Consumer complaint received 2024-02-07 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: Chime Financial Inc
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to complain and show proof of the fact that I have no fault in my Chime Credit Builder account becoming delinquent, as Chime employees misdirected and misled me by giving me false information and directing me to disable the important Safer Credit Builder feature. Lets start from the beginning. When I activated my Chime Credit Builder account in XXXX XXXX a problem arose where all of my direct deposit income stopped going into my checking account and went into my credit builder account instead. 

I didnt want this to happen, so I contacted Chime on XX/XX/, and I explained to them I wanted my incoming money deposited into my checking account as it always did. Chime then gave me inaccurate information, leading me astray. They mistakenly instructed me to disable the Safer Credit Building feature, stating that I had Safer Credit Building feature turned on, and therefore, once any direct deposit hits my account, itll automatically transfer into my Credit Builder account. And so, they advised me to disable Safer Credit Building feature, in order to stop my direct deposits from going into my credit builder account. However, this was incorrect, as the Safer Credit Building feature has no influence on the allocation of my direct deposit income. 

Later on I learned that what Chimes Safer Credit Builder feature actually does is it guarantees that my Chime Credit Builder accounts monthly bills are paid automatically, but what disabling Chimes Safer Credit Building feature does is it stops the Chime Credit Builder account from becoming paid automatically, so this led to my Credit Builder account not being automatically paid, which its supposed to do by default. They never mentioned that Ill need to make manual payments because of the feature being disabled. They just lied to me by stating that disabling the Safer Credit Feature will make all of my direct deposit income go back into my checking account instead of my Credit Builder account. 

A major deciding factor which made me get the Chime Credit Builder account was reading in their marketing that the accounts balance gets paid automatically, which meant I didnt need to worry about making manual payments. However, Chime employees disabled this safety feature in my account. Soon after, in XXXX, I received emails stating that I had to make a payment of {$160.00} by XXXX XXXX XXXX or they could report my account as delinquent. So, on XX/XX/, I contacted Chime again multiple time, as I didnt understand what was wrong and why was I receiving emails stating my Credit Builder account could become delinquent if I didnt make a payment, but Chime employees repeatedly stated my account was in good standing and with no balance due. 

They were supposed to tell me that the email was accurate and that I needed to pay by that date, just as they reported to credit bureaus. But Chime employees lied to me again, giving me misinformation and misguiding me as they stated that theres nothing I should be worried about, because I didnt owe any money and so, my account wouldnt become delinquent. They also told me to ignore the emails, as there may be a glitch in the system. I later learned those emails were actually valid, as my account became delinquent. This has ruined my XXXX good credit, making it drop XXXX points. Now they're reporting to the credit bureaus that my account was delinquent, and theyre blaming me for not paying my bill, but I was only following their instructions on the proper use of their product and service, which they assured me I had nothing to worry about, as it was a glitch in the system and my account wouldnt become delinquent. 

Ive also filed a complaint with Chime through member supervisor XXXX and the internal investigation dispute id number is XXXX. Below youll find images proving my multiple communications with Chime. They also have proof of our communications. This has ruined my good credit rating by making it drop XXXX points and I now have bad credit. Although Ive made multiple complaints, Chime still hasnt responded. Ive also disputed the one and only negative information reported on my credit report, but Chime continues to reply to the bureaus, stating the information is accurate. They have taken no accountability in the situation. 

In closing, Chime employees wrongly advised me on multiple occasions. First, I was told to turn off an important feature Safer Credit Building of the Credit Builder account that was supposed to stay enabled, and second, when problems arose, Chimes staff insisted that there was no problem in my Credit Builder account, and that I had nothing to worry about, that I should ignore the emails which stated my account was at risk of becoming delinquent because of a required payment. The bill payment wouldve happened and my credit wouldnt have suffered, if only they didnt lie to me.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief