Consumer complaint received 2021-06-10
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
I learned of check fraud on my Chase account on XX/XX/XXXX. A check for {XXXX} was stolen out of my building mailbox, altered ( different payee, dollar amount was changed to {XXXX} ) and cashed on XXXX. I was alerted to the fraud on XX/XX/XXXX when the intended recipient called me letting me know they had not received the check. That day, I called Chase and opened a claim over the phone. The following day, I went to a Chase branch and worked with a banker to send the affidavit ( " declaration of unauthorized endorsement or altered item '' ) which he sent to the Claims department via an internal efax. In addition to the affidavit, the banker sent, on my behalf, a photocopy of the check ledger, the invoice for the check, and a police report. 

3 weeks later, I received a letter from chase saying, effectively, thank you for starting a claim, but we have not received your affidavit, please send it. I figured, it's possible the banker made a mistake when he sent my documents. So the following morning, I went to a different branch and had the information re-sent. This time, I waited 3 days and called to confirm that the affidavit was received, so I assumed the claim would begin to process. 

Then, after another 3 weeks had passed, I got the SAME letter in the mail. I called the Claims department, and they told me that, despite having the affidavit, they needed a police report to resolve the case. I sent them the police report! Twice! Where did it go? No one in claims could locate it. So I re-sent the materials via my own fax, to a number I took down very carefully and confirmed was correct. 

It has now been 3 months since the fraud occurred. As of the beginning of this week, I have had three separate bankers send my materials, and I personally have sent the same materials by fax twice. Yet they STILL did not have any materials attached to the claim. Their back office has been absolutely asleep at the wheel, and every time I speak to a claims representative, I am unable to send them the information directly. This is unfathomably frustrating. Furthermore, every time I have called Chase claims, I have received different information -- with some agents saying the police report is all they need, others saying they need a check ledger, and others saying they need a carbon copy of the check ( which I do not have ). They have also given inconsistent information regarding where the fraudulent check was cashed -- which matters because it affects the time needed to pursue the claim. I've had different agents tell me it was cashed at a Chase, at a XXXX, at a XXXX, and at a XXXX XXXX. The ineptitude is stunning -- no one knows anything! 

I was able to raise an escalation with Chase, and now, finally, 3 months after the incident, I was able to send the materials directly to the Escalations representative, who has been helpful. So, finally, after they lost my documents five separate times, they ( apparently ) finally have everything. 

But they are still telling me it will take 3 months to process! After repeatedly losing my documents! I want to be refunded the amount of the fraud immediately. I'm sick of waiting for Claims to process a reimbursement for this obvious fraud. They keep telling me they need more, but they habitually lose everything I send them! It's not right and I need to be made whole.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation