I’ve often heard people from New York City claim that it is the center of the universe, and perhaps that is the thinking behind a Chase customer service rep from NYC calling someone at 6am in another time one, or perhaps, like many other things with them, they just can’t figure time zones out.
Were it that a 6am call was the only infraction, but it is not so. Chase apparently closed all the customers checking accounts when he wouldn’t switch to a higher fee version.
Years ago the local weekly paper where I lived included the Straight Dope column and I developed an appreciation for the non-nonsense explanation of everyday things. But I was surprised, as I usually am, to see a long Chase rant discussion on their discussion boards. It seems that people take whatever opportunity they can to vent about Chase. Some interesting grievances from that thread, such as using even the smallest amount of lateness (hey, we all screw up from time to time) as an excuse to rais interest rates.
Is it really necessary to deem someone a risky customer and raise their interest rate for being 5 days late on a $41 balance? In one response to that post Chase was accused of cashing the check but posting the payment intentionally late. Another accused them of shifting the due date around from month to month to make it more likely that people will screw up and miss it.
What most people want from a bank is pretty simple – customer service. This means that you treat them with respect and are able to distinguish the occasional mistake (and forgive it) from the truly risky customer.
Another complaint is charging customers to download transactions into Quicken? Seriously? Isn’t this the kind of feature that gets people to sign up with you as a bank?
There are more complaints, but I got tired of reading. 🙂
Chas has recently announced plans to add 80 additional branches in California as well additional mortgage officers in Texas and Illinois. What does this all mean? Adding branches doesn’t necessarily equate to better customer service, just a larger base for acquiring customers and increasing bank capital which is essential to a company like Chase that uses that capital not only as bank reserves but to make money in its investment banking operations. As for hiring more mortgage officers, Chase claims they are expecting a housing recovery, which seems at odds with the predictions of many top economists of additional housing price degradation in 2010 and an extended period of flat housing prices.
According to the J.D. Powers customer satisfaction survey, the three largest banks, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America consistently rank near the bottom in customer satisfaction.
According to this story, Chase has officially decided to stop waiving any late fees as a courtesy to loyal and good customers.
When I had forgotten to make my payment this last month, I went online and made the payment and saw that there was a late fee of $39.00. I called Chase and spoke to a representative who refused to waive the late fee, stating that the company has decided not to waive late fees as a courtesy from now on. I asked for a supervisor and she told me she was an account manager and that no matter who I talked to, the fee would not be waived.
Asking to have a late fee waived is not an unreasonable request. Even the most organized of people will occasionally slip-up and when a bank can accommodate that, it’s called good customer service.
This fits in nicely with my theory on Chase not really wanting retail banking customers (just their money).
David Lowman is the CEO of home lending at JP Morgan Chase. During recent testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services, in response to questions about what people could do if there weren’t getting help with problems like, being in a loan modification program but still getting collection letters, he told the committee that people should come to him for help.
As the video link above shows, he literally got mobbed after making that statement. Anyone with problems should take him up on his offer and try to contact him for help.
Bad bad Chase, Customer service, Fees & charges | admin May 9, 2010 | 
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