Consumer complaint received 2024-02-01
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Opening an account — Didn't receive terms that were advertised
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (CA)

I opened a new Chase Savings and Checking Account on XXXX XX/XX/XXXX at the Chase branch located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX. I was hoping to take advantage of a new Chase promotion card / mailer that was specifically mailed to my address, where the conditions clearly stated that I could get a total welcome bonus of {$900.00} credited to my account if I met the 2 conditions listed. There are quite a bit of details involved in the promotion so for ease of reference I've attached a screenshot which spells out how opening both my accounts at the same time, along with meeting the 2 conditions, would enable me to get the {$900.00} credited to my account. 

The current issue is that while I did not meet the qualifying criteria under the Savings account, I clearly met all the qualifying criteria for the welcome promotion under the Checking account ( and XXXX did acknowledge this during one of our calls ), and so I am at least entitled to the bonus payment of at least {$300.00} which I have not received till date. My entitlement of {$300.00} here is independent of the rest of the {$900.00} payout structure - for reference I've included all the relevant T & Cs below, as extracted from the Chase page directly : - To receive the checking bonus : 1 ) Open a new Chase Total Checking account, which is subject to approval ; AND 2 ) Have your direct deposit made to this account within 90 days of coupon enrollment. Your direct deposit needs to be an electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits ( such as Social Security ) from your employer or the government. Person to Person payments ( such as XXXX ) are not considered a direct deposit. ( Micro-deposits do not qualify as a direct deposit for the bonus. Micro-deposits are small deposits, typically less than {$1.00}, that are sent to your account to verify it is the correct account. ) After you have completed all the above checking requirements, well deposit the bonus in your new account within 15 days.

- To receive the savings bonus : 1 ) Open a new Chase SavingsSM account, which is subject to approval ; 2 ) Deposit a total of {$15000.00} or more in new money into the new savings account within 30 days of coupon enrollment ; AND 3 ) Maintain at least a {$15000.00} balance for 90 days from the coupon enrollment. The new money can not be funds held by you at Chase or its affiliates. After you have completed all the above savings requirements, well deposit the bonus in your new account within 15 days.

- To receive the extra bonus : You must open the checking and savings account at the same time and complete all requirements above for BOTH the checking bonus and savings bonus. After you have completed all requirements, we will deposit the remaining bonus due in your new account within 15 days.

So on Day 1, my account opening process went along normally and the banker who serviced me, XXXX XXXX ( who goes by the English name of XXXX XXXX assured and confirmed me that both my new accounts qualified for the welcome bonus of {$900.00} as long as I met the requisite conditions. Everything seemed fine then. I proceeded to change my company 's payroll instructions to instead credit into the new checking account I set up with Chase, and my salary went in per instructed according to the required terms and conditions ( definitely more than {$500.00} ). 

Sometime in early XXXX, I realized that my Savings account did not have the requisite {$15000.00} to qualify for the Savings bonus, and so that's when I reached out to XXXX both by phone and email, to explain to her my situation and see if it was possible to get a waiver from the branch. She advised me to top my account up to {$15000.00} starting from that day, and she would see what she could do on her end after speaking to her supervisor. I promptly did that and immediately topped up my Chase Savings account to above {$15000.00} so as to qualify for their stipulated T & Cs.

That's when the nightmare started - after that day, I have not heard back substantively on my request to appeal for the {$900.00} bonus. I followed up multiple times and at first, XXXX would respond saying they are still working on my request but it would take some time as it was near the end of the year when everyone was out for the holidays. I found that understandable and so did not pursue my request as vigorously despite calling and emailing XXXX a few times prior to the turn of the year. 

I followed up on my request much more vigorously after the new year in XXXX, and called and emailed XXXX multiple times to register my unhappiness, as my appeal / request had been going on for more than a month but I still did not get any substantive response. After more than a month waiting and registering my displeasure at various points, I found the situation unsustainable without any meaningful response at all to my case, and so I told XXXX in one of our emails that I felt the need to escalate the situation within Chase bank. She agreed and put me through to the escalations team, who then picked up my case and that's when I was met with consistent radio silence from XXXX - I tried calling her work line, her branch number, emails, her branch manager 's number, and they would all ignore my calls completely. I received zero response whatsoever after that day. This is deeply unprofessional and disappointing behavior, and I have attached all the relevant email correspondence here. It is hard to retrieve all the call logs but I really called that Chase branch multiple times, and nobody picked up my calls whatsoever, I felt so helpless and vulnerable as a small consumer at the mercy of a big bank. 

So with the escalations team it was more of the same, we had XXXX phone calls in total- the first was really an introduction setting out the process and what the complaints team would do to resolve the case, but the substantive discussions in the latter XXXX calls was more of the same disappointment. What was unbelievable was the final call which took place around XXXX today - the complaints officer explained that she had also personally called and emailed XXXX XXXX the branch, etc. but they also did not respond to her at all and so she there was nothing further she could do as a complaints officer without the branch being responsive in any way. I told the officer that it was the same experience for me, despite multiple efforts trying to email and call XXXX and her branch, I was met with complete radio silence without any way of getting through. The complaints officer then insisted there was nothing more she could do from her end, and advised me to go down to the branch and try speaking with XXXX or her manager personally. I explained to her that the situation was now truly untenable and I did not want to go down to the branch and risk causing a scene with all the frayed tensions, not to mention that I have a full-time job from Monday to Friday and I could not afford anymore time wasted on this issue when I had already spent so much time dealing with this burden both through emails and calls for over 2 months! But the complaints officer insisted there was nothing more she could do on her end and therefore she would be closing the case, as the guidelines said that there was no way she could escalate further. I was in utter disbelief and that's why I immediately went on the CFPB portal to lodge this complaint and hopefully achieve justice! 

I have set out my proposal for resolution below, but this is deeply troubling for such a large institution like Chase bank, and I sincerely hope more can be done from a consumer protection standpoint to guard against such unprofessionalism and " can't be bothered '' attitude by the big banks trying to defraud consumers into signing up and opening accounts without honoring any of their written contractual documents! It's really scary and I hope the necessary protections will be undertaken against such dishonest behavior.