Consumer complaint received 2022-07-11
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I did an online real-time transfer of {$4100.00} from my business checking account # XXXX to my & my husband 's joint personal checking account # XXXX. At the time of the transfer, the balance of my business account was {$6700.00}. Plenty of balance to cover the {$4100.00} transfer. ( *This becomes of note later. ) This was a simple and immediate online real-time transfer of monies. It is a transfer between accounts I do monthly, to replenish the mortgage payment made from our personal joint account. 

To be sure the money has transferred successfully, I log into my business checking account on my laptop computer and log into my personal checking account on my desktop computer, so I can watch it with my own eyes. 

And this is precisely what happened the morning of XX/XX/XXXX when I did the transfer. The money was debited from my business checking account # XXXX and immediately credited to my personal checking account # XXXX, with a posting date of XX/XX/XXXX Or so I thought. 

A few days later I received a letter from Chase ( dated XX/XX/XXXX ) stating the following : Insufficient Funds Notice : There wasnt enough money in your account ending in XXXX. 

Dear XXXX XXXX XXXX : Your account balance was not enough to cover at least one transaction. We have either paid the transaction or returned it to the payee. 

We may have charged you a {$34.00} Insufficient Funds Fee ( s ) for transaction ( s ) we paid. 

I immediately logged into my personal checking account to see that the posting date was changed to XX/XX/XXXX. The money was indeed credited to the account, but proceeded to be debited back out of the personal checking account # XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I then logged into my business checking account # XXXX to confirm that the {$4100.00} had been credited back there -- - only to find that it was nowhere to be found. 

So where did it go? 

As for the letter I received : there was enough money in my business account to cover the transaction. There was a balance of {$6700.00}. 

I drove to the nearest Chase Bank branch to sort out the issue, with printed out proof in hand. I was told by two employees, Theres nothing we can do for you here. This is a back-office issue. Youll need to call the number on the back of your card. We cant give you your money back. 

Even worse, one of the employees had difficulty understanding the accounting error I had described. She replied, Im sure your money is there somewhere, youre just not seeing it! while the other employee tried to explain to her what had happened. This was not comforting. It had been fifteen days at this point. No reason the money shouldnt have shown up by then especially considering it was an internal transfer between accounts owned by the same person. 

Over the next two weeks, I spent fifteen hours calling Chase Customer service, explaining the issue at least four dozen times, being connected to whichever was supposed to be the right department to help me. Only to be told time and time again that whomever I was on the phone with could not, in fact, help me. 

I literally had to beg a customer service representative to open a case for the issue. Then, when she was connecting me to another department she says, Great, Ill go ahead and close the case. To which I replied, Why would you close the case? It hasnt been handled. I havent gotten my money back. Then, like XXXX XXXX, she said, So whats the issue youre calling about today? And Id be asked to explain it ALL OVER AGAIN. Talk about frustrating. 

This was a simple internal transfer of my own money, from one account to another. My guess is there was a computer error on Chases part, flagging it as insufficient funds despite the fact that there were sufficient funds. 

I am being shorted {$4100.00} by Chase Bank and the fact that there has been little to no help from Chase Bank is infuriating, at best. 

Either an innocent computer error happened, or there is internal fraud on the part of someone working at Chase. Because, to where did my money get transferred? Certainly not to me. 

Regardless, {$4100.00} of mine is sitting in a virtual drawer somewhere ( or someone elses bank account? ) and it is mine. 

As I stated earlier, I have spent upward of fifteen hours on the telephone trying to get this sorted out. Calling ( and Chase dropping calls ), sending emails ( and not getting responses ), going to Chase in person ( and not being helped )... to no avail. 

Finally, on Friday, my husband and I went back into the Chase Bank branch and an employee ( again ) said he couldnt help me. He suggested I contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

I will upload all pertinent documentation. 

Thank you in advance for your help. 

I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX  ; a XXXX  operating a XXXX XXXX XXXX ( in-person and virtual ) out of my home in XXXX XXXX XXXX CA. I have been licensed since XXXX ( XXXX  # XXXX ). 

All my finances are with Chase Bank - both business and personal. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. Enclosure titled BUS COMPLETE CHK ( ... XXXX ) : see pg.10 for the - {$4100.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. Note the balance at the time of the transaction was {$6700.00}. After the transfer the balance was {$2600.00} 2. Enclosure titled TOTAL CHECKUNG ( ... XXXX ) : See pg. 4 for the {$4100.00} transfer in on XX/XX/XXXX and pg. 3 for the Debit return of XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation