Consumer complaint received 2024-01-31
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CT)

I had about a {$5000.00} balance on a XXXX XXXX credit card with 0 % APR. The 0 % APR period was expiring soon and I was not able to pay off the balance, so I opened a new credit card with Chase that had a 0 % APR balance transfer offer so that I could transfer the balance and avoid paying interest. As part of the application process for the new card, I put in the exact amount I wanted transferred from my existing XXXX XXXX card to my new Chase card, which was {$5300.00}. 

However, since I already had three Chase credit cards with a total credit limit close to {$80000.00}, my new card was only approved with a {$500.00} credit limit. I immediately called Chase and asked them to transfer some of the available credit from one my old cards to my new cards, which was a service I knew Chase offered and had used in the past. On that call, I also asked if I needed to resubmit the balance transfer since the balance transfer amount exceeded the initial credit limit. The agent I spoke to said that wasn't necessary since I called and transferred the credit limit so quickly, the balance transfer had not been processed yet and the credit limit would be available for the balance transfer. I later found out that was wrong and that my balance transfer request had been declined immediately due to exceeding the {$500.00} credit limit I was initially given. 

I know balance transfers can take a few weeks to process, so I was not worried that the transfer was not showing up in either my Chase or XXXX  XXXX accounts until I got a letter in the mail about two weeks later saying my balance transfer was denied due to lack of available credit. I immediately resubmitted the balance transfer, which then took about two more weeks to process without difficulty. 

The problem is that in the time it took to actually get the transfer processed, my 0 % APR with XXXX XXXX expired and I ended up being charged {$100.00} in interest. I asked XXXX XXXX if they could waive it due to the circumstances I have explained here and they declined. I then called Chase and asked if they could compensate me with an equivalent statement credit or something similar. The person I spoke to said that they used to do this, but it came with tax implications ( I believe a 1099 form, but I may be off on that ). Enough customers complained about the 1099 forms that Chase stopped offering these compensations altogether about five or six years ago. 

So I am asking for CFPB 's help in securing compensation from Chase. ( To be clear, I do not expect anything from XXXX XXXX, as they did not make any mistakes here. ) My complaint is that I ended up with a {$100.00} in interest due to Chase 's mistakes that were outside of my control. If the initial agent I spoke to immediately after applying for the card and shifting my credit limits between Chase accounts had given me correct information regarding the balance transfer being rejected, I would have resubmitted immediately and avoided the interest from XXXX XXXX. I could have also avoided the fee if Chase had told me about the declined balance transfer via phone, email, or secure inbox within my Chase online account, but they instead used the slowest possible method of sending a letter through the mail. Based on when I received it, it seems like they took at least a week to even mail the letter out, even though the balance transfer was declined shortly after submitting it according to what a Chase agent told me when I asked them about this series of events later. 

I have attached my statement from XXXX XXXX showing the interest accrued.