Consumer complaint received 2023-03-14
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Traveler's check or cashier's check
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
This is to notify you of a very disturbing experience we had with Chase bank. We moved our accounts to Chase because we travel worldwide and wanted a bank that could be contacted at any hour anywhere in the world. In the past we have been satisfied with their service. One of our accounts is a Premier Plus Checking and most recently the branch we used was Chase Branch # XXXX on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX 

Why is it that Chase contacts me all the time to advise me of special deals, they text me, they email me and they have my cell phone number. With so many ways to contact me why would they send me a letter through the U.S. Mail to tell me that a Cashiers Check I deposited, drawn on XXXX XXXX, was bogus and that funds were being removed from my checking account? 

XX/XX/2023, Used electronic deposit to deposit {$2500.00} Cashiers Check drawn on XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXXXXXX to my XXXX XXXX  Checking account. Check was received from a potential buyer in the mail as deposit on a XXXX that we are selling. 

XX/XX/2023 Received email from Chase notifying me that check was deposited. 

XX/XX/2023 We decided not to sell the car to that party and canceled the sale. Naturally we would return their deposit. 

XX/XX/2023, We got a Cashiers Check from Chase Branch # XXXX on XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/2023, Chase was notified that the Cashiers Check that we deposited was returned unpaid, returned reason : Altered/Ficticious. We, Chase 's XXXX XXXX account holder were not called by phone, not contacted with a text and not emailed of that status. Instead, Chase sent a letter through the U.S. Mail to advise me that the Cashiers Check had bounced. We received that letter on XX/XX/2023. 

I contacted Chase on the XXXX listed on the letter to call if there were problems to immediately stop payment on that check. I was surprised when told that I would have to go to that local branch to stop payment. Why would a supposedly international bank require me to go into a local branch to put a stop on a Cashiers Check that they issued? 

I called the branch to stop payment and was told by XXXX that I would have to come in person to make that happen. 

I went to the local branch listed above, explained the situation to the very nice cashier who then proceeded to put a stop on the check. She made some queries on the keyboard and said she just needed to get it approved. She returned shortly and she gave me a Service Confirmation form that stated the stop was effective XX/XX/2023. 

I left the bank and was halfway home when I received a cellphone call from XXXX saying I should return to the branch because the Stop Payment needed additional action. When I returned, I met with XXXX and was told that the Cashiers Check had already been cashed and there was nothing they could do. 

When my wife called back the bank to get further details on why a cashiers check was not accepted, she was told XXXX would return her call. He did not on the XXXX and when she contacted him the morning of the XXXX, he hung up on her stating it was not the banks fault and there was nothing he could do. 

We can not understand why a bank, who has many ways to contact us, would, when notified of a bad Cashiers Check deposited into our account, would choose to notify us by U.S. Mail making it impossible for us to stop payment on our check in a timely manner. Chase was notified on XX/XX/XXXX, our Cashiers Check was cashed on XX/XX/XXXX, and we received Chase 's letter on XX/XX/XXXX. 

We were scammed out of {$2500.00} because Chase bank failed to notify us in a timely manner when a Cashiers Check bounced. 

This experience with Chase bank has been very disappointing and not at all what we have come to expect from Chase. We will be filing a fraud complaint with the FBI and are totally disgusted by the sloppy practices and procedures of Chase bank. We will begin the process of finding another bank for our requirements. Our policy is not to do business with institutions with so little regard for the good of their customers.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation