Consumer complaint received 2023-11-28
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (MA)

Over the course of about a year, Chase bank sent me mail, emails, and notifications on my XXXX XXXX credit card account that I could take advantage of a balance transfer offer, where I would be charged 0 % interest on the balance transfer for 12 months. 

On XXXX XXXX XXXX  I decided to take advantage of this supposed promotional offer and transferred {$4500.00} in balance from another card onto my XXXX XXXX. At the time of the transfer, I was told it would have 0 % interest for one year, and I paid a 5 % fee of {$220.00}. This transfer was included in my statement when the billing cycle ended on XXXX XXXX, which was for a total of {$8700.00} ( including the balance transfer and the fee ). Before the payment was due on this statement, I called Chase on or about XXXX XXXX to confirm how much I needed to pay off from the statement balance in order to avoid any interest charges. During that call, I was explicitly told if I had {$4500.00} in balance statement remaining, I wouldn't be charged any interest, so that's what was left on the card when the payment deadline passed. 

Because of what I thought was an advantageous offer, on XXXX XXXX I made a second balance transfer onto the Chase card in the amount of {$4000.00}, plus a 5 % fee of {$200.00}. 

When I went to check my statement from the billing cycle that closed on XXXX XXXX, I noticed I had been charged {$90.00} in interest for that cycle. I went back and checked my previous statements as well, finding I was charged {$31.00} in interest for the billing cycle ending on XXXX XXXX. 

I called Chase in the evening of XXXX XXXX to find out the source of these charges, which I thought were mistaken. Instead, after being shuffled between XXXX different people, I was told the 0 % interest promotional offer was voided immediately after I made another purchase with the XXXX XXXX card. Essentially, contrary to what I was told in that XXXX phone call, I needed to have paid off my entire statement balance of {$8700.00} in order to avoid any interest charges. As calmly as I could, I explained the balance transfer advertisements told me repeatedly I could avoid interest payments for the year. All the representatives I talked to said the advertisements were not true, and that I needed to now pay off the full amount of my statement balance to avoid any interest charges, which was now nearly {$13000.00} ( thanks largely to the XXXX balance transfers ). 

As a solution to the false advertising, I told Chase representatives they could refund me all the interest I had been charged on the account, which at this point totals {$120.00} but will likely increase as I'm sure Chase will charge me interest for the XXXX billing cycle, too, because of its Trailing Interest policy. All the Chase representatives refused to refund the accrued interest. I was told any further complaints about this issue must be dealt through mail to Chase 's executive office. 

To avoid any further interest charges on this XXXX XXXX account, on XXXX XXXX I began the process of transferring {$9000.00} in balance from the Chase card to a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, which charged me a 4 % fee of {$360.00}.