I have been a Chase Mastercard card member for five years, and I have never been late or missed a payment in that time. I recently changed personal checking accounts. This past month, I entered my new routing number and account number and submitted a payment for the full balance of my account four days before the due date. The payment showed up in my account and I thought all was well.
Then, one day after the due date (5 days later), the payment was reversed. Apparently I made an error when typing in the routing number of my new account. As a result of the reversed payment, I was one day late in paying the card, and a $39 fee was applied to my account.
I called to see if they would reverse the late charge. I thought it would be no problem. Once before, when I was moving and a bill got lost, I was late on a Discover Card payment, and they reversed their $25 charge quickly and easily. Chase, however, told me that "in these tough economic times" they were unable to reverse charges. Now, as both a card holder and a middle-class tax payer, I am very offended by this statement. My money already bailed out Chase Bank, and I have been a good customer for five years, without a problem or complaint. To top it off, the customer representative immediately assumed that I would not pay off my account and acted like she was going to hand my information over to a collection agency. I am insulted by the assumption that I would not pay my debts.
I will close the credit card account tomorrow, assuming my payment for the full balance processes by then. I will also never again use any Chase product or service again. Chase was willing to lose a customer over a $39 late fee. If you are considering them for anything, I urge you not to. Their customer service policies are so poor that they deserve to close their doors.