Consumer complaint received 2020-04-01
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: WA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
What happened : My husband fell and was admitted to the XXXX hospital in XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX, XXXX on XX/XX/2020 They found an impacted hip fracture. That night they asked to put a hold of {$1600.00} on my credit card. The next day they told me they found XXXX  on my husbands XXXX  and that he needed an immediate operation or he would die. At the same time they told me that they needed to put a hold of {$50000.00} on my credit cards - and not to worry that they would not bill until 21 days after giving me an invoice. I found 3 cards - 2 of my husbands and one of mine. They checked the max credit on each card and put a hold of about {$48000.00} across the three credit cards - all from Chase Bank My husband had the operation, was in a XXXX  in the XXXX  for 3 days, and died on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX asked me to return to the hospital the next day to sign some papers. It turned out they wanted to put a hold on another {$40000.00}. I found a XXXX credit card in my husband 's wallet and gave it to them. It had a max credit limit of something over {$19000.00} so they put a hold on that. Each time they put a hold they assured me that they were going to bill the insurance company and would only use the card if the insurance company did not pay. 

I arranged for the funeral in XXXX XXXX, New York. Before I left XXXX XXXX I asked several times for a hospital bill but they said none was ready and I was not to worry. The day I left XXXX XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I got an email from XXXX telling me they had billed all the credit cards but to send them my bank details and they would return the money once the insurance company paid them, I stopped trusting them and did not send the bank details. I have never received a hospital bill. Recently XXXX told me they received a bill for {$130000.00}. They say it is a high dollar amount and will take 60 to 90 days to investigate. I can not see the claim because of privacy rules. 

I called Chase and XXXX from the airport in XXXX and told them the story. They each waited for the charges to go through ( why? ),  closed the cards, categorized the charges as fraud, and reversed the charges. Later on both banks asked if I had given the vendor the credit cards. I said I had and then they both said it was not fraud. ( From the very beginning I told them about giving XXXX the cards for a hold! ) XXXX recategorized my complaint as a billing dispute and is still investigating. Chase put the charges back on new cards and seems very resistant to my requests to further investigate the charges as a billing error dispute. When I tried to speak with a dispute supervisor he kept counting down how long how I had been on the phone so that I couldn't tell him what happened!!! I gave up in tears at 15 minutes. It is now impossible to find anyone to talk to at Chase. I guess due to the Corona virus but XXXX is still providing good support service. I have tried using the convoluted Chase online communication system. I seem to be communicating with computers not humans.

Two of the Chase cards must be paid this week or I will incur large penalties - the two cards have {$43000.00} in XXXX charges. I do not know the situation with the 3rd Chase card because it was in my husband 's name and I can't see it - and I am afraid to ask about it. 

Do I have a valid grievance? My experience with holds has been in hotels where they put a hold on your card when you check in but then give you an invoice that you can review and approve before they actually bill you. I thought an invoice was required. In this case I never got an invoice. The amount billed to each card has nothing to do with services received but rather the max amount of credit available on a particular card. 

Also three of the cards were in my husband 's name. Is it OK to bill the card of someone who is dead? Finally, is it OK to double-bill? In addition to billing my husband and I XXXX has billed in the insurance company.

Re : Contacting XXXX. The following seems to say they were required to bill me by XXXX law - '' The recent changes of fiscal policies in XXXX directly affected bank policies and the prosses of withholding on credit cards. Thats the reason why we notify you that the charges will be effective at that time, this changes are out of our jurisdiction. " I would be most grateful for any advice you can give me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation