Consumer complaint received 2020-03-15
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: MA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I purchased a flight to XXXX for me and my wife through Chase Ultimate Rewards online ( Itinerary # XXXX ). I noticed I selected the wrong flight on accident and immediately called into Chase to cancel. Chase canceled the flight, refunded my money and returned the points I used for the flight to my point bank. 
I then booked my trip again using the correct flights ( Itinerary # XXXX ) The flight was with XXXX XXXX departing on XX/XX/XXXX The flight cost {$1900.00} per traveler for a total of {$3900.00} I redeemed XXXX of my travel points for {$1500.00} towards the flight reducing the total amount charged on my credit card to {$2400.00} On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX my wife and I decided to cancel our flight to XXXX due to her recovery from a XXXX  XXXX and our doctors guidance that international travel wouldnt be best given she is also XXXX. 
The customer service representative with Chase told me I would receive a credit for the total value of the flight from XXXX XXXX to be used on future flights before XX/XX/XXXX on XXXX. The rep also told me that if I mailed the doctors note to XXXX XXXX ( at the address she provided XXXX the reissue fee would be waived on an initial flight booked and would be waived on any future flights booked with the remaining balance of my credit. The rep also told me that I would receive an email confirming the credit balance. 
I had not received an email from Chase so I called into Chase again at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The rep told me she would need to connect with XXXX to generate the refund but was unable to connect with them because they were so busy. She told me to call later that night because it would be slower and Id likely get through. 
I called that night of XX/XX/XXXX. The rep told me I would receive the credit information by email and would also in 48 hours receive an email about a refund. She also told me that I could use the credit on multiple trips if I didnt use the whole balance on one trip. Additionally, she told me not to make any decisions about whether to use the credit until I received the email about the refund. 
The next day, XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Chase confirming the amount of the credit. The email stated I would receive a credit of {$1900.00} per person with a {$300.00} reissue fee. 
I did not receive an email about the refund by XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX. Knowing I wanted to reschedule a domestic trip that wouldnt be taxing on my wife as soon as we could, I called into Chase to see the status of the refund email. The rep tried to pull up the notes about my issue but told me her system was rebooting. I waited on the call for 23 minutes until she finally told me to try again later that night. I called again at XXXX and there were still issues with their system. Fire alarms were also going off. 
The next morning of Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called Chase at XXXX XXXX  to ask about the refund email. The rep I spoke with did not seem very competent and seemed confused about the notes. She stated that the original rep I spoke with had gotten my actual Itinerary # XXXX confused with the canceled # Itinerary # XXXX. I would not receive a refund for Itinerary # XXXX. I accepted this explanation as it seemed logical. 
Knowing our ability to travel internationally ( and use the entirety of the {$1900.00} per person credit ) was not possible before XX/XX/XXXX and knowing we would likely reschedule a flight to XXXX XXXX that night, I wanted to confirm with the rep that I could use the credit for multiple trips like how the prior reps had told me. The rep told me I would forfeit the remaining balance of the credit if I did not use it all at once. On hearing this I asked to speak with her supervisors. 
The supervisor I spoke with listened to my issue and confirmed for me that I would be able to use the credit on an additional flight if there was a remaining balance after booking an initial flight with the credit. She also told me she would send me an email with instructions on how to attach and email the doctors note to have the reissue fee waived. In total, my call with Chase on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX took 1 hour and 26 minutes. 
Knowing this information, my wife and I decided to book a short trip to XXXX XXXX. I first called Chase during my lunch break at XXXX on Thursday XX/XX/XXXX. They told me to call later because the wait to get to a rep who could apply my credit would be very long. On the night of Thursday XX/XX/XXXX I called back to book my flight at XXXX XXXX. I was on hold for over two hours before getting connected to a rep who could help me book my flight. 
While on hold, I searched XXXX flights via the Chase Travel Rewards flight booking website. Nearly all the XXXX flights for economy fares on the dates we were looking to fly ( including the one I eventually booked ) were displaying prices between {$500.00} and {$680.00}. 
Eventually I was connected with a rep after a very long hold and was able to book an economy flight on XXXX to XXXX  XXXX departing XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and returning on XX/XX/XXXX. At multiple times during this I confirmed with the rep that I would be able to use the remaining balance of my credit after booking this flight to XXXX XXXX. Each time the rep confirmed this information. However, not once did the rep tell me the total value of the flight I was booking ( only the remaining value of my credit on my asking ). 
Finally when the flight was booked, I asked the rep to confirm for me what the remaining balance of my credit was. He told me the residual amount was {$1300.00} per person. I also asked him to send me an email with this amount and he said one would arrive in 24-48 hours. The rep also told me there would be {$400.00} reissue fee on the flight that would be charged to my credit card. Having booked the flight we hung up and I received a non-standard looking itinerary emails for both me and my wife. The cost of the flight was not listed. 
Shortly after hanging up, the rep called me back to confirm some information about my wife. I gave him this information and also requested an itemized statement for my flight to XXXX XXXX to confirm the value and again asked for an email with the credit information. He told me again I would receive this information within 24-48 hours. 
The next morning I checked the charges on my Chase card. The {$400.00} reissue fee was listed from Chase but there were also two {$200.00} charges from XXXX as well. 
Seeing this extra {$400.00} worth of charges from XXXX I called Chase on the morning of Friday XX/XX/XXXX. The rep I spoke to told me I needed to call XXXX. 
On calling the XXXX, the XXXX rep could not explain the charge either and told me to call Chase back. He also told me the only charge I should receive would be {$6.00} or some nominal amount. This made no sense to me as no one at Chase mentioned this. 
I called Chase again on XX/XX/XXXX. At this point I was irate. Not only were there phantom charges on my credit card, but after speaking with the XXXX rep, I was worried somehow my flight to XXXX XXXX was booked at an extremely high price that was not told to me by the rep nor displayed anywhere on the Chase Rewards website when I was searching flights and used up the entirety of my credit ( hence why I owed delta {$6.00} ). When I was connected to the rep I explained all these issues, stated I wanted an email confirming the balance of my credit and also an itemized statement for my flight. The rep began asking me a bunch of questions. Having no patience at this point I immediately asked to speak to a supervisor. The woman explained to me she was a supervisor and that she was the same supervisor I spoke with the morning of XX/XX/XXXX. She confirmed that I would still receive the residual amount of my credit and that the residual amount was {$1300.00} per person. She said I should expect an email with this information within 24-48 hours. I asked why it takes so long and she said the people who send the emails are a different department so it takes longer. Satisfied that this information was all in my call notes and that I would receive an email confirming this, I got off the phone. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I finally received the credit information email from Chase. The email incorrectly stated ( contrary to what numerous Chase travel representatives had stated on my calls ) the remaining balance on the credit was {$680.00} per person. Irate, I responded back with the following message via email : This is INCORRECT. I was told our original credit was XXXX per person ( I have emails documenting this ) and we just used approximately XXXX per person on a trip to XXXX XXXX. The remainder is supposed to be around XXXX. At this point, given the terrible service I've received from Chase the past week I plan on reporting Chase to the FTC for unfair and deceptive trade practices. The number of false statements I've been told the past week is horrific. Please remember your calls are all recorded so there is plenty of evidence. 
Having no response to my angry email I called Chase on XX/XX/XXXX to confirm the remaining balance on my credit. I was bounced around multiple times because the original person I spoke to did not understand my original request. 
Eventually I spoke to a supervisor named XXXX. I explained the situation to her and she put me on hold for a long time while she reviewed the notes from the case. Eventually she asked me to go through what happened step by step so she could escalate this to higher ups, repeatedly noting that she would not be able to offer a resolution because she did not feel comfortable weighing in given how muddled this all was. This made me suspicious knowing that I sent the email above threatening a claim. I almost felt like they would use the information on my call with XXXX against me in any claim. Nonetheless, hoping to have this resolved between the parties, I walked through what had all transpired as XXXX took notes. She also brought up my angry email on the call. 
Eventually XXXX escalated to higher ups and assured me they would contact me the morning of XX/XX/XXXX. She told me my case number was XXXX and that my issue would be resolved the next morning. 
As of XX/XX/XXXX I have not received a call from Chase and my issue relating to the travel credits has not been resolved.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief