Introduction
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how Chase shut down my credit card accounts and my checking account. Well, these are the letters they sent me.
It appears they shut me down for “unexpected activity on my account” versus what I was expecting “perk abuse.” This leads me to think it was due to ramp up in spend that I did across the BA and Ink cards back in March.
First Letter
For people who think they won’t have to pay their auto or mortgage if Chase shuts you down, then you were definitely wrong.
Checking account shutdown
It was nice enough of them to give me a month to change my autopays and direct deposits. Notice how travel and cash back rewards must be redeemed before my account is closed, but “other rewards” can be redeemed for 30 days after the account is closed. I’m not quite sure where Ultimate Rewards fits in; my guess is that it fits into the travel and cash category, so I do have 30 days to redeem them.
Personal Credit Card Shutdown
Both my Freedoms and BA gone. This one says I have 30 days after my account is closed to redeem eligible rewards.
Ink Shutdown
Same as the personal letter.
Addendum
Just for shits and giggles, I decided to apply for an Ink the day I was shut down. I got a rejection letter for “too much available credit already” and “too many new accounts opened recently.” It was interesting that they didn’t mention “negative relationship with bank” or whathaveyou on the letter. The Hyatt, which I also applied on same day as Ink, is currently pending. I think this shutdown seemed ‘softer’ than I expected, meaning they were worried I wouldn’t pay my bills versus me abusing their perk program. We’ll see when and if I’ll be able to get back in…heck maybe even next week if a Hyatt card magically appears in my mailbox.
Was your application for Hyatt approved?
No word yet. Maybe a good sign?
What exactly did u do? Had to be more than paying your bills in full each month?
Rich, click through on the link in the first paragraph.
Did you have a Private Client account with them or have them manage any investments? Just curious if they were making any money off of you since I feel like that might have made a difference.
Nah, I don’t even know that many people who have a Private Client with Chase.
Dont fool yourself. They will never say you’re being closed for perk abuse per se. The so-called unexpected activity is them having to give you more points than they are happy with – ie, you’re what is known as a deadbeat in industry lingo – someone who pays off their bills every month and extracts points while never paying any interest that they can profit from.
You can call the automated status line (same as retention number) to get an idea if the Hyatt card will be approved or not. Datapoints on Flyertalk indicate that if you get a message indicating they’ll have a decision in 7-10 days, most likely you’ll be rejected and if you get a message indicating they’ll have a decision in 2 weeks, most likely you’ll be approved.
Thanks. I didn’t know that. I called the number, entered my ssn, heard, “We are transferring your call..” and then immediately hung up. Didn’t want to talk to a live person.
I would have done the same thing… The last 2 Chase apps I did, I resisted the urge to call in for reconsideration but called (800) 432-3117 every 2 days or so. It consistently gave me the “2 weeks” message so I didn’t call reconsideration and one month later, my apps were approved. I would have called reconsideration if I had gotten the 7-10 days message.