Consumer complaint received 2022-04-14
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: KY
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
I scheduled a payment plan with Chase bank for an outstanding credit card debt, which I had been unable to pay for many months due to COVID hardship and a series of bad, impulsive decisions relating to my XXXX difficulties. They often complicate my attempts to plan properly for the future or make responsible decisions, although I am improving with the assistance of XXXX and XXXX 

I was told I would pay {$43.00} a month for 12 months on one account and {$23.00} a month for 12 months on one account. My goal was to repair my credit report from aforementioned mistakes. First of all, there was no indication on the website that the account was in Collections, which meant paying it would do nothing for my credit report. An operator told me their term for " Collections '' is " Customer Support. '' I asked her if she was also " Customer Support '' and she said yes, but she is not Collections. This is extremely confusing for Customers, in my opinion.

Lo and behold, when I went to check my Credit Report, there had been no improvement. In addition, two scheduled payments that were above and beyond my agreed-upon plan in the total of {$500.00} had appeared on my account as potential ACH debit transfers that I could not avoid. I live on a fixed income and, had these gone through, they would have devastated me. So I promptly called Customer Support, which as any reasonable person should be able to realize, logically means Collections. 

The lowly operator named XXXX ( I wish I had not accidentally discarded their customer ID numbers ) informed me that the amount, which was clearly marked as a scheduled payment although not accessible anywhere in the interface for cancellation, was actually an indicator of a due date rather than a scheduled payment. When I requested my payment agreement in writing, he insisted that he could not provide that information. When I asked him to speak a bit more loudly into my recording device, he changed his story, and said he did not have the authority to issue the agreement in writing but could escalate to someone who could. He was extremely rude when I requested my rights be respected under consumer law. 

So I was escalated to a supervisor named XXXX. She also insisted rather stridently that no payment was scheduled and that I would only be on the hook for the originally agreed upon amounts. The notification that " You have scheduled a payment for XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$300.00} '' did not actually mean the English words that it was written to mean and instead referred to a due date. She was so insistent I decided to believe her and assumed this was just some manipulative way of getting a payee to call in to confirm their debt. Either way, rather shady. I requested my payment plan in writing, which she assured me had already been sent, even though I never received one. 

I was all set to let it drop until I signed in to check my account this morning. Lo and behold, no mention of any " due date '' in the amount of {$300.00} for one account and {$200.00} for another. No mention of any " scheduled payments '' at all. This confirms my suspicion that they attempted to take advantage of a disadvantaged, vulnerable person and -- had my medications not properly been accounted for -- probably would have succeeded in doing so. On top of that, they refused to take responsibility for it and outright lied about their attempts to do so. I don't feel this will prompt any serious recompense on the behalf of our benevolent overseers, and I recognize that it is partly my responsibility for getting into this debt in the first place, but in my opinion if I seek a good faith effort to get out from under it, I should be rewarded rather than punished. 

In any case, after noticing the bald faced lie, I wished to tell my story so that others might benefit from it. Either pay your debts to Chase or never schedule anything for ACH debit because whatever little shady companies they have setting those up may try to pull a fast one and hope you don't protest.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation