Consumer complaint received 2017-09-08
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: MN
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
I 'm a Chase Bank customer with a checking account. 

I wrote a check on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$2800.00}. 

I mailed that check to the intended recipient. 

The check was cashed on XX/XX/XXXX. It had been altered, and was cashed for {$1000.00}. 

Two points here : 1. When you write a check and that check is cashed, do you follow up with the intended recipient to make sure that individual is the person who cashed the check? Neither did I.

2. If you write a check for a one-time service, and the recipient cashes it for a smaller amount, do you raise a red flag and ask them why? Neither did I. ( Especially when the recipient is a friend-of-a-friend who was being paid for helping with our wedding, and had already significantly reduced the price once as a gesture of good will. We do n't know her THAT well, and it just did n't make sense to go get in to yet another conversation about price. We had just moved to XXXX XXXX XXXX and welcomed the windfall. We left well enough alone. ) We had no reason to believe that Chase Bank would allow someone other than the recipient to cash the check, but that 's exactly what happened. 

The intended recipient of the check simply thought we had n't paid her. And because she knew we were just getting started in our new life together, and we had several other financial hardships including moving to XXXX XXXX  XXXX, she did n't want to press us for money we might not have. And so she did n't. 

Several years later, enduring hardships of her own, she finally sent us a very nice letter asking that we pay her. We got that letter on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I was confused and a bit annoyed. We remembered seeing that she cashed the check for a smaller amount. We had the money back then, but -- still buried in debt and now with a baby on the way -- we no longer have that money. I reminded her in an email that she 'd already cashed the check we sent ( and that she re-wrote it for a smaller amount ), and I offered to pay the balance in monthly installments. 

At the end of XX/XX/XXXX I sent her the first payment, along with a copy of the email I sent her back on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Apparently she does n't check email much, so this was the first she 'd heard about cashing the check. When she read my email and saw the copy of the altered check that I included, she knew that fraud had taken place. 

She never received nor cashed that check. 

She immediately went to her local police station in XXXX, IN where she and an officer called me together to explain what had happened. 

We did n't know if the check was stolen out of the US Mail in XXXX where I had sent it from, or in Indiana where she lives. All we knew was that it was in fact stolen. 

As a Chase Bank customer, I expect that I 'm working with a company that takes these matters seriously and asserts the utmost integrity in protecting their customers and prosecuting the criminals. There was no doubt in my mind that my trusted financial institution, Chase Bank, would help make things right. 

That was not my experience. In fact it only got exponentially worse. 

On my initial call to Chase Bank ( XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX CT ),  they told me they could n't and would n't do anything because it had been more than 365 days since the check was cashed. 

This was exceptionally unreasonable to me. Their assertion was that customers who write checks should be responsible for following up with the intended recipient to ensure that 's the person who cashed the check. No reasonable person would agree with this. They also told me that it 's the intended recipient 's fault for not being more assertive in collecting the debt I owed. In other words : She should have called me sooner when she thought I did n't send the check. 

Frankly, it 's none of Chase Bank 's business how aggressive their customers ' bill collectors are or are n't. 

They also said that because it had been several years, they no longer have any record of the check or who/where it was cashed. I knew that was an outright lie. Even I had a record of the check including its image, still available through my online account. And banks are meticulous about keeping records. I just could n't believe what I was hearing. I had been defrauded for what is an incredibly significant amount of money for my wife and me, and Chase Bank -- the supposedly biggest and best -- the alleged leader in fighting fraud and protecting their customers -- was lecturing me about what I did wrong and why they would n't and could n't help me. 

I asked that the call be escalated to someone who might have more authority, and it was. ( I got the same story repeatedly and am now working to get the recorded calls as evidence. ) Finally as I was awaiting yet another escalation, I mentioned that I have every intention of escalating this beyond Chase Bank if they 're unwilling to do what 's right and help me resolve this. The individual I was speaking to at that point informed me of the " CEO Office '' at Chase Bank. The CEO Office is where customers get sent when they plan to contact the BBB and/or take legal action. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a call from the CEO Office and was assigned a case worker to assess my complaint. That individual listened to my story and agreed that this matter merited additional attention and consideration. 

On XX/XX/XXXX they called again to tell me they were in fact able to determine not only where the check was cashed, but by whom. This was terrific news. I was now certain that despite the stress of knowing we 'd been defrauded, and having to jump through so many hoops just to get what was right, we would finally be vindicated. 

For next steps I needed to complete an affidavit which was emailed to me later that day : XX/XX/XXXX. It had to be notarized, and so I was n't able to return it -- also via email -- until XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX they confirmed receipt of the affidavit. 

I waited patiently for the good news that we could close this unsettling chapter. 

No news. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I sent an email asking for an update.

On XX/XX/XXXX7 I got a phone call from my case worker in the CEO Office. She informed me, much to her shock as well, that the department responsible for closing this matter had pushed back. They said that too much time had passed and thus refused to take this matter seriously. My case worker said that she went to her own Manager and told him this merited additional support. He listened as she explained the situation to him, and he too agreed that I 'd been wronged and Chase can/should support me in making things right. 

I again waited patiently for good news. 

No news. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I emailed the case worker to confirm the details we discussed. At that point I was also creating an electronic paper trail because I was again concerned that Chase would victimize me for a second time -- enabling fraud and helping criminals by disabling resolution and punishing their customer. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I missed a call from the number previously used by the CEO Office. I sent an email letting my case worker that I was now available and looked forward to an update. 

On XX/XX/XXXX ( today ) I sent another email asking for an update. 

At XXXX CT today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I received a call from my case worker. She indicated that she thought she left a voicemail last time she called, asking me to call her back. She apologized for the delay in getting back with me, and said that the hurricane in Texas had disrupted their schedules. Perfectly understandable. I was just excited for what I was still hoping would be good news. 

Not the case. 

The case worker confirmed today that Chase Bank would not be refunding the money because too much time had passed. 

I wrote a check and it was stolen out of the mail and cashed by someone else. 

Neither I, nor the intended recipient, share any burden here. It 's unreasonable and unacceptable to hold me accountable for following up to find out who cashed the checks I write, or to hold those I owe money to accountable for being more aggressive in their debt collection efforts. 

Moreover, XXXX knows exactly who committed this fraud against me. It was one of their own customers, and they 've since taken action against that individual. 

If too much time has n't passed for them to take action against the individual who they know for a fact defrauded me, then too much time has n't passed for them to refund the money that is rightly mine. 

Additionally, had I NOT escalated this matter and taken Chase Bank 's initial " customer service '' at their scripted word, then the person who defrauded me would be unknown to Chase and potentially still out there defrauding people. 

In other words, if Chase had it their way, then nothing would have been done to mitigate this easily-resolved instance of fraud -- and hold accountable the US mail and bank fraud criminal who perpetrated the crime. 

Finally, I 've carefully reviewed Chase 's most public language ( online ) about how seriously they pretend to take check fraud and how much they pretend to want to help their customers resolve it. Nowhere do I see any language about a statute of limitations, let alone the one year time frame I was initially given -- or the 3 year time frame that is now being used to excuse their inexcusable failure ( s ). 

It 's unacceptable that I was initially told they 'd do nothing. It 's unacceptable that I was lied to and told that they no longer have those records. It 's unacceptable that they were perfectly happy to let a criminal go free to commit more US mail and check fraud, if only I would have let the situation go. It 's unacceptable that they have victimized me a second time by refusing to do what 's right, even amid the most blindingly-obvious evidence that I 'd been wronged. 

This is not behavior I 'd expect from a small bank, let alone an alleged banking leader that purports to take fraud and customer security so seriously. 

I 'm tempted at this point to ask for more than the {$1000.00} that is owed to me, and will obviously be taking my business elsewhere despite having nearly 20 accounts all tied up in my Chase account including direct deposits, automatic bill pay, and saved banking information. The stress and strain of this entire experience has been exhausting and infuriating. I 've already consulted with a litigation attorney and was informed that these formal complaints are my best first step. 

I 've also aired my grievance publicly and will continue to do so with the hopes of a ) resolution, b ) assurance that Chase takes steps to make sure no other customers have to go through what I have, c ) drawing attention to this specific matter and d ) making other consumers aware of Chase 's absence when it comes to integrity in holding criminals accountable and protecting their customers ' interests. 

Thanks only to my persistence, they 've held accountable the criminal who defrauded me. But under the lazy protection of red tape and their corporate largess, they 've not only refused to set things right with me -- but they 've made matters worse by showing me that they 're perfectly willing to let their own customers be victimized as long as they can get away with doing so.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation