Consumer complaint received 2019-04-22
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
This claim involves the claims filed by me ( XXXX ) and on my behalf by the California Department of Business Oversight ( XXXX ) against Chase Bank. The currently pending claims involve fraudulent charges made on my credit card in a foreign country. The pending claims provide detailed information regarding Chase Banks intentional evasiveness, delay tactics, and refusal to resolve my matter. 

Shortly after the above-mentioned claims were filed with the CFPB, Chase Bank engaged in retaliatory behavior against me. With at least the knowledge of the claim filed by the California Department of Business Oversight ( CDBO ) ( which was submitted on XX/XX/2019 ), and possibly also the knowledge of the claim I filed on XX/XX/2019, Chase Bank first closed the matter that was the basis for the claims ( despite their being open claims with the CFPB ), and then restricted my online access to my account. 

Chase Bank informed me that it was closing my matter in a letter dated XX/XX/2019 just two days after I submitted my CFPB complaint, and 12 days after the CDBO submitted a complaint on my behalf. The XX/XX/XXXX letter contained material misstatements regarding which charges I am disputing. Chase Bank then restricted online access to my bank account, disabling certain features and preventing me from using the over 300,000 points Ive accumulated as a Chase Bank customer. In multiple instances, when I tried to access my online account, a prompt stated that my email address had been changed to XXXX and that access was forbidden. 

I believe Chase Bank closed my matter and restricted access to my account because of the claims the CDBO and I filed with the CFPB. Chase Bank is aware of the amounts I owe, and that those amounts are significant to me. Chase Bank is also aware that the issues involved in the recently closed matter are the same issues that form the basis for the claims filed with the CFPB. 

Chase Bank unrestricted access to my account after my attorney placed two unanswered calls and two unanswered emails to the Chase Executive Fraud Department, as well as one unanswered call to the Chase Fraud Department. Chase Bank returned my attorneys calls, on XX/XX/2019. My attorney spent 30 minutes speaking with the Fraud Department, 10 minutes on hold, and 20 minutes speaking with a representative in the Customer Service Department. The Chase Fraud Department referred my attorney to the Customer Service Department because the Fraud Department only deals with fraud.

During my attorneys call with the Chase Fraud Department, the Chase Bank agent ( XXXX XXXX ) told my attorney that if he wanted access to the audio recordings referenced in Chase Banks XX/XX/2019 letter to me ( written by XXXX XXXX ) he would need to subpoena that information. The letter specifically mentioned that certain audio recordings were germane to my matter being closed and the fraudulent charges being upheld. The audio recordings mentioned in the XX/XX/2019 letter had never previously been mentioned over the course of the eight months Ive been disputing the charges. 

After being referred by the Fraud Department to the Customer Service Department, the Customer Service Department informed my attorney that he would again need to include me on a call to verify that my attorney is who he says he is ; however, on multiple occasions, I had already provided Chase Bank with confirmation that my attorney represents me, both orally and in writing. Whats more, the Fraud Department had just spoken about my matter at length with my attorney right before connecting my attorney to the Customer Service Department. 

Both the Fraud Department and the Customer Service Department told my attorney that a security hold had been placed on my online account. The Customer Service Department revealed that security holds are put in place when there has been a suspected security breach. There was no suspected security breach. The Customer Service Department said that the security hold would be in place until I received a new card for the account on which the fraudulent charges had been made but I received that new card ( and a new account number ) over 8 months ago, and Chase Bank knew this. 

Shortly after my attorney ended the call with the Chase Bank Customer Service Department, my attorney received a call from the Chase Executive Fraud Department. The Executive Fraud Department again confirmed that there was a security hold on my account, and that they would need to reach out to the Security Department to determine why the hold was in place. They told my attorney they would call him back when the Executive Fraud Department heard from the Security Department this was yet another delay tactic consistent with the pattern of behavior complained of in the previously filed CFPB complaints. 

The Executive Department also again refused to send my attorney the audio recordings that formed the basis for Chase Bank upholding the fraudulent charges to my account. The Executive Fraud Department did, however, at my attorneys forceful request, agree to send him a typed summary of the recordings. The Executive Department iterated that if my attorney wanted the actual audio recordings, he would need to send a subpoena request to their National Subpoena Processing Department. This is still another example of the  kind of institutionally embedded delay tactics and clandestine coercion used by Chase Bank to prevent opposition to its decisions. 

Chase Bank recorded all of my phone conversations with its agents, not for customer service purposes, but to now egregiously misrepresent those conversations as evidence for upholding the fraudulent charges. Chase Bank is withholding those audio recordings to prevent me from defending my claims. Apparently Chase Bank has built into its business model various ramparts of time-consuming and burdensome steps that prevent its clients from accessing mutual information related to its clients claims against the bank. 

Later, and still on XX/XX/2019, my attorney and I called Chase Bank to, once again, verify my attorneys identity ; we were then able to confirm that the bank had, evidently within the past few hours, removed the online restrictions on my account. The Executive Fraud Department did not contact me nor did they contact my attorney to mention that the restrictions were lifted. This tends to show the security hold was retaliatory. 

In the letter Chase Bank sent me on XX/XX/2019, Chase Bank demanded that I pay the amounts that form the basis for the claims filed with the CFPB. I maintain that I do not owe the amounts Chase Bank asserts I owe because those charges were fraudulent, and the claims with the CFPB have not been resolved. 

I believe Chase Bank retaliated against me to discourage me from continuing to dispute the charges and to punish me for continuing to object to their egregious institutional practices and conduct ( e.g., their delay tactics ) related to those charges.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation