Consumer complaint received 2023-07-07
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: OR
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
I went to Chase to open a business account so that I could deposit a check for {$5000.00} from a grant I was awarded. Upon opening the checking account, the banker asked if I would like to set up a Credit Card Account for my business and told me about a promotional offer they were running. The offer being : if you charge {$6000.00} on the credit card within the first 3 months of the account opening, chase would give you {$900.00} cash back bonus. I figured it would be worth it seeing as I already needed to spend that {$5000.00} from the grant, but I requested a detailed explanation off terms because I am recovering from XXXX XXXX XXXX and didnt want to unknowingly get myself into a bad financial situation with a credit card. The banker set up the account, but it became clear down the road that the terms were not properly communicated to me. 

When, months later, I was trying to find the opening date for my credit card, to reference for the 3 month window/end of promotional period, I found an email I had received from Chase stating your application has been approved. This email was dated XX/XX/23, and was the only correspondence I ever received from chase regarding the approval of my line of credit. So, In turn I began making purchases on the card on XX/XX/23 and determined my deadline to spend the {$6000.00} to be XX/XX/23. 

On XX/XX/23 I was a making a number of final purchases to push me over that $ XXXX threshold but one of the vendors I purchased from did not charge me for a few items that were back ordered, even though the full purchase amount was reflected on my receipt. At this point, I reached out to Chase to request and extension/exception on the promotional offer due to my having proof of spending the full $ XXXX in the three months even if my credit statement would not yet reflect that full amount. The customer service agent I spoke with assured me that most requests for such an extension are approved. 

The following week however, I received a message from Chase via their in-app messaging center. The message stated that my request for an extension on the promotional period was denied because my credit account was opened on XXXX, therefor the deadline was XX/XX/23, not XX/XX/23 as I thought. 

I responded with a screenshot of the email I had received from chase on XXXX which said your application has been approved as proof that the promotional period should have been XXXX - XXXX but I never heard back from that chase employee. 

I then went into a branch and attempted to work it out in person, the banker there told me they didnt have the authority to do anything but would escalate the issue to her branch manager and get back to me. I have not been able to reach that banker since our meeting. 

I then called chase and attempted to escalate the complaint through their customer service line. I was told I would need to speak to several people and one by one Id be pushed up the ladder till eventually someone would be able to give me some answers/resolve the issue. The second employee I was transferred to however, told me she was the end of the line, that I could not speak to anyone else and ultimately hung up on me with zero progress made or questions answered. 

Finally, I went to the branch location where I had opened my business account and an incredibly nice banker by the name of XXXX XXXX spent over an hour working through the details of my complaint and compiling evidence in my favor. On top of the email from chase on XXXX stating my application has been approved, he also found an email they had sent me prior, which said they would need more time to process my application, and in looking at my first credit card statement, the statement period is shown to have started XXXX. XXXX told me he would escalate the complaint and be in touch once someone from chases complaints department was assigned to the case. 

The following week, I was contacted by the employee who had been assigned to my escalated complaint. She told me no extension would be given, had no answers to my questions and gave me no recourse to get answers or have this issue resolved. In my last attempt to work it out with Chase, I emailed XXXX to tell him what I had been told and asked if he was able to take the complaint any further before I went to the CFPB with a complaint. He responded with remorse, saying it was disappointing, but there was nothing else he or his manager could do to help with my complaint. 

I feel as though Chase has purposefully mislead me, scammed me, and are now brushing me off. As a disabled/minority small business owner, this feels predatory and is a huge blow to my efforts of regaining financial stability post major health complications.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation