topic Re: Dangers of the Chase SM? in Credit Cards

Dangers of the Chase SM?

CreditJim — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 22:56:18 GMT

I've been reading a lot on here about the horror stories of sending Chase a SM to reallocate CLs when closing accounts and having a lot of adverse action taken.

I am currently weighing up what to do with my Chase Hyatt, as the fee is due. When I got it I'd been status-matched to Hyatt Diamond and planned to shift a lot of my travel stays to Hyatt. However, this changed and I now put all my travel on my business cards.

I have a Freedom with an 11.5k limit and the Hyatt is at 28k. At first I was going to send an SM and have my card closed and limit moved to the Freedom. However, after all the horror stories I'm a little worried about doing that. My long term plan is also to pick up the CSR and Ink Preferred, so now my thoughts are that I should just close the Hyatt and not try to move the CL, the thinking being that my overall exposure with Chase will be lowered, and make room for (hopefully) easier approvals once I'm below 5/24.

What do you guys think?

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Discover2016 — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 23:13:50 GMT

When sending Chase a SM, the best thing to do is pretend you are with Chase and are reviewing your own profile. When viewing your own profile, how does it look? How are balances and inquiries? If all those are good and low then you should have no hesitation sending a SM to Chase.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 23:16:29 GMT

Two weeks ago I sent Chase a SM asking to transfer my Freedom balance to my CSP and to close the Freedom card. It was as simple as that. They wrote back and said done deal.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

CreditJim — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 23:23:17 GMT

Profile all looks good, no significant balances. But as I mentioned in the post, I'm wondering now if preemptively lowering my exposure with Chase ahead of my attempts to add a couple more in the summer once I'm below 5/24 is a good plan?

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

iced — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 23:40:41 GMT

For every horror story, there's a 100 stories that went without a hitch. Unless you are carrying high balances or have vastly been overextended credit, I wouldn't worry.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 23:47:43 GMT

@iced wrote:
For every horror story, there's a 100 stories that went without a hitch. Unless you are carrying high balances or have vastly been overextended credit, I wouldn't worry.

The great thing about these forums is the information you learn about different products and experiences but the downside is all of that information can scare the hell out of you for no good reason. I recently shared a bad experience with USAA, but there are 100 people who have had good experiences. I'll probably have nothing but good experiences too. The trick is to weigh the good with the bad and make an informed decision from there.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

DeeBee78 — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 00:09:18 GMT

@CreditJim wrote:
I've been reading a lot on here about the horror stories of sending Chase a SM to reallocate CLs when closing accounts and having a lot of adverse action taken.

I am currently weighing up what to do with my Chase Hyatt, as the fee is due. When I got it I'd been status-matched to Hyatt Diamond and planned to shift a lot of my travel stays to Hyatt. However, this changed and I now put all my travel on my business cards.

I have a Freedom with an 11.5k limit and the Hyatt is at 28k. At first I was going to send an SM and have my card closed and limit moved to the Freedom. However, after all the horror stories I'm a little worried about doing that. My long term plan is also to pick up the CSR and Ink Preferred, so now my thoughts are that I should just close the Hyatt and not try to move the CL, the thinking being that my overall exposure with Chase will be lowered, and make room for (hopefully) easier approvals once I'm below 5/24.

What do you guys think?

Can the Hyatt card be PC'd to something without an AF?

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

kdm31091 — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 00:58:23 GMT

@iced wrote:
For every horror story, there's a 100 stories that went without a hitch. Unless you are carrying high balances or have vastly been overextended credit, I wouldn't worry.

I agree. OP, try not to become paranoid just because of a few horror stories. Just use your judgement. Does your profile have any red flags? High util? Excessive inquiries? If you ask Chase to look at your profile for any reason, they're going to do so. For some people this hasn't turned out well but generally the reason has been obvious when the person explained it, so although it's disappointing. it's not unexpected really.

Try to relax and don't overthink something like sending Chase a message. Good luck.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 01:50:25 GMT

Never had a problem. I rather SM them then call..

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

redpat — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 02:21:58 GMT

There is also nothing wrong with closing it.

A 39.5k freedom card is pretty worthless, IMO.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 02:53:55 GMT

I think it's just a matter of not drawing attention to yourself when your credit is not where it normally is (for example, if your balances are temporarily higher than normal). If everything is as they expect it to be, then you shouldn't have a problem. Just wait until your credit is back to normal before you ask to move credit around.

My recent experience was rather positive. I contacted Chase via SM to upgrade my CSP to a CSR, but I was $700 shy of the $10,000 minimum credit limit I'd need. They asked if I'd like to do a credit limit increase, and I said sure (knowing that it would be a HP, but I don't anticipate applying for any other new credit for the immediate future) but I also said that if I wasn't approved to move $700 from my Marriott card. The CLI was returned a 7-10 day notice. They again asked for my confirmation to move the credit, and I gave it. Then they asked if I still wanted to upgrade. I checked with them to see whether my AF would be prorated from my CSP since I'd paid it less than 90 days ago; they said sure no problem. I sent my confirmation to upgrade, but then there was a technological glitch with SM. I either sent 15 confirmations or 0. So I called up the number on my card just to process the change; the guy on the phone said no prorating of the AF because it had to be within 30 days, but I chose to upgrade anyway. Interestingly, a full, 100% refund appeared in my account a couple days later.

So yes, SM can work out well. But you have to be careful to pick the time to draw their attention. And, as always when dealing with customer service, aim to be one of the politest people they've talked to all day (note: being polite doesn't mean you roll over and play dead in the fact of adversity; just be polite, but firm), and use as good of grammar as you can. State what you want as clearly as you can (don't make them guess... they have to get clear confirmation of everything, so things can go downhill quite quickly if you don't make yourself clear from the beginning).

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

heavyjay — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 03:03:21 GMT

@iced wrote:
For every horror story, there's a 100 stories that went without a hitch. Unless you are carrying high balances or have vastly been overextended credit, I wouldn't worry.

Totally agree. It's like the old saying, "A satisfied customer might tell one or two people, an unhappy customer tells everybody."

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 03:29:35 GMT

I moved all but $500 on my Slate to my Freedom today via SM, no problem.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

creditgambler2018 — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 03:36:05 GMT

Since typing two words for you guys is a lot, Can someone that does not mind typing two more words or tapping a 5 inch screen 15 more times explain what does SM mean?

Simple mail?

Simple message?

Secret message?

Standard message?

Sexy message?

What does it mean?

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

UncleB — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 03:49:23 GMT

@elcocaino2010 wrote:
Since typing two words for you guys is a lot, Can someone that does not mind typing two more words or tapping a 5 inch screen 15 more times explain what does SM mean?

Simple mail?

Simple message?

Secret message?

Standard message?

Sexy message?

What does it mean?

SM in this context means secure message.

Here's a link to a thread that lists common abbreviations used on myFICO: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/td-p/88458

I notice that SM isn't in our list of common abbreviations, but I'll see if I can have it added.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 03:49:58 GMT

@elcocaino2010 wrote:
Since typing two words for you guys is a lot, Can someone that does not mind typing two more words or tapping a 5 inch screen 15 more times explain what does SM mean?

Simple mail?

Simple message?

Secret message?

Standard message?

Sexy message?

What does it mean?

I think it's "secure message".

My SM's to Chase have always went off without a hitch.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

DeeBee78 — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 03:50:05 GMT

@elcocaino2010 wrote:
Since typing two words for you guys is a lot, Can someone that does not mind typing two more words or tapping a 5 inch screen 15 more times explain what does SM mean?

Simple mail?

Simple message?

Secret message?

Standard message?

Sexy message?

What does it mean?

Secure message.

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 07:07:03 GMT

I've always called but this thread has shed a light on me that I can get things done via message!

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 09:05:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Two weeks ago I sent Chase a SM asking to transfer my Freedom balance to my CSP and to close the Freedom card. It was as simple as that. They wrote back and said done deal.

DH had the same experience when he consolidated two of his cards. It all goes back to, "Does your profile support whatever change(s) you're trying to make?"

Re: Dangers of the Chase SM?

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 09:06:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Never had a problem. I rather SM them then call..

And it provides an eTrail (electronic trail).