Consumer complaint received 2018-07-03
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Application denied

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I applied for and received a Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Since I had just moved from XXXX to the US in XXXX and did not have very extensive US credit history, I didn't receive an approval on the spot, but was approved after a Chase employee called in to verify my information. 

After receiving my card, I made a major purchase on it ( ~ {$8000.00} for vehicle repairs at the official XXXX dealership ), since my debit card only allowed a daily limit of $ XXXX even at a merchant point-of-sale. The transaction was declined on the first attempt, but went through without issue after the mechanic tried it a second time. 

The next day, I tried using the card again to discover that Chase has shut down the credit account. When I called customer service, the rep informed me that the card was cancelled due to me not having long enough credit history, which triggered some sort of red flag. I pointed out that my credit history was checked as part of the approval process, and apparently they had no problem issuing the card to me with a XXXX credit limit at the time, but to no avail. I decided not to push the issue too hard for the time being, and try again after I've built up some more credit history. I dutifully paid off the full balance on the card over a couple of days after the account was closed. 

Today, a little over two years later. I applied for an XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, and received the rejection in the mail stating that my application was declined due to " Previous unsatisfactory relationship with this bank ''. Since I now have pretty good credit history ( XXXX FICO, no missed payments or derogatory marks of any sort ), and having learned of the existence of an application reconsideration line, I figured I would give Chase another shot. 

I called into the reconsideration line, and was told they can't reconsider this particular application due to the reason it was declined ; apparently the " previous unsatisfactory relationship '' reason is automatically rejected for reconsideration. I asked if it was possible to look into a general Chase restriction against me, and they said they'll escalate and look into it further. 

A few days later I received a call and was told that due to having had an account closure in the past, the system automatically declined the application with the " previous unsatisfactory relationship '' reason, and any application that was rejected due to " previous unsatisfactory relationship '' is automatically rejected for reconsideration as well without even considering my credit history or whether I have been using my credit responsibly. Also, they can't look up whether the previous account closure was justified, since the information related to that account is no longer in their system. Lastly they told me that they can't do anything for this application or about the general restriction, but that I was free to apply for another Chase credit card at my discretion. This is clearly ludicrous because according to them, all future applications will automatically be denied with no chance for reconsideration due to an issue that was not my fault and which they can't resolve. 

I'm stuck in a strange situation where there's no recourse to correct a problem I had no control over, and which was a result of neither abuse, ill intent, nor mistakes on my part. If anything it was a mistake on Chase 's part to approve credit for me, and then after the fact finding me unqualified for it when I tried in good faith to make use of it. To blacklist me due to their own mistake, and then offer no recourse for resolution, seems blatantly anti-consumer.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation