My complaint concerns the theft of $280 by JPMorgan Chase. On 12/1/08 I noticed in my checking account balance online an unexplained debit of $495.52. I was extremely concerned that it would make my weekend purchases accrue penalties so I emailed Chase. A day later they emailed me telling me the $495.52 was a hold placed on my account by New York State for unpaid taxes. I immediately called New York State and resolved the situation in minutes. They faxed Chase's legal dept to have the hold removed, and gave me a confirmation number. I immediately emailed this to Chase, again stressing that I did not want this to result in unnecessary late fees. Chase should have called me immediately when a hold was placed on my account by a third party instead of letting penalties accrue.\r
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A day later the hold was removed but Chase had gone ahead and charged me $175 in fees! I wrote asking to have the charge removed. A day later I got a *letter in the mail* from Chase informing me about the hold even though it was now irrelevant, but telling me they'd charged me a $125 ""legal fee,"" which represented part of the $175 charge. I again emailed Chase asking if I could have this charge removed.\r
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A day later I saw that Chase had instead added a $105 penalty, now bringing the total to $280! They wrote saying the matter was ""complex"" and that I'd need to call them. I called their Customer Service number; the rep also said the matter was complex and transferred me to their legal department, who told me ""speak to Customer Service, I'm sure they'll be able to accommodate you and remove the penalties from your account."" She switched me back to Customer Service, I again explained the situation and was told I'd have to pay all of the fees. I explained that only $125 of it was the so-called legal fee but they didn't care. I am canceling my Chase account after nearly 20 years. They can enjoy the $280 they've gouged me for but they lost thousands in future monies from me.\r
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Pros: plenty of locations
Cons: price gouging vultures will rip you off; they hate their customers
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