Kathy Chu’s article entitled, “Chase adds fee for low-rate credit cards,” in USA Today includes an apparent quote that (supposedly) indicates the actual number of accounts that have been targeted by Chase’s change in terms, raising minimum payments to 5% of the balance on account holders who had previously been promised low “fixed APR Until the balance is paid in full” loans, and imposing a new $10 per month service charge that “is a finance charge.” The quoted number was 400,000.
After sleeping on it (and thinking back to some of my research courses), we’re really dealing with a “what is the nature of truth?” sort of question here. For one thing, Chase is a proven liar (letters to me, testimony before Congress), and for another thing, its spokespeople (and customer service letters) have persisted in putting a “spin” on this issue, continuously calling a something that “is a finance charge” a service charge or a fee. Thus, we don’t know for certain if the widely disseminated one half of 1 percent quote is an accurate portrayal by Chase, in the first place; it may be. And, the 400,000 number may be.
On the other hand, there’s this troubling part about how Chase supposedly only “aimed at” people who were making little progress in paying off their loans; not true in my case (see item 6, here), and stories abound about others. So again, why didn’t Chase back down relative to “aiming at” my loan, if I was “accidentally” included in the targeted group? And, why didn’t back off relative to these other account holders?
We also have a comment here on the site from “jj” regarding the simple math involved in determining that even at the 2% of the balance monthly payment level, account holders with the low promotional rates would indeed have made progress.
Of course, all of this is beside the point that Chase has no right to take “aim at” customers who were doing nothing wrong. The nice thing about class action lawsuits (and lawsuits in general), is that the process includes something called “discovery.” Discovery involves collecting depositions as well as other evidence. This is where internal memos, reminiscent of the time when tobacco companies had hard evidence that smoking caused cancer, but denied having that knowledge. Former employees, whom Chase may not be able to control, might also be deposed. Eventually, the truth comes out.
Loading ...
on Feb 17th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Thank you, thank you for the site! I too just realized that my 2.99% fixed account with Chase had this “service charge”. Filed a complaint with the OCC immediately and plan to with the attorney general tomorrow. This seems like a clear unfair and deceptive practice.
on Feb 17th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Hi TB,
You might want to look at the letters I have sent to the OCC, back and forth. See the “Lahm Personal ‘Battle’ Package” because Chase will probably play the same game of obstruction with you. The key thing is to collect these letters as evidence that Chase is indeed pretending that this is a service charge, when it has done exactly as I said in my letter of December 3, 2008 (to the CEO of Chase Card Services): it made a mistake with its own fine print. That “service charge” is a “finance charge.”
The “Case Against Chase” backgrounder may be useful to you in contacting the attorney general in your state. Take care.
on Feb 18th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I’m not surprised with Chase’s unscrupulous behavior. I’ve been battling them for years over my credit card balance after they deliberately processed some of my payments late (sometimes up to 20 days!) so that I went over my limit and incurred over-limit fees, late fees, etc. They would also send me statements past the payment due dates. When I called about all of this I was told, “Chase doesn’t have to issue you statements at all. We do this as a customer courtesy.” Ha! What a crock! They eventually stopped sending me statements altogether and even went so far as to send my monthly payments back to me marked “return to sender.” Then they actually had the gall to send me a 1099 this year for the amount they claim was a charge-off. What a freaking joke! The amount they listed on it wasn’t even close to what my true balance should be so they’re even swindling the IRS now! They are liars and cheats and will try to squeeze every last dime out of their “customers” so their execs can live high on the hog. I personally hope they fail big time and their execs get thrown in the slammer and burn in hell.
on Mar 15th, 2009 at 5:51 am
[...] for a “fixed APR Until the balance is paid in full” loan to Terry Moreno, along with hundreds of thousands of other account holders. If she had a 3.99% rate and the higher rate (widely publicized as Chase’s [...]
on Apr 1st, 2009 at 10:49 am
[...] million dollars. Still, there is a discrepancy here, comparing 184,000 with the other number, 400,000, which we’ve seen quoted in numerous articles (it could be explained perhaps, by noting [...]