars.

Regarding the encouragement that you have received to close what I gather is a perfectly good account, this just shows what a group of short-sighted people we have running banks (that owe us a whole lot of money back from the bail out money they were given).

I’m not just angered that a black-hearted banking cartel is ripping me off, but these actions are also siphoning a lot of money out of the economy, and one reason we’re in such dire straits is that there’s not enough money circulating to begin with.

Tom

$65 + 120 = $185 a year fee to use the card. I paid off the balance on Chase with the transfer and closed the account. I call Marriott to let them know that my relationship with Marriott will now suffer because of Chase. Marriott did not seem to care.

Lyn

Simple, I called BofA and they approved a balance transfer to my BofA card for 4.99% life of balance. The original apr on Chase was 3.99. Not a big deal to me.

You can do what I did the Citibank years ago. They received a payment, but did not process it until 4 days later. I was hit with a late fee in which they refused to remove. The back of my check had the date stamped on the back of it and it was actually processed on my account four days later. I even faxed them a copy of the back of the check.. still no luck.

So.. I paid off the entire balance, plus $1. For four years, yes four year, then were sending me a statement for a $1 credit. Now.. how much did that cost them?

I think your charge a $1 and pay it off strategy is interesting (for those who can pay off their entire balance). It certainly sends a message, much like the one when people use the postage prepaid envelopes that often come with new credit card offers, and stuff them with trash or other useless material (which the recipient must pay for). That being said, I think the power of that message is amplified if it can be orchestrated such that your more potent suggestion, that “thousands of us angry customers” joined in; it would be even more powerful still, if we could somehow get media coverage regarding the mass-protest. You’ve got me thinking here! YouTube script:

For only a $1 a month, that’s only pennies a day, you can sponsor an effort to send a message to not-so-needy Chase executives…

I’ll be sleeping on this idea, and dreaming of defeating Chase.

Several calls to Customer Service provided no relief, so I’m considering getting even by suing them in Small Claims Court to recover the late fee and interest (I live in a remote rural town in the middle of the desert) and shifting almost all future purchases to another Visa card that was intended as overdraft protection for my checking account. I will make a monthly $1 purchase with the Chase card and pay it off as soon as the statement arrives with an e-payment, which costs me nothing. Since
Chase will still have the cost of billing me every month (don’t forget their postage expense), their cost of servicing my account will exceed any revenue from it. Imagine their losses if thousands of us angry consumers did what I described every month!

That’s why I have been saying, Chase should have expected that anyone who got this notice would be closing their account, after all that’s what Chase was asking for. These alternative options they are offerring to those who complain, like allowing you to eliminate the monthly fee and keep the account open once you pay the balance, or to eliminate the fee if you accept a higher interest rate, are all just a ploy to retain accounts despite an extremely usurious change in terms (unforuntately, Delaware has no maximum legal interest rate).

The fundamental problem with anyone being forced to agree with the $10 service fee is that what’s to stop Chase from raising the bar and setting the service fee at $20/moth, or $100/month, or $100,000/month? And you really think they can legally force you under the existing cardmember agreement to accept a change in terms like that (i.e. without an opt-out provision) if you can’t payoff the existing balance in full? You must have some marbles loose if you think so.

Keeping in mind that I am not an attorney, I appreciate your logic about damages. However, I’d like to propose a different logic. Let’s suppose the XYZ company’s van runs over my wife and kills her. XYZ continues to make its normal profits while my family is destroyed, and my children are raised without a mother. Unable to keep up with the stresses and demands of single parenting, I lose my job. Now what’s left of my family is homeless, destitute. The van driver was drunk. XYZ knew that the van driver had a drinking problem, but the driver happened to be a cousin of XYZ’s founder. Is XYZ’s total liability, knowing it was making a very dangerous decision to put that driver on the road, behind the wheel of a deadly machine, some share or all of the profits that it made while I pursue a legal remedy for the death of my wife? The answer is, probably, a jury would award damages for pain and suffering, and quite possibly additional punitive damages for negligence (that means punishment for not taking the proper steps to avoid a bad situation, while knowing all along that one would arise).

Chase is inflicting uncalled-for pain and suffering, in my opinion, and lawyers acting on behalf of plaintiffs may very well pursue this alternative line of reasoning. Thanks for your comment (and again, I am not a lawyer). Glasney is not the only law firm that is suing or investigating the possibility of a class action lawsuit (see the “Case against Chase” report and other posts here on the site for additional information). Take care.

I would complain to the OCC. See my letters under the link category “Correspondence” on the right hand side of the site. Do you by any chance think that this whole ChangeInTerms site and all of my letters to date are worth the $10 that Chase wants to charge me? I’m pretty sure that right now, I’m in the “Black,” and Chase is going deeper and deeper into the “Red,” on me alone. One little OCC letter from you (everything you need is in my letters — including a Fax number) will cost Chase a lot more than $10. If you hate Chase, this is a really good way to let them know (and it would help the cause that I’m fighting for on behalf of all of us). I am particularly pleased with my letter of today, February 11, 2009. I’ve had about six lawyers look at it, and they say I’ve done a pretty darned good job of putting Chase, in its place. By the way, I looked at your site. You have a neat hobby (I like arts, crafts, photography).