Charlie Seymour Jr Warns: Beware Of Chase Credit Card Convenient Checks (and others like them)

Beware of Bank and Credit Card Marketing Schemes sent in your credit card statements - they may not be what they seem: they may be MUCH WORSE!

Small businesses including those we run from home need special help at times. Here's a problem you should be aware of.

Banks, like lots of businesses, are hurting. They are looking for money at every turn. I HOPE they aren't working on shady deals with consumers: you decide…

My home equity loan is around 5% so when I saw the offer in my credit card statement from Chase Bank in Wilmington, DE (800-945-2000) to lend me money at 2.99%, it seemed like a good deal.

Over the past few months, the APR in these offers had consistently dropped as our economy grinds to a terrible halt: 4.99%, 3.99%, and then the third month: 2.99%.

The offer seemed simple as I read it: use the top check and get 0.00% for a limited time (only a few months) OR use one of the bottom two checks and get 2.99% "Fixed APR, until balance is paid in full." Seems simple enough, don't you think?

I filled out the bottom check, took it to my bank on July 15, and deposited it in one of my accounts. Sweet!

Chase Fraud Department even called me two days later to be sure that I was the one cashing the check and when I called their automated system, they handled things really nicely: quick, easy, they recognized who I was just from the phone I used to call from, and the approval was set.

That was the LAST pleasant thing to happen with this.

It turns out that the statement that I sent to pay my PREVIOUS bill (sent on July 1) never arrived. The statement I received yesterday showed a penalty of $39 PLUS interest on the unpaid balance. (I had even taken the envelope to the Springfield Mall Post Office on July 1, so I know it was mailed.)

I called this AM and was connected with a very pleasant Ms. Edward who, though not always clear with exactly what interest rate was being charged and who apologized if she hadn't been completely "forthright" with me when I had to ask four times about the interest rate I was being charged, was helpful.

But the news was SHOCKING! See what you think about this:

• After I explained my situation about the statement not arriving at Chase even though I had mailed it, Ms. Edward offered to withdraw funds from my checking account electronically to pay for the previous statement. We did this. That statement is now paid in full. Phewww.
• She offered to negate the $39 penalty fee. Nice. Done… accepted.
• She did NOT offer to negate the penalty INTEREST. I explained that to a CONSUMER, the bank was charging me for not getting money to them on time. She was taking care of a portion of it and though the Bank sees this as two fees, the consumer feels that the bank is taking money from him and it doesn't matter HOW the bank classifies it. She wouldn't negate the interest charge.

It was THEN that the REAL fun began!

• Since my PREVIOUS statement hadn't been paid on time (for whatever reason - didn't matter that I had actually sent it through USPS or not… Chase hadn't received the funds), the 2.99% interest rate promised me (and for which I hadn't even received a bill yet - AND the money was deposited to my bank AFTER the due date of my previous statement) was raised to 16.99%. WHAT!!?
• Ms. Edward said that she would "ask the marketing department" if they would reduce my rate back to the advertised 2.99%. WHAT!!? Ask them? I had been promised this, and though my money hadn't been received by them for a previous statement, they had taken it upon themselves to raise my rate without notice. I asked for a copy of the "fine print" which said that they could do this. I was then told that it would take 8 - 10 business days to get that to me, including the results of the marketing department reviewing my case.
• And to add insult to injury, during those 8 - 10 days, and IF the marketing department in their infinite wisdom and generosity (sarcasm intended) decide to give me the 2.99% that was promised, I'm still charge interest at the 16.99% until they make up their minds to change it. WHAT!!?

And if THAT weren't bad enough, read on:

• Though the bank (assuming they come to their senses and give me the 2.99% interest rate they advertised in the mail piece) is charging me 2.99% on the loan, any other use of my credit card will be charged at 16.99% until the entire loan amount is paid off. WHAT!!?

So what that means is that though I'm charged 2.99% for the loan, all new charges are at 16.99%. There is no way for me to pay off those monthly credit card charges (as I always have - I always pay off my monthly charges when a bill comes in) and get rid of them until the whole loan is paid off first.

Ms. Edwards wanted to be sure to explain that to me since she thought she had heard some confusion in my voice. Confusion? I guess so!

Ms. Edward indicated that much of this was written on the check I used. Well, since I have more of those checks sitting here near my checkbooks and since I can read that NOTHING is written on those checks nor the advertising materials attached to them, I have NO idea how consumers are supposed to know this!

And another thing that makes me wary: When I told Ms. Edward that I had used the check for a loan and asked her to tell me what my interest rate should be, she told me that I had used the 0.00% for-a-limited-time check, which is NOT what the marketing materials told me. I made sure to write 2.99% on the memo line of the bottom check which only the FED can read now I guess, but I sure hope this story hasn't gotten any worse.

(By the way… they announced that they were recording this call, so I recorded it as well and mentioned it three times to Ms. Edward. Just wanted to be sure that if I had to build a case about this, I have proof. Mail fraud and banking fraud are hard to prove, and I wanted to be sure that I couldn't be misquoted later.)

As this problem with Chase unfolds, I'll keep you informed.

Working from home and staying connected to our loving families is difficult enough.

Phewww… what a way to start the morning!

Let me know what YOU think, ok?

Charlie Seymour Jr.
Please leave a comment below: I really DO read them all!

Charlie Seymour Jr is the founder of RaisingGreatFamilies.com, FathersAndTheDaughtersTheyLove.com, and ILearnedItAllFromMyKids.com. He is also working with his daughter, Liz, as she publishes her own website and releases her first solo CD: LizSeymour.com. Charlie is a Social Marketer and Community Builder and often consults about marketing through his site, GetThemOffTheRaftMarketing.com. He's a prolific writer, including blogs on each of these sites, his book Dream Inc (32 Philadelphia-area Entrepreneurs and their Million Dollar Secrets For Success), and articles about Social Marketing for national and regional publications including NSA Magazine (for the National Speakers Association) and Spotlight (for the American Association of Community Theatre). He's the father of two daughters and lives in Wallingford, PA with his wife, Pam.