Consumer complaint received 2023-07-07
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
I was using Chase for my XXXX Checking account for about a year before this issue happened. I have also been using my current payment processor for over a year at this point with no issues. 

I run a XXXX XXXX that does XXXX XXXX XXXX for other businesses and organizations. 

On XX/XX/XXXX a deposit was made through my payment processor for a total of {$5000.00}, a hold was placed on my deposit for 10 days. On the XXXX day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I called customer service to see if the hold would be released that day or if I needed to wait until the end of the day. The customer service person put me on hold to look into it, however, this hold was longer than usual. He then comes back after about 10 minutes and tells me that Chase has reviewed my account and at this time decided to close it. I was not told any information other than " Chase reviewed your account and decided to close it '' and " We will send you a check no later than 10 days in the mail with the funds in the account ''. 

I was completely in shock, but everything seemed to be routine and I was not rude. However, after going back and forth with the man and getting no other answer other than Chase has reviewed your account and decided to close it '' I decided to hang up and just accept my luck ; which was missing payroll for my employees and being late to pay rent. 

On XX/XX/XXXX ( 11 days ) that check had not arrived and I decided to call customer service. This time, I was rerouted this time over to the fraud department instead of general customer service which deals with closed accounts. This fraud department representative was not nice or helpful. Instead, she repeatedly talked over me and accused me of stealing a check ( the last deposit ) from the account. She told me that Chase would not only keep the {$5000.00} in question but also all of the money in my account because they couldn't get ahold of the person who owns the business via phone call during their normal bank hours. I gave them the cell phone number of the business owner and any other information I could to help verify it, however, the rep hung up in my face. 

2 days after that encounter I got a call from the Banker who originally set up my account and he was trying to upsell me credit cards and loans. I politely told him that Chase had closed my account and was refusing to issue me the money and to help me out. He was startled and shocked by this information and put me on hold to look into it, however, the call was " disconnected '' ( though I'm sure he just hung up on me ). I called back. No answer. I left a voicemail on his office voicemail. No return call. 

I called the Chase Fraud department again and this time I got someone who was a lot nice, and told me that Chase needs to verify that everything is legitimate and that I need to take all my info to a Branch that way they can call the fraud department with me in the room and verify all my info. 

After that, I decided to visit the brand closest to my new XXXX downtown. I walked in an hour and a half before the branch closed with all my identifying information, XXXX information, customer contact information, signed contracts, and client communications, ready to show someone at the branch that could call and verify. There were 3 bankers sitting around laughing and talking " personally '' amongst themselves. There were no other customers in the building. However the manager, after learning that I need help calling fraud, told me that they were done working for the day and instead I should drive 15 minutes up the street and see if the next branch would take me. There was an hour and a half before closing and I was turned away because that branch had decided calling fraud would be too much work. 

A few days after this I decided to go in early to the branch that set the account up ( the same guy that didn't call me back ) and just meet him in the office and ask him to take care of me. I gave him all the information I had, showed him the communication and signed contracts and payment authorization forms. He got on the phone with the fraud department, however, this time the fraud department told me that they didn't care about any signed information and instead needed to speak to the person who paid me the {$5000.00} directly before they could release any of th money on my account. 

I explained to the fraud department and the banker that I had the signed necessary forms, customer communications, and authorizations, however getting someone very busy, that runs a multi-million dollar business on the phone to talk to my bank during normal bank hours would be hard. I explained that not only was this entire situation very unprofessional looking on me, but most of my communication with him happens after hours. Regardless the fraud department did not care or have another way to verify it. I tried calling the client myself during my time at the branch and of course, he was unable to answer. I then gave up again and decided to leave. 

I later got ahold of my client and explained to him to be on the lookout for a call from the chase, but my client has since informed me that he hasn't received a call. 

I run a XXXX XXXX and have done so for years. I have had previous bank accounts with other institutes, and this is the first time this has ever happened to me. This has been disastrous for my XXXX. I almost had to shut down my doors, and I have yet to fully recover from this issue. I can understand holding funds out of suspicion, however, there is no reason to hold funds after a check has cleared, and certainly not all of the funds in the account that is not in question. 

Chase bank is very unprofessional at multiple different levels.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation