Consumer complaint received 2019-02-15
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Bounced checks or returned payments

Complaint:
To Consumer Financial Protection Bureau : Hi, my name is______and I am writing this as my attempt at being reimbursed for the time investment as well as mental damage that Ive suffered after receiving false information from a company I so love and admire - Chase Banking. All things considered, I didnt feel that the false information I was told by Chase was fair in my perspective, and I kindly ask you to consider what I have to say below. 

When I listed my bicycle on XXXX in early XX/XX/XXXX, nothing could have prepared me for the tragic series of events that would follow. I had one goal : to sell my bicycle to whoever contacted me first, and to do it in a way I personally believed to be safe, but not necessarily the best. I agreed to accept a verified check from the purchaser of my bicycle on the basis that if I verified the check first, the transaction should run smoothly. Check amount was {$1800.00}. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, between XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX, I was told by a Chase Check Verification Specialist that a check I submitted was confirmed good and available for use. This was the first day they were able to make contact with the issuing bank of the check. The Chase lady continued by congratulating me with her heightened, confident voice. As a loyal customer for over a decade, I took her word for it and proceeded to withdraw and use it, whichever way I wanted to. In this case, it was towards a {$1500.00} movers fee for a person I was trying to help so that he could buy my bicycle. I was initially skeptical about the {$1500.00} movers fee, but when a Chase specialist tells a customer that a check is good, then it becomes difficult for that person to assume otherwise. However, on the evening of the following day, I notice that my bank account had a negative balance for the amount close to the check amount. I called Chase to find out what had happened. They said they were informed from the bank issuer that the check signature was forged and has been returned. At this point Im thinking, How is that even possible? So I continue speaking with Chase representatives, trying to get to the bottom of all of this. Turns out that Chase can take back what they said about the check being verified good by a representative from the bank issuer side. Chase ( now speaking with different people, but same department ) begins making excuses as to why the funds were released, saying she released the funds as an act of good deed, or on a good note, or validated through an automated system as my account had a low balance. None of them are true. I am a XXXX year-old XXXX XXXX major, who did they think they were fooling? The funds should not have been released at all if it is considered an invalid check, period. 

In summary, Check refused to acknowledge that they made a mistake, and then refused to provide me with any help that required moderate or sufficient time. I recall one specialist from the Loss and Prevention team rudely stating, I can see your account is restricted oh you understand that, goodbye. *Immediately hangs up as to imply she did not want to further assist me despite only having invested one minute in this conversation* How unprofessional. I continue pestering Chase, urging them to obtain access to the voice recordings on that morning so that I can prove that I am not at fault. I provided them with the time and day to ease the process. However, they claimed they were not capable of accessing it and did not provide me with any other contacts or options to assist with this. 
I had been given little to no opportunity to receive the help that I needed from Chase after this incident. Because of this, I ended up devoting the next few days to try and resolve this issue through other means such as cancelling the moneygram money order, and contacting every USPS postal office/facility in person and over the phone. Since the details of those are unrelated to the report I am currently making, I will be leaving those out. 

From the time of this writing, my Chase account is pending suspension within 5-10 business days with a - {$1700.00} balance, and I am completely unable to access or use it in any way I strongly believe I am not the one at fault. 

With regards to the context, here is what I think : ( Based upon the message exchange Ive had with the other party ( buyer ), I can provide the exact message history between the purchaser and me from beginning to end ) Other Partys Claim : I am going to include the movers fee of {$1500.00}. Clear up the verified check and then let him know after it is cleared. 

My Intention : I am going to do everything I can to clear this check and see if it is good or bad. Since it was already the weekend, I need to wait until Monday to find out for sure. 
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - I will include my informal, XXXX XXXX report below, it reads ( may contain grammatical errors ) : " Hi my name is ___ and I am writing this message to inform you that I am currently the victim of a scam. I received a check for the amount of {$1800.00}. My address is ____. The scam had its beginnings on XXXX where a buyer of my bicycle contacted me, providing his phone number ____, asking if I would be okay accepting a verified check. And so I agreed. Fast forward to Friday night ( XXXX ), I receive the check and try to clear it ASAP. I call Chase over the weekend and they tell me, " It is most likely a bad check, however it would need to be confirmed with the bank issuer of the check ( XXXX XXXX ) on Monday/Tuesday. '' So on Monday I call in as a last attempt to see if the check is really bad. But that was not the case. The Chase representative who supposedly specializes in check verification ( loss and prevention team ) tells me that the check is actually good and so the funds were released on Monday XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX. So I continue trying to help this guy get his {$300.00} bike by withdrawing for the amount of {$1500.00} ( which at the time I believed to be his cleared money ) from my Chase bank account. It goes through, I then exchanged it for three money orders of {$500.00}, totaling {$1500.00} at the XXXX in ____. Now the money order is in transit to the " mover. '' The purchaser said hes moving other items along with it in addition to the bike, for his wife. I then find out a day later ( tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX ) through a chase rep. that the check has a forged signature and is no longer a valid check. However, my package is arriving at the scammers destination on XXXX XXXX as I was told to send it in an express mail. ( with a delivery time of 2 days ). Money order destination is ____. My balance shown goes from $ 200ish to $ -1542 ( both figures estimated ). So at this point I am really confused. How did this happen? I call Chase again and they told me what I previously mentioned - that the check is bad! The representative begins making excuses, like how the funds were released to me on a good note or an act of good deed because my balance was low. But I recall clearly that it was verified with the bank issuer of the check and that it was good. Or at least thats what i was told by Chase. Now I am in extreme panic mode ( anxiety attack ). I called everyone I possibly could to help to no avail. 
My resolve process went like this : Chase > XXXX > USPS > Police. 
USPS has 3 offices around this area. I went to all 3 and they tried to help me intercept the package. The website says item is eligible to be intercepted, so we completed the form together at the main USPS spot that deals with this specific issue.After completing the form, we find out the package is unavailable for interruption as not sufficient information has been provided. In the end, even they were unable to help me fix this, so I was suggested to call the ____ USPS office and tell the office manually through phone to intercept the package ( return to sender ) before it arrives to scammers destination. Cancelling money order was not an option here as that process takes a very long time. I proceed to call the ____ usps office and the hold time is greater than one hour. I hang up and lose all hope. The money order will arrive to the destination by tomorrow ( XX/XX/XXXX ) on an express delivery that I paid ~ {$25.00} for on XX/XX/XXXX. No one was able to help me ( chase, usps, etc. ) retrieve this package. And that is why I am here, to file a report/complaint. As of writing this, my chase account is suspended and the usps website has failed all day to track/intercept my package. Today XX/XX/XXXX is the only day I have to resolve this but that does not look like it is going to happen. From XXXX XXXX, I've been awake every minute trying to fix this, asking whoever where ever. Chase refuses to pull up their phone voice recording that proves my innocence, claiming they are incapable of doing so. ( whats the point in recording if you cant pull it up when it matters the most? ) I had no idea that a check that is verified could be returned after the funds have been withdrawn. Chase took back on their check verification message and said the check is not a valid check, refusing to acknowledge their mistake. I will soon be charged ____ by Chase. Edit - I have tried contacting XXXX  usps facility for several hours throughout the day and they never picked up. No USPS picks up their phone, they only do when you get extremely lucky, and I was praying for that lucky pickup. This was my last try to intercept the package. Nothing works, website not working, tracking ( main feature ) not working ( might be due to the rain? ) usps postal office phone calls, chase check verification procedures ( telling me wrong information and then altering what they said, pretty messed up if you ask me ). The misinformation told by chase resulted in me being scammed. USPS error msg : " we are sorry but your tracking # does not have sufficient information to intercept. please try a different tracking #. '' REMINDER : Call the two postmaster supervisor numbers at ____ USPS office until you get a hold of them. 
XX/XX/XXXX. _____, supervisor of XXXX wont pickup. Also XXXX USPS # AT XXXX USPS PROVIDED BY THE _______ USPS DOESNT PICK UP AS WELL ( __ ___ _ _ _ _ ) Also called ( ___ ___ _ _ _ _ ) menu > hold mail services. Automated tells me package is not yet marked out for delivery. I try to cancel but automated wont recognize the address thru voice. ____ usps opens XXXX XXXX. 
Its currently still ~XXXX - informed package is now at post office at ___ ___ __ > automated says scheduled to arrive ( to scammer ) within 2 days ( but best to not take my chances ) I successfully input hold mail details but on final step after entering mail hold/resume date for XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX automated says " sorry youve exceeded max number of retries '' > I call again to retry. Automated tells me there is an existing hold on the package!!! ( IMPORTANT, AND GOOD OUTCOME FOR ME ) But no confirmatiomn # was provided, so i could not ask about the status of the hold. I log into usps, i notice a hold mail conf. # XXXX on website, I enter it and the start date available is XXXX. could be too late by then, hmm? will this work? 
**XXXX now** Realized i used hold mail without being signed in -- - so its address-based? used the conf # that was already inserted. Still not sure where that came from. Did not want to risk canceling and resubmitting in my USPS account.I remember automated said they dont allow for a rehold for within 48 hours after canceling one. been waiting on phone for 70+ minutes general usps customer service #, still no customer rep, so i hang up. *XXXX update* the usps site says @ XXXX XXXX unable to deliver item address may be incorrect, ... .etc. '' " ALERT '' -hold mail from automated machine call possibly went thru? *XXXX-XXXX* called ____ carrier unit again ( __ _ _ _ _ _ ) they are still closed until XXXX XXXX. 
*update XXXX walked to usps original shipping post office @ _______. lady working there is unable to help me despite her best efforts. *XXXX called the barely opened XXXX postal office several times, no one picks up.noticed a trend that all postal offices dont pick up the incoming phone calls ) both ___ ____ supervisor carrier postmasters not picking up their phone calls either. 
**still on XX/XX/XXXX **XXXX-XXXX** cancelled my hold mail request after postmaster confirmed my package was scanned and is being returned to the sender ( me ). I obtained this NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE-TO-OBTAIN postmasters number through countless hours of deep searching. ____ __ _ _ is the person who gave me the number to the postmaster. Thank gosh. 

During this time, I've easily made over 100 phone calls, walked into a USPS store several times, contacted the Chase and USPS customer representatives way too many times.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation