Consumer complaint received 2017-09-09
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: IL
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 Friday, XXXX XXXX XXXX my husband and I went into the Chase bank on XXXX and XXXX in XXXX to open up a new credit card. This was our first experience with this company, but this would be my 2nd credit card. My husband needed to build his credit because he is from the XXXX and has just become a legal resident in the US about 1.5 months ago. Since he just recently received his US Visa/Green Card, state ID, and SS #, he has no credit history therefore he was denied on initial application for the Freedom Chase Credit Card ( which we expected might happen ). Then, since I have excellent credit and am a US  citizen, we were talking about options for a credit card for me to apply for, and I could add him on as an authorized user ( but the Chase emplyee warned us that this would not help his credit, which we were OK with ). The Chase employee was discussing the difference between the different types of credit cards they had to offer. He told us that the Chase Sapphire Preferred card had XXXX points on food and travel, which is great for us because we fly a lot and enjoy going out to eat. He also told us about the XXXX points if we spend {$4000.00} in the first 3 months, which we thought might be doable. This card sounded most appealing because of the perks and travel benefits. We wanted to hear more about this card and then he gave us completely wrong/misleading information. First we asked if we could pay off my other credit card ( a Citi Card which has 13 % APR ) with this new card to hit the {$4000.00} mark. He said that we could do this and that this would count towards reaching the {$4000.00} mark and then we would be able to get the XXXX points. He also failed to mention that there is a HUGE 5 % fee to transfer credit balances. He did n't say ANYTHING about any transfer fees. He also told us that this Chase Sapphire Preferred Card was 0 % APR FOR THE FIRST 15  MONTHS which is completely false information. This was the reason that I we signed up for this card - who would n't want 0 % for 15 months?!?!? Our financial plan was to pay off my Citi Card ( 13 % APR ) with my new Chase Sapphire Card (  supposed to be 0 % APR ) to reach the {$4000.00} goal and get the benefits of the XXXX points, then we have more time to pay it off because it was 0 % APR for a whole 15 months. He agreed that we could do this and that it would count towards getting the points. But again he did n't mention that there was a huge fee to transfer the credit over between cards .... and even he we did transfer the money over and pay the 5 % fee, it would n't even count towards the points anyway because the {$4000.00} target is with services and purchases only within the first 3 months - not including credit transfers! So this would have been a HUGE mistake for us because we would have transferred all that money over for NO reason and NO benefit - we would n't get the XXXX points, we would have to pay a {$200.00} fee to transfer the money over, and then we would have to pay a whopping 24 % APR on {$4000.00} vs. 0 % as we were promised by this employee. If we left the balance where it is on the Citi Card we would only have to pay 13 % APR compared to 24 %. We feel completely mislead and we were straight-up lied to. This employee gave us false information that led to us making a big decision/mistake which will not benefit us at all. He also had me submit the application online so it would save him an extra step, rather than doing it in person and going over the details of the card 's benefits with us in person, I just did it online at his computer in his office while he chatted with my husband. I went through the application quickly because I was verbally told all about the card just moments before and he went over all the perks with us ( which again was false information ) so I trusted what he had told us and did n't read the fine print as thoroughly as I should of - he just went over all the details and so I thought I had a good idea of what the card had to offer. Now stuck with the card because he warned us that if we cancel the card, then it would negatively affect my excellent credit score. Why should I be penalized for a Chase employee 's mistake? So rather than cancelling the card ( it was already in the mail so it was too late ), we decided to keep the card so it would n't hurt my credit. 

So then we called Chase Bank on Saturday XXXX XXXX to complain about what happened and try to get a solution to our problem, as we feel completely trapped and mislead in this situation. We spoke with the same employee and he told us that he had to speak with his manager and then someone would get back to us. Then a Customer Service Representative called us back later that same day. She basically stated that the employee made a mistake, he gave us false information, and that " disciplinary action would be taken. '' So she admitted their fault, however, she did nothing to help us rectify the situation. We asked if we could get 0 % APR for 12 months instead of 15 months, or if we could get the transfer fee waived, and she basically told us a flat out NO and that we should just cancel the card. Well I do n't want my credit score hurt for someone else 's mistake, so we are keeping the card but now we have to try to get the {$4000.00} in the first 3 months to get the perks, and then hopefully pay it off completely before we have to pay the INSANE interest rate of 24 %. My Citi Card is 13 % and my credit is excellent so I can not believe how high that APR is for this new Chase card. But again, we feel stuck and now feel as if we have no choice but to use the card and try to reap the benefits. I feel that even getting 0 % APR for 10 months would be a decent compromise so we can take advantage of the benefits of this card, as we hoped to do initially when we were presented with this false information. As well as getting the credit transfer fee waived one time. I feel that this is only fair considering what we have been through, and I can not believe that Chase are not willing to help or work with us.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation