Chase Manhattan Bank Credit Card Arbitrary interest rate hike, to Prime +23.99%! That is abt 30%! RIPOFF Wilmington Delaware
I was disgusted with Chase last year when they increased my rate to 25.99% due to a delinquency on a separate account. My Chase Credit card was ALWAYS in good standing otherwise. I paid them off.
Last August they suckered me in with a low rate balance transfer offer, which I regret to say that I accepted. For the bill from February, I got one of the "cardmember agreement amendment" fliers that everyone throws out without reading.
Luckily I read this one. In fine print, it notified me of a repricing to Prime plus 23.99%! It was not clear that it would or would not apply. I called the number on the back of the card, and customer service confirmed (after a long wait for research) that my terms HAD changed. The rep stated that they sent a notice early in February, which I do not recall receiving.
I faxed my response in to refuse the change, and finally got a response that they would close my account. I am paying it off as fast as I can. I took out a 401K loan to get rid of them once and for all.
My FICO score is above 700. My past delinquency was REMOVED from my credit report prior to this. This action was described as a repricing due to excessive credit! This company offered me part of that excessive credit, then attempted to charge me 30% interest.
I could find nothing in my original cardmember agreement to prohibit this action. I am sure that they followed the letter of the law, and held to their side of the agreement fully; they are not stupid. I also am positive that they do this knowing full well that there are persons out there who will never notice the flier, and keep paying every month, and MAYBE wonder for a fleeting instant why their balance never decreases, and continue to pay anyway.
If I had not read that flier this time (I usually throw them out), I would have not known to refuse the change in terms, and in my March bill I would have been stuck. I have already been telling everyone I know about what this company is doing.
I am not alone. I went to my Credit Union to request a balance increase to transfer my Chase bill, and the guy there ALSO got the rate increase from Chase.
Legal? Probably.
Immoral? I think so.
Deceptive? Definitely!
J. P. Morgan, Chase Manhattan, and Bank One no longer will have me as a customer.
Bottom line, this company no longer receives my monthly $100+ in interest on a credit card that I always carried a balance on. If they had left it alone, they would still be receiving over $1000 each year from me for not much work. Now they get $0.00 from me.
David
Fallon, Nevada
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
David
Fallon,Nevada,
U.S.A.
Chase, update. Almost funny if not so pathetic...
#2Author of original report
Thu, April 28, 2005
In a notice dated April 23, 2005, Chase notified me that "Since we did not receive your notification within the given timeframe, your account was changed in accordance with the enclosed notice." A copy of the mentioned notice was enclosed. As I previously stated in the above report, Chase had ALREADY acknowledged that I DID notify them within the given timeframe. My account is currently completely paid off, and shows on my Experian Credit report as "closed, consumer request."
Now for a really interesting feature of this that I did not notice earlier. In the applicable interest rate section of the "change in terms notice," no mention is made of a default rate. The notice states that "All other interest rates on your account including promotional and default rates under your existing Agreement remain in effect as applicable." If I remember correctly, if my account would go to the default rate under the change, my rate would go from the variable (29.24%) to the default, which was 25.99%!
If you get an offer that sounds too good to be true from Chase, just say no.
The notice I received today (dated 23APR2005) includes an 800 number for me to call one of their Cardmember Service Representatives for assistance if I have any questions about this matter. I wonder if they would offer me a cool rate to do some balance transfers.......
Yeah, right. Like I would fall for THAT again.