Thursday, November 21, 2024
|
|
Thursday, November 21, 2024 |
I
knew it would happen! I
read all the fine print. I reviewed every detail! I followed the
instructions from Chase Bank exactly as they described in their
low-rate-offer letter and they still penalized me!
It all started with one of the best credit offers I have ever received. A surprising 0% APR until February 1, 2003 with a one-time fee for each transfer of 4% of the amount transferred, up to a $50 maximum. According to the letter, "These checks may be used for any amount, up to your available credit line." This offer was received in January which meant 13 months of 0% on my entire credit line of $12,500 (which is available) for a one-time fee of $50. That's a true APR of approximately 0.37%! I wanted to take advantage of this offer for many reasons.
I checked and rechecked the letter for any loopholes. I read all the fine print, to be sure that I was using their transfer offer within all the rules described in the letter. Everything seemed to check out, so I went ahead and wrote myself a check for $12,500 and deposited it into my money market account.
When the bill arrived I noticed an overlimit fee of $29 assessed on my account--I KNEW IT! I had a feeling that they left out a few words in their letter that, of course, loophole their way to earning more money. I followed the directions described in the letter which stated, in three places, that the check amount(s) cannot exceed my credit line and I was still charged an overlimit fee.
I've written about this type of "trick" in a previous article titled, Reading the Fine Print in Those Low Rate Credit Card Offers, however this case was slightly different. The credit offers I was referring to at that time stated in the body of the letter that you can use "any amount up to your available credit line." But in the fine print the letter warned, "You may transfer any amount, including transaction fees that are assessed, as long as it does not exceed the available credit line." Check out the Citibank offer I received that does this exactly.
The offer from Chase however, did not provide that warning. Every mention in the Chase letter about the amount you can use, the total "check amount(s)" is that it can go up to your available credit line. Compared to the Chase offer, the Citibank offer tries to trick you in the body of the letter, but is at least honest in the fine print. In fact, the fine print in the Chase letter is even smaller than the fine print in the Citibank letter! As my editor Rick said, "It's as though Chase is trying to deceive people more than Citibank." As soon as I saw that overlimit fee, and reviewed the original letter to make sure I didn't miss anything, I promptly called Chase Bank to have them remove the overlimit fee, which they did immediately.
I originally thought they would just waive the fee and apologize for the confusion. I thought they would say something like, "Mr. Bilker, we're sorry that the wording of the letter was confusing. I can certainly understand how you feel. I will certainly bring this to the attention of my supervisors and management so we can review these details. Thank you so much for calling!" Then they could have hung up and forgot about my call--but that didn't happen. Below are links to portions of the conversation I had with Chase customer service. Part 1: First rep removes the overlimit fee and argues about the fee. Part 2: Supervisor argues about the fee. It may be true that they said I could use the check(s) up to my credit limit. And it may be true that the agreement says that if I go over my limit I have to pay a fee. One could argue that if they told me to write the check(s) up to twice my credit limit, and I did, that I should be charged an overlimit fee because it goes over my limit. The letter could have said to jump off a bridge and if I do it’s my stupidity. However it is certainly implied that if they're sending me a letter, and I follow the directions in their letter, I will not be penalized. It's clearly stated that if you write a transfer check there's going to be a fee. However, their letter never said that if you write the check to the account limit an overlimit fee will be charged. This encourages people to write the check up to the maximum limit. Chase never mentioned anywhere in the letter, not even in the fine print, that there would be an overlimit fee if you do as they say and write the check up to the limit. One good analogy is to imagine a policeman telling me I can go through a stop sign. He says, "Scott, go through the stop sign." So I go through the sign and the same policeman immediately pulls me over and gives me a ticket. I say, "But you told me I could go through the stop sign." And he replies, "It’s common knowledge that it’s illegal to go through the stop sign. Didn’t you read the driving handbook?"
The bottom line in this situation is that the letter is very deceptive. It leads people to believe that they can write the checks up to the credit limit without penalty. When I called Chase I didn’t have to ask to have that overlimit fee waived. As soon as I mentioned that it was on my statement the rep removed it instantly! If they really believed that I was completely at fault they may not have done this so quickly. Also, the rep and supervisor seemed well versed in arguing their points and my guess is that it’s because they have had practice or training on the topic. How many of you have had this, or a similar problem? Especially if it was from this very same low-rate credit offer by Chase bank. Let me know if this has happened to you, and please, let me know if you agree or disagree with my position on this issue by filling out the response form.Lastly, aside from this situation, my past experiences with Chase have been very good. They have always offered me nice lending deals. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I would hope that this particular situation occurred only because of these specific reps. I would hope that Chase reviews EVERY person's account that took advantage of this offer to be sure that they are not penalized--without that person having to call them first! |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright ©2024 Press One Publishing. All rights reserved. Use or purchase of any material at DebtSmart.com including but not limited to books, articles, and software is subject to the following disclaimer/warning. |
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
When I asked why I was charged the
overlimit fee, the rep told me it's because I was over the account limit
since the $50 transfer charge plus the $12,500 check makes my
balance $12,550.00. I explained that the Chase letter stated that I could write
the check up to my limit and the rep (Ms. Beers) started arguing
with me. I asked to speak to her supervisor (Mrs. Lett) and she also
argued with me.
Chase Bank, the policeman of their terms, said
to "write the check to the limit" then when I did they
penalized me, and probably countless others, who may not have even seen
the overlimit charge on their statement. Or maybe they did see the
charge, then called and were told they were stupid for going over
their limit. It brings to light the fact that you cannot trust what
their letters say.