How Pathetic...
Written: Nov 10 '00 (Updated Nov 13 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Low introductory APR (for 6 months)
Cons: Terrible customer service when you want to close the account
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| isong's Full Review: Chase Manhattan |
Chase Manhattan is one of many banks that offer credit cards to qualified consumers. My personal experience with many other banks and their credit cards have eventually boiled down to the quality of their customer service. Unless I get an outstanding APR offer or some type of incentive for signing up, I always decline. The experience with my Chase Platinum Visa card was OK until the day I wanted to close my account... this bad experience has led me to rate them with the worst possible Epinions rating: 1 STAR.
WHY DID I GO WITH CHASE?
Earlier this year, I received a 1.9% APR for 6 months transfer offer from Chase that would give me platinum status and up to a $20,000 credit limit with no annual fees. Since I still had some school loans remaining, I transferred them by opening up a new Chase Platinum account.
ANY BENEFITS?
Like any other platinum card, they offered the basic travel insurance along with a rental car coverage insurance and some purchase protection plans you could qualify for if you purchased a product or service with the Chase card. The billing statements were easy to decipher and their 800 automated customer service line worked like all the others (nothing special).
ANY EXTRA JUNK-MAIL?
I noticed that credit card companies are notorious for selling your name and address to other companies, as I’ve received numerous junk mail from all over. How do I know this? Somehow, Chase sent me my platinum visa card with my first name spelled incorrectly (instead of Ingi, they spelled it Igni). This is the first time I’ve ever seen this happen. Anyhow, after this incident, I’ve been receiving tons of junk mail addressed to “Igni Song”.
NOW HOW HARD IS IT TO CANCEL THIS CARD???
You would imagine that canceling a credit card account wouldn’t be so hard, especially if your balance is all paid off. But with a Chase card, it’s impossible unless you’re willing to talk on the phone with practically everyone at Chase.
It all started one Friday afternoon when I opened my wallet to find several credit cards staring at me. A coworker told me that having a lot of credit card accounts is not good for your credit history, even if you don't have a balance on them. So, I picked out three credit cards that I didn’t use at all and proceeded to cancel each one of them. MBNA was the first one. Picked up the phone, dialed their 800 customer service number and within five minutes, I had the account closed. Thank you very much MBNA. The next card was FirstUSA. I called their 800 customer service number and within five minutes, closed this account as well. Easy… no problem. I was just cruising!
Lastly, I picked up my Chase card, dialed their customer service number and waited for an agent to talk to. Once a live person came on, I told them I needed to cancel my credit card account. After reviewing some information to make sure they were speaking to the right person, they asked me if I knew my password. Password??!! What the heck? Then I realized that they were asking me for my mother’s maiden name, right? Wrong. They insisted that I had a password that I set when I opened my account. The first customer service agent then asked me for my full social security number, my birthdate, and then my place of birth. I was then told to hold so that his supervisor could talk to me to finish my request.
After about ten minutes, I was greeted by the ‘supervisor’. She asked me if I knew my password and I told her that I didn’t remember setting a password. She insisted that I had to have set a password in order to have opened the account. Okay, I told her. If I did, I forgot, I told her. She then told me that I wouldn’t be able to close my account. I kindly asked her if there was a way for me to reset my password and she said, I kid you not, “…the only way to reset your password is if you can tell us your old password.” I nearly fell out of my chair from laughing histarically. The customer service agent didn’t think it was so funny. I asked if there was any other way to close my account and she just repeated herself… “you need to tell me your password!” OK, we weren’t getting anywhere, so I asked to speak to her manager. This lady had an attitude and barked back at me saying, “…I am the supervisor in this department!”
So, I sat back down in my chair and slowly explained to her (since it seemed like she didn’t grasp the concept that there was no way in the world I could remember a password that I never created in the first place) what my situation was. I think she was getting fed up with me, so she transferred me to a higher authority (finally). I spoke with another lady who said almost the exact same thing. I then, kindly repeated myself and told her I did NOT know my password. I asked if there was a way to retrieve my old password. She said I would have to fax her a copy of my birth certificate or passport, my driver’s license, and my social security card. I’m surprised they didn’t ask me to fax over my bank account numbers, my lucky lottery numbers, and my dog’s paw print. It was ridiculous. I asked her how long it would take to get my password after faxing over all the documents and she told me it usually takes about four to six weeks. This was insane.
At this point, I asked if any other customers called because they forgot their passwords and she told me I was the first. Okay, she’s either lying through her teeth or she’s smoking crack. Anyhow, I hung up the phone and decided to check out their web site. I clicked on a link that took me to their customer account info page and I created a new online account. At this point, it asked me to choose a password… hmmm, I thought to myself for a sec. After creating this account, I called them back.
This time, I was greeted by a much friendlier agent. After verifying some info, she asked me for my password. I then told her the password I just created a few minutes ago and it worked!!! Oh my goodness. I was finally able to close my account. I told the agent what I had done and she was amazed.
All in all, my experience with Chase was terrible (at the end, at least). The last customer service agent was really nice and for this, Chase receives ONE FULL STAR. She should be promoted for the supervisor position and eventually change the password retrieval procedure.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
isong
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Ingi
Location: Beaverton, Oregon
Reviews written: 58
Trusted by: 178 members
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