1) Upon first contact with Customer Service, Chase does not initially offer any kind of deal – the customers are told they are stuck with it.

2) If a customer insists on speaking to a supervisor, Chase offers to restore the 2% minimum payment, with an increase in APR, sometimes 7.99%, sometimes higher. This APR is only good for a year, followed by an increase to the “going rate” of 20% plus – not much of a deal.

3) If a customer gets a hold of some “inside information” such as the possibility of a “hardship” or “proactive solutions” department, they are either told no such department exists or reluctantly transferred to the department.

4) If a customer gets a hold of the number for one of the “non-existent” departments from one of the protest blogs (877-890-2941 or 800-404-6220) and calls in, they are subjected to a humiliating review of their personal income and finances to see if they “qualify”. Some people have managed to get a five year, fixed payment deal, at a low APR, some have been offered the deal at a higher APR.

5) In order to “qualify” the customer must consent to A) closing their account and B) giving Chase bank electronic access to their checking account for automatic payment withdrawals, for the first few payments. The customer has to accept these conditions, whether they have been notified of approval or not.

6) Some people have gotten off the phone, with the impression that they have a deal, only to be told days later that they don’t qualify.

7) The customers who have been accepted have to sit around for weeks, waiting for the written confirmation of their “deal” and wondering what the terms really are. Obviously, nobody trusts Chase to work in good faith. How utterly nerve wracking!

Wait, it gets worse – Some of the customers have stated that, despite their being rejected for the “deal”, their credit lines get cut or closed, their interest rates raised, and their FICO scores trashed – All because they confided their personal financial information to Chase, in desperation for some assistance. Some customers have even said that Chase has initiated the electronic debiting of their accounts, even though they were rejected for the plan!

Regarding some claims about the five year, fixed payment loan, I have been unable to find out if the new plan is a conversion to a secured loan and whether the majority of interest is paid up front. I have posted these questions on the blog sites, but everybody is so upset about their lives being turned upside down, I haven’t had any responses. I am not willing to participate in Chase’s social experiment, in order to find out.

Lastly, if anybody goes to the following link, please see posts 447 and 567:

http://credit.about.com/b/2009/06/26/chase-increases-minimum-payment-on-credit-card-balances.htm

I think the person who posted #567 might have called Toni at Gerald Smith’s office, listed in post #447. It is not clear. What is truly despicable is what Chase put this person (whose moniker is “Sleepless”) through. In addition, the latest posts imply that Chase may not even be offering to reduce customers to a 2% minimum payment, any more! Clearly, some cold blooded SOB has analyzed the numbers and decided it is no longer in Chase’s best interests to negotiate with its customers.

I am sorry for the extremely long post, but I want to spare others from being subjected to the unbelievable abuse these evil institutions are heaping upon the American public. I am not using the word “evil” in a petulant manner. I could not help but come to this conclusion, after observing the effect of their actions on hard working Americans.

Please visit and support her link:

http://consumedbydebt.blogspot.com/2009/09/open-letter-to-citibank.html

I am now wondering if there is anyway to sue these companies for personal damages because of how their actions have negatively impacted my credit score. I did not do anything to ruin my credit score…no late payments, no closed accounts, no over extension of credit lines…etc….

Yet my personal credit rating suffered as a result of their banking decisions when they closed unused accounts and lowered credit limits.

I paid off Chase by the way on September 15th. I have balance transfer checks sitting on my table for .99%. I am refusing to use them to pay off Citibank on principle alone. I don’t care if they sent me an “I am so sorry we made a mistake by blackmailing you letter in April”.

We must do our best to have fair consumer laws passed to regulate this industry.

Unfortunately, the society we live in is conditioned–purposefully–to accept corporate dominance with little questioning. The vicious ignorance which spews forth at those who stand up and fight the injustice displays how insidious and pervasive the culture of subjugation is within the American psyche.

Sympathizers with this site may be thoroughly aware of the immorality with which financial institutions operate themselves, but perhaps not realize that this immorality is common to corporations in ALL industries. While it is extremely difficult to keep up on all the horrible ways in which consumers are taken advantage of by large companies, I encourage everybody to arm themselves to the extent that they can with knowledge and information in all arenas of commerce.

To give merely one specific example, food corporations regularly use hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in just about everything–check the ingredient lists of things you regularly buy. These two ingredients have been scientifically proven for years and years to eventually cause, yes actually CAUSE, cancer and diabetes, respectfully. Yet they are still omnipresent because they are a very cheap way to get around using higher quality ingredients. Companies are literally, physically KILLING uninformed consumers who blindly trust that the food they buy is safe. In addition, HFCS is used because it suppresses the body’s normal functions which indicate to us that we are “full”, making us want to consume more. Unfortunately, there are many ingredients like these in consumable products.

Stay vigilant my friends, because we do not live in a country where those in control are concerned with either the present or the future of its citizens, as long as they can still suck money from our veins.

http://anonymousbanker.com/?page_id=45

The other link has similar elements to the “Debtor’s Revolt” video. The article is Anonymous Banker’s Fantasy on how to lower credit card rates. It refers to a Boston Legal episode, entitled “Legal Deficits” from Season 2, Episode 10, broadcast on December 13, 2005.

http://anonymousbanker.com/?p=393

The 25 co-sponsors, 19 republicans and 6 democrats:

John Barrasso [R-WY]
Robert Bennett [R-UT]
Samuel Brownback [R-KS]
Richard Burr [R-NC]
Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]
Saxby Chambliss [R-GA]
Thomas Coburn [R-OK]
John Cornyn [R-TX]
Michael Crapo [R-ID]
Jim DeMint [R-SC]
Byron Dorgan [D-ND]
Russell Feingold [D-WI]
Lindsey Graham [R-SC]
Charles Grassley [R-IA]
Thomas Harkin [D-IA]
Orrin Hatch [R-UT]
Kay Hutchison [R-TX]
James Inhofe [R-OK]
John Isakson [R-GA]
Blanche Lincoln [D-AR]
John McCain [R-AZ]
Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]
James Risch [R-ID]
David Vitter [R-LA]
Jim Webb [D-VA]

I, for one, would like to know what the Fed has been up to.

Guess what, it’s happening. I’m getting calls from people that I made video masters for TEN TO 12 YEARS AGO wanting them transfered to DVD! I’m blown away at how good the professional gear I used respectfully back then, holds up even today. But I have paid a huge financial price as well.

Yet, I too have such incredible experience in the editing room and from camera work I did during the 90’s and earlier this decade and that knowledge continues to propel me forward. I never once used my credit card expenses on frivolity, cars, vacations, nor internet porn.

To my surprise, one thing that has held me back were some of the people that I considered role models, brilliant people who ran their own businesses, who in some instances I did some amazingly good work for for way below what it really should have cost, who have never looked back and thought of a way to help boost me forward, even as I did certain projects for them that helped propel them forward.

I’ve had situations where a client may have blown a couple of grand buying drinks for crowds of people in bar, then they watch every dollar they spent in my studio as if it were their last nickle. lol, maybe it was.

I’ve had people who were offered television broadcast jobs specifically after viewing editing work i did on their behalf, only to see them refuse the broadcast offers, resulting in my not being able to put their career path success on my own resume.

What do we call people who pay their way, but then don’t follow all the way through on projects that you helped create momentum for?

There are other forms of debtors out there, and in many instances their imperfections have affected our own path to success, so I can’t take anyone who judges me too harshly, very seriously, instead, I just avoid them, and that is their loss, and my gain.