The Universal Default Lives – Chase Outright Lies to Me - Credit Withdrawal

The Universal Default Lives – Chase Outright Lies to Me

A guest post over at DebtFREE-Revolution (Is the Credit Card Companies’ Universal Default Clause at Risk?) sparked a response e-mail from a Chase PR rep;

I saw your post today on Chase’s pricing policy change and just wanted to clarify that we do not raise rates based on credit bureau information.

You can find a press release about it here: Chase Press Releases (see the November 2007 release).

We believe this policy change will give us an advantage over our competitors.
I commend you on the content of both of your blogs. It’s critical to help people better understand their finances and spend responsibly…. etc, etc.

A very nice e-mail correcting my post, about how Chase no longer raises interest rates based on your credit report. The actual report is located here for full details. The takeaway is As of March 1st, 2008, Chase will no longer raise interest rates when credit scores change.

Oh, But I Beg to Differ

Coincidentally, this month one of my two Chase credit cards moved from a promotional 1.99% APR to the ‘normal’ rate. And to my surprise, I found out that the ‘normal’ rate for the credit card moved to 25.25%. Now that’s three to four times HIGHER than any other credit card rate that I have. Needless to say, I was a bit mystified.

I decided to call the Chase customer service line (after I IMMEDIATELY PAID OFF the balances!!) and asked why the rate was so high.

The CR checked my account, found that I’ve been a loyal Chase customer for a number of years, and other than a couple of credit over-the-limit instances (which he assured me didn’t trigger the rate increase) that there was no reason he could see why the rate was so high. However, after a little more investigating, he declared that there was nothing they could do about lowering my rate.

Now I’m not only curious, but a little peeved. I,..

Am a long-term Chase customer
Am a person that WAS carrying a large balance
Am a person that never pays late (Automated payments, automated billing, etc)
Always paid more than the minimums (but didn’t pay entirely, mainly because of the intro 1.99% rate)
Used my Chase card occasionally, if not every day.

So how did I get relegated to Interest Rate Hell?

The answer I got was that it must be something on my Credit Report that had triggered the increase.

But, But, You Said,..

So I proceeded to remind him about the Chase press announcement (Chase Will No Longer Increase Rates Based on Credit-Bureau Information) and that this rate increase was CLEARLY after the March 1st deadline.

The response was a stammering no-response. The CR had nothing to say to that statement, nor had any other valid responses as to why my credit interest rate was so high.

I then asked when the OTHER Chase account I have (remember, I mentioned I had two) was due to change from the promotional rate to the ‘normal’ rate. – July.

At that point, I asked what the rate was changing to after the promotion was over. – 8.99%!!!

(After picking up my jaw from the floor) I asked, "Why the difference in account interest rates for the same company, and the same person, with about the same credit limit, and the same length of time of account history?"

Uneasy silence.

At that point I semi-politely hung up on the CR and VERIFIED that the account was in the process of being paid off via Bank of America transfer.

I Can See No Other Conclusion

So to summarize, either

A) I was DIRECTLY lied to by Chase and their PR department (as is anyone else affected by this little debacle) or

B) They are basing increases in credit interest rate on something OTHER than Credit Scores, and not willing or able to reveal what that secretive screening process is.

Not sure I like either choice.

Either way, Thanks to Chase for ‘incentivizing’ me to empty another credit card I can toss into the growing pile at the bottom of the sock drawer, never to be used again. And in another couple of months, it’s brother will join it, so it won’t be lonely. Bye bye Chase, you’ve lost another long-term customer!

Do you have Horror Stories related to Chase and their credit card practices? We’d love to hear about them. leave us a comment and let us know.