Chase CSR Letter - Threatened to Close Account b/c of refunds

[Anonymous]

I'm literally speechless ... I can find the right words, but I'm not sure Chase wants to hear them. CFPB... CFPB... CFPB..

So today I recieved a letter in the mail from Chase. Thought it was the usual balance transfer checks or prviacy updates. Nope! "We have not recevied the minimum payment on your credit card account for two consecutive months and we've noticed that only merchant credits have posted to your account during this time. We want to remind you that you are still required to make the full minimum payments each month". WTH!!!?!?!?!?!? We use Chase for almost everything with credit cards and have always paid in full every single month for the past ten years (since we became Chase customers). Excellent credit and income. This letter was on my CSR account.

So, I call up Chase ... The rep reiterates that letter and tells me that I am misunderstanding and that I still must pay my statement balance even if a refund from a previous transaction results in a credit on my account. What the heck!? So, now, I'm actually livid... I pour over my past few statements and all of my refunds have been from cancelled, prepaid travel from months ago! One from Delta, one from Priceline, Hawiian Airlines, American, you get it. All cancelled because of COVID 19. Again, I already paid Chase for these transactions in full usually months ago!

So I finally had a statement balance ($900ish) this June. I went ahead and paid it when I was on the phone with Chase. The manager I got was very apologetic and agreed that he couldn't understand why Chase would send me this letter, and that the credits were clearly from already paid for and cancelled travel. That my account doesn't have any history of refunds other than this travel. He escalted it and apparently someone from management will call me back in 3-7 days.

Cardmember agreement: I reviewed the cardmember agreement and no where can I find anything about how Chase classifies return or return credit. To me it is a payment, which counts towards your balance and amount due.

$0 statement balance in App/Online: For the past two months the online account in both chase.com/app showed a $0 minimum payment and $0 remaining statement balance. $0 balance subject to interest. I've never carried a balance with Chase. If Chase had told me I owed something, I would have immeditately paid it. But apprently they want me to pay something that I don't owe? 

Anyone else get a letter like this? I'm truly livid, I mean livid. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm literally speechless ... I can find the right words, but I'm not sure Chase wants to hear them. CFPB... CFPB... CFPB..

So today I recieved a letter in the mail from Chase. Thought it was the usual balance transfer checks or prviacy updates. Nope! "We have not recevied the minimum payment on your credit card account for two consecutive months and we've noticed that only merchant credits have posted to your account during this time. We want to remind you that you are still required to make the full minimum payments each month". WTH!!!?!?!?!?!? We use Chase for almost everything with credit cards and have always paid in full every single month for the past ten years (since we became Chase customers). Excellent credit and income. This letter was on my CSR account.

So, I call up Chase ... The rep reiterates that letter and tells me that I am misunderstanding and that I still must pay my statement balance even if a refund from a previous transaction results in a credit on my account. What the heck!? So, now, I'm actually livid... I pour over my past few statements and all of my refunds have been from cancelled, prepaid travel from months ago! One from Delta, one from Priceline, Hawiian Airlines, American, you get it. All cancelled because of COVID 19. Again, I already paid Chase for these transactions in full usually months ago!

So I finally had a statement balance ($900ish) this June. I went ahead and paid it when I was on the phone with Chase. The manager I got was very apologetic and agreed that he couldn't understand why Chase would send me this letter, and that the credits were clearly from already paid for and cancelled travel. That my account doesn't have any history of refunds other than this travel. He escalted it and apparently someone from management will call me back in 3-7 days.

Cardmember agreement: I reviewed the cardmember agreement and no where can I find anything about how Chase classifies return or return credit. To me it is a payment, which counts towards your balance and amount due.

$0 statement balance in App/Online: For the past two months the online account in both chase.com/app showed a $0 minimum payment and $0 remaining statement balance. $0 balance subject to interest. I've never carried a balance with Chase. If Chase had told me I owed something, I would have immeditately paid it. But apprently they want me to pay something that I don't owe? 

Anyone else get a letter like this? I'm truly livid, I mean livid. 

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That sounds like Chase. 

[K-in-Boston]

I think the letter somehow got sent by mistake.  Your online account does not show a balance due or overdue and you have not been charged late fees.  I would try not to panic until after they give you a call back.

I had a cancellation of an after-school activity for a child result in a $1200 credit on a seldom-used Chase AU Card a few months back, the day AFTER payment had been made in full.  It took two statements to work that back up to $0, and we did not receive a letter like that, or any late fees.  If there was a payment due, then it would be another matter, but if your online account and statements were showing $0 due, you should be fine.

[Anonymous]

I agree this is among the dumbest things I've ever heard. Do your statements for the months show a minimum payment due? Is it $0?

[Anonymous]

So, it's a bit more complicated.

Ex: April 2020 statement balance $1000. Then on April 15th a refund for $1500 for airline tickets. $500 statement credit. Since no balance, nothing to pay. Keep using the card as normal. May statement balance $200. Another refund for let's say $500 total so another statement credit of $300. Used the card normally now have a $900 statement balance which was paid.

So Chase treated my refunds like a cash payment but expects me to continue to pay the statement balance? I'm so confused. 

[Anonymous]

What does the minimum payment field on each statement actually show?

This reminds me of when the State of NJ sent my business a nastygram stating that it had not paid taxes in 2013. I replied that the business was incorporated in 2014. The State replied that that was not sufficient reason for failing to pay taxes in 2013. That was a fun one to get resolved.

[Anonymous]

The statement both months showed a balance with a $35 minimum payment. But both months there was a refund which results in a credit balance (owed to me) prior to the minimum payment due date. So there was in essence no "statement balance" to pay. though at points during both months and when the statement cut I had a balance.

Essentially I consider a refund (which has already been paid in full) to be considered as a payment on the account. That's the plain read under the cardmember agreement too. 

[Anonymous]

Most credit cards expect you to pay your minimum statement balance every month and don't count credits of any kind towards that amount. It's a stupid policy but it seems like credit cards are still done with the expectation of you to get your statement and pay that amount, regardless of what has happened inbetween. At that point Chase would have either mailed you a check or you would have been able to request one. 

[K-in-Boston]

If there were minimum payments due, this may be a case of the minimum payment needing to be paid even if that ultimately caused a negative balance because the merchant credits don't actually count as a payment.  Amex has a similar quirk with cash rewards: $30 minimum on  $50 balance, redeem $50 in rewards, you still owe $30.

@Anonymous from the outside looking in, that's comical.  But I would never want to deal with that.

[Anonymous]

This policy, and the automated system that sent the ridiculous letter, is probably designed for the more common case when merchant credits cover the minimum payment but not the actual balance. It's pretty funny that the letter itself appears to explicitly acknowledge this possibility (the AutoPay language) but they didn't bother to program the logic.

At least they sent the letter and didn't just close the account.