Mike K.
I am leaving Chase after learning what…
I am leaving Chase after learning what customer service at a massive institutional bank looks like when you actually need someone to exercise judgment. My problem began with a $601.96 credit card dispute involving a Frontier Airlines fare that was sold as refundable, canceled, and not refunded. I disagreed with how Chase handled the dispute, but that is no longer the primary reason I am leaving. The reason is what happened when I tried to complain about Chase itself. I sent Chase a detailed written complaint explaining that I was not disputing whether I authorized the original purchase. I was complaining about how Chase handled my claim and specifically requested that someone independently review that handling. Chase told me to contact Card Disputes. I wrote back and explained that Card Disputes was the department whose handling I was complaining about. I specifically asked Chase not to simply send me back there and requested escalation to someone capable of reviewing the complaint. A different Chase representative responded and sent me back to Card Disputes. So I wrote a third time. This time I explicitly pointed out that the responses appeared to be boilerplate and that nobody seemed to be responding to what I was actually writing. I specifically stated that I was NOT asking for another explanation of how to contact Card Disputes. A third Chase representative responded with another remarkably similar canned message and, unbelievably, told me to contact Card Disputes again. That was enough for me. I cannot know whether these responses were generated by software, assembled from customer service templates, or sent by employees who simply lacked the authority to do anything else. But the result was the same. Three differently named representatives sent variations of the same response while completely failing to address the substance of my complaint. That is the danger I now see in institutional banking. Everything works beautifully while your needs fit within the automated systems and predetermined processes. The real test comes when something goes wrong and you need an actual person to understand the problem, take ownership of it, and exercise judgment. Chase failed that test spectacularly. The $601.96 is no longer particularly important to me. What is important is discovering that I do not want my banking, investment, and credit card relationships entrusted to an institution where customer service can become a closed loop designed, intentionally or otherwise, to exhaust the customer until he gives up. So I gave up. Not on the $601.96. On Chase.


