Consumer complaint received 2023-08-03
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
I received an offer for {$500.00} if I opened a business checking account that met certain criteria for deposits within the first 90 Days. ( Attachment provided. ) Having just formed an consulting business LLC and having my first small business income, on XX/XX/2023, I went to Chase Bank to open a small business checking account. I also applied for a business credit card. 

I opened a business checking account at Chase Bank in XXXX, CA, branch. I had three checks to deposit, totaling {$31000.00}. Checks were issued by The XXXX XXXX XXXX, a local non-profit business for which I have been doing hourly consulting work. The {$31000.00} represents three months of work I have done from XXXX XX/XX/2023. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I went to access funds in my account and to pay bills, including a {$58.00} bill I had received from XXXX which issues checks for Chase Bank. I could not see the checking account on line or in the Chase app, although it was accessible about 10 days earlier. I went into the Chase branch on or about XX/XX/XXXX, fully expecting that I had inadvertently hidden the accounts. 
I was told by the operations manager ( the branch manager was on vacation ), that she did not know what happened to my funds. ( Very scary. ) After about 1.5 hours, she was able to determine that the funds were in suspension and that the account had been closed on XX/XX/XXXX. Chase customer service did not know why and that the account had been closed. I have still not been given a reason for this. 
I received NO contact that the funds were being held to be verified OR that the account was being closed. Working with the person at the branch, she was told by customer service that they tried XXXX to verify the checks with the issuer of the three checks and were told that someone was on vacation. They told me the person with whom they were attempting to verify payment. That person is a warehouse operations manager, someone who is not in any way sitting at a desk waiting to verify my paycheck as I am working for the XXXX administrative office. 

The XXXX general manager and/or CFO could have been reached, but XXXX did not attempt that. Based on my giving the customer service representative a phone number for XXXX XXXX as I was sitting in the branch bank ) who is an administrative assistant, customer service verified that I was paid by the XXXX. ( I do not see that is very good fraud protection as I had called XXXX and asked her to verify when XXXX called. XXXX called, with me sitting there and she verified ). 
At that point, the suspension was lifted and I was told it would be another 7-10 days before my {$31000.00} funds were returned to me. I was without my funds for 6 weeks! I was also short {$58.00} for checks that Chase Bank ordered for a closed account and for which I was not given any options. I did not have the costs of the checks disclosed. When checks arrived, they were GIANT and I was charge {$58.00} via invoice that I paid on time via my Chase credit card. 
I received the {$31000.00} returned on XX/XX/XXXX. I went into the branch on XX/XX/XXXX to inquire about the additional {$58.00} I was owed for checks on a closed account. The branch manager said he could not refund the {$58.00}, because I had no account to refund that into. He said he could issue a check but discouraged that because it would trigger tax forms. He offered to call XXXX to get them to reverse the charge. I left after 30 minutes, with the manager saying he would call me on Monday XX/XX/XXXX with resolution. 

I did not hear from the branch manager on Monday XX/XX/XXXX, so on Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX, I again went back to the branch. Another staff member called XXXX, who said they had no record of the refund. 
After a few more phone calls they issued a check to me for {$58.00} that they said will be treated as income. 

I needed to also go to another bank and again spend time to open another account. 

I also would have been eligible for {$500.00} that I did not receive.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation