Consumer complaint received 2022-03-15
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2022 I charged {$2700.00} to my Chase Sapphire XXXX XXXX credit card for an upcoming cruise, knowing that Chase offers the " My Chase Plan '' option to split up large purchases into a more manageable payment plan without charging interest on the purchase, but instead charging a fixed monthly fee. I have used this service previously on a separate transaction on my Chase Freedom credit card. When the charge posted on my card I tried to select the option to create a My Chase Plan but the option was not available to me. I went to the Chase.com website to find out why my purchase was not eligible. According to the Chase website, " An eligible purchase transaction for My Chase Plan is a purchase of at least {$100.00}, but may not include certain transactions, such as ( a ) cash-like transactions, ( b ) any fees owed to us, including Annual Membership Fees, and ( c ) purchases made under a separate promotion or special finance program. '' My charge did not fall into any of the aforementioned categories. I contacted Chase customer service on XX/XX/2022 and spoke to a girl who told me that some purchases just aren't eligible. I asked her why and her reply was that they " just aren't ''. I told her I wanted to know specifically why, and she said she would not be able to help me. I asked her if there was someone else I could speak to who could explain why my purchase was not eligible. She said I could speak with a supervisor, and I told her I would like to do so. She placed me on hold and I waited 45 minutes until the supervisor picked up the call. The supervisor told me that the purchase was not eligible and I asked him why, and he told me that he didn't know. I read through the description on the Chase website of all the reasons a purchase would not be eligible and asked him to confirm if my purchase met any of those criteria. He said that it did not. I asked him why my purchase was not eligible if it didn't meet any of the exclusion criteria and he said he couldn't tell me. I asked him what the next step would be for me ; what else I could do to find out why I was not able to create a My Chase Plan. He said he could " escalate '' my inquiry and that someone would review my account in more detail and that I would receive a letter in the mail with the resolution in 10-14 business days. I told him to move forward with that process. It has been more than 14 business days and there has been no resolution. This situation is frustrating because it seems like a " bait-and-switch '' technique to entice consumers to make large purchases under the assumption that they will be able to defer interest on the purchase and create a payment plan. Then the payment plan option is not available for no discernible reason, but you won't find that out until after you have already made the purchase. It seems like a scam to entice consumers to spend more so Chase can charge more interest on those purchases.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation