Consumer complaint received 2022-09-30
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Struggling to pay your bill — Credit card company won't work with you while you're going through financial hardship
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (OH)

Called chase credit services while my card was still in good standing and never been late for the last 4 years with them. I called to get help to lower my interest rate so that I can keep up with my payments because I was going through a hardship. My minimum payments were high and I just wanted to see what help they can offer to get the interest a little lower so its more manageable. I spoke with several different agents at different times, all giving me different information and were not consistent with their answers. 

I was able to first get an extension on my next payment due and made a partial payment of {$100.00} posted to my account on XX/XX/22. I called back the following month or so, when I noticed that I will not be able to make the next payment either due to the hardship. I asked if I can get my interest rate lowered. I dont want to miss a payment. I was advised that my account has to be closed first in order for them to help lower my interest rate. I stated that I do not want to close my account at all, I just need some help with the interest rate since its so high and all Im paying each month is going towards interest only. I said I will call back if I figure something out. 

I called a few days later and asked how would that work if I close my account and get my interest lowered as the previous agent suggested. How much lower will it be and asked a few questions to see how the plan will go. Agent told me that once I close my account first, then they will be able to transfer me to the other department and they will help with my interest rate and explain further on how much it will be. I hung up because I still wasnt sure if thats what I want to do. I didnt want to lose my account. Then finally I decided, if its the only way to get my interest rate lower, then Ill just have to do it so I can pay off my full balance. 

I called and stated that I would like to close my account as advised because the previous two agents suggested that this would be the only way I can have a lower interest rate to pay off my balance. Agent said yes and proceeded to close my account. Agent then transferred me over to have the other department lower my interest rate. At that point I was told that there is no such thing as getting my interest rate lowered, and that I basically just closed my account for no reason! So the other few different agents were giving false information! And now my account is closed in return. 

I still have to pay the same interest rate, owe the same amount of money adding on late fees that will be assessed and told me that even though my account is closed, it will still occur high interest every month as normal. So nothing changed except for that my situation is even worse than when I initially called, because now its all the same issues I had adding on a closed account and credit score getting ruined because of missed payments. 

I called back to speak with a supervisor and explained everything that happened and what his agents did and asked that if they can not keep their promise then they should at least reopen my account! The supervisor refused and said since its not a bank error and i closed it myself he can not open it and was very unprofessional about it, ignoring the fact that they made a mistake and need to fix it. I believe it should be considered a bank error for giving customers false information and making them close their account to receive help that they didnt provide! 

This was all on the recorded lines and hopefully was notated correctly in the system for the reasons I have been calling and what they did to me. I want my issue to be investigated and fixed. Because now the situation has gotten so much worse just because they wouldnt help me from the beginning by helping with the APR so that I can afford my payments. All I asked was for one thing to happen and they led me to a whole bunch of mess. They refused to lower my rate, refused to reopen my account, refused to remove the late payments posted on my report, and also refused to have me settle because I didnt meet the requirements as they stated. 

They advised that I should settle my account if I can not pay it. I told them that I dont want to settle and I want to pay in full because I want to be in good standing and Im trying to give them all their money back and not a portion. Why cant they work with me to get their money back! Finally when I accepted to settle they stated that I was not eligible for a settlement because my income is too low. So what are they offering and how are they helping their customers during the hardship I can not understand! Only option available was to get on a payment plan that requires high payments that I can not afford, and it is only to get me back as current on payments, so Im not hit with more missed payments. However, I will still be hit with missed payments until all of the balance is paid. Which they said was going to be another 4 months time period of late payments reported. Now I will have XXXX missed payments along with the old XXXX payments so now about XXXX missed payments that are reporting late on my credit report, only to get back to where I started back in XXXX. Account will go back to having the same balance, same interest rate, but now closed and my credit report ruined. 

The reason I initially decided to call, was because they stated on their website that they offer assistance during the hardship. However that as well was false information because they did not help in any way, but in fact mess up my situation even more because the agents are not well trained and have no idea what they are talking about and misleading their customers. 

I want my account back open and I want those late payments deleted from the credit bureau, and to get on a plan that will help me pay off my balance in full. Not settle. They need to fix what they did. 

Also according to the Cares Act, I have read that legally since they gave me an accommodation back in XXXX, and acknowledged my hardship at the time and accommodated my partial payment when my account was still not in default, that by law, they can not report late payments on my report.