Question
I just got this letter from Chase:
"Dear Carl92103,
We want to be your number one credit card. We noticed that you recently made a large payment to your United Visa account and want to make sure we’re not losing your business. That’s why we want to remind you again of these low-rate reasons to stay –it’s our way of showing you that your business is important to us."
I always make large payments so I don't know why they think I am leaving them. Only if UA had the same courtesy when an elite stops travelling.
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I just got this letter from Chase:
"Dear Carl92103,
We want to be your number one credit card. We noticed that you recently made a large payment to your United Visa account and want to make sure we’re not losing your business. That’s why we want to remind you again of these low-rate reasons to stay –it’s our way of showing you that your business is important to us."
I always make large payments so I don't know why they think I am leaving them. Only if UA had the same courtesy when an elite stops travelling.
Hilarious. They want you to carry a large ballance. Well at least they are honest about it. Try and use this to your advantage and get a credit card upgrade. Good luck.
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The best low rate offer is to pay off the full bill at the time it is due. This is the best way to maximize use of a credit card.
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I tried to use my Chase MP Visa to upgrade to the platinum version of the KVS software, and it wouldn't go thru initially.
While I was still online trying to send $$ a second time, my phone rings.
It is the Chase anti-fraud squad, wanting to verify that I really was trying to use my card on this website.^
I confirmed that it was a valid purchase that I wanted to make and the transaction went thru a few moments later.
I was very pleased that they were this proactive.
ymmv.
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I was very pleased that they were this proactive.
But sometimes it can be very annoying, especially when traveling.. After all, they're primarily protecting themselves, even though they want you to think they're protecting you.
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Every time I pay off any chase card balance (usually ahead of a low rate expiring) I get a letter like this. Usually, they enclose a bunch off balance transfer checks for a new nice low rate....:)
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After this month of all the tickets I bought, I might get a letter like
"Dear Jason8612,
We want to be your number one credit card. We noticed that you recently made large charges to your United Platinum Visa account and want to make sure we’re not losing your business. That’s why we want to remind you again that if you do not pay your credit card, we will find you and hunt you down –it’s our way of showing you that your business is important to us."
but good to hear that Chase wants to make monet on interest :)
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if you do not pay your credit card, we will find you and hunt you down
I figured the letter would say "Remember, it's best to only send in the minimum payment on your rather large balance."
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I figured the letter would say "Remember, it's best to only send in the minimum payment on your rather large balance."
"Dear Jason8612,
We want to be your number one credit card. We noticed that you recently made large charges to your United Platinum Visa account and want to make sure we’re not losing your business. That’s why we want to remind you again that it's best to only send in the minimum payment on your rather large balance. You then do not have to worry about paying all those charges at once.–it’s our way of showing you that your business is important to us.*"
in the bottom fine print
*Your new APR is 32.8%
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But sometimes it can be very annoying, especially when traveling.. After all, they're primarily protecting themselves, even though they want you to think they're protecting you.
Exactly. It shocks me to know that there are people gullible enough to think when the credit card folks employ the law to make it sound like they are acting in the best interest of the consumer.
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I also appreciate their efforts to prevent fraud. But last fall, it cost me about 6,000 points. My SO went on a buying binge (!) in SoCal. I was away from home on a business trip.....and by the time they tracked me down to approve the purchases, they had already declined the other charges.
I also hope they are not stupid enough to send me a "we are afraid we are losing your business" letter. I pay off my card balance in full every month; it would be a typical "big business" mistake on their part.
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...noticed that you recently made a large payment to your United Visa account and want to make sure we’re not losing your business....I always make large payments so I don't know why they think I am leaving them.
Sounds as if they have an algorithm to detect balance transfer payments from other financial institutions. Do you make your payments from an account at Citibank or Bank of America, for example?
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Sounds as if they have an algorithm to detect balance transfer payments from other financial institutions. Do you make your payments from an account at Citibank or Bank of America, for example?
I always authorize an e-payment from my BofA account.
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My guess is that there's a threshold that triggers the "please spend/transfer" letter. I've gotten it a few times after sizable payments on other Chase/BankOne cards.
Timothy
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Exactly. It shocks me to know that there are people gullible enough to think when the credit card folks employ the law to make it sound like they are acting in the best interest of the consumer.
:confused: Add clueless to the list, since I'm not sure if I'm being tossed into the "gullible category" here.
My Chase MP Visa is the first card I have held that wasn't issued by my personal bank (The same bank I've used for the last 25 years).
So I'm not sure what sort of a baseline of spending patterns and habits Chase has developed on me in the short time I've held their card nor am I sure what level of granularity that information might entail.
As a person that has had spurious charges appear on other credit cards (all noticed and successfully contested) I was grateful that Chase did this.
They never made any specific claim as to why nor did they attempt to take credit for what they were doing.
They just did what they were supposed to do. I like that and said so.
It shocks me to know that there are people hateful enough or arrogant enough to think they know another person's motivation...:td:
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:confused: Add clueless to the list, since I'm not sure if I'm being tossed into the "gullible category" here.
(snip)
It shocks me to know that there are people hateful enough or arrogant enough to think they know another person's motivation...:td:
Relax. I wasn't speaking about you. I thought the text I quoted in the reply would be enough to realize that.
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Moving this to the Other Credit Card Programs forum.
iluv2fly
Moderator, UA
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As a person that has had spurious charges appear on other credit cards (all noticed and successfully contested) I was grateful that Chase did this.
They never made any specific claim as to why nor did they attempt to take credit for what they were doing.
They just did what they were supposed to do. I like that and said so.
But you weren't liable for the erroneous charges. Why would you want a credit card company to put obstacles in the way of you using the card to make a purchase?
Imagine if you weren't at home on your computer, sitting next to the phone number they have on record? Imagine if you were in some foreign country, with no cellphone or Internet access handy. You brought only one credit card because you were concerned about pickpocketing or petty theft. Now you try to buy a train ticket, or pay for dinner, or to get into a museum after standing in a long line. Maybe you're entertaining an important client, and now you can't pay the tab. Chase declines it because of some ridiculous fraud algorithm. Maybe it has even nothing to do with what you're doing right now -- your wife was at work, and just tried to pay $29 for WinZip or some software online (ooh -- red flag, let's cut off this account!). Now what. Yes, they'll take a collect call, once you find a payphone, figure out how to dial out from it, and finally get through, etc. But at the end of the day it's an inconvenience, possibly a significant one at that. And does it protect you? Likely not.
I think the point is that these types of obstacles are not done to protect the consumer in any way. They're simply done to protect the credit card company. After all, if it were a bogus charge, you wouldn't be liable. And from your own personal experience, you weren't liable when it happened to you...
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I just got this letter from Chase:
"Dear Carl92103,
We want to be your number one credit card. We noticed that you recently made a large payment to your United Visa account and want to make sure we’re not losing your business. That’s why we want to remind you again of these low-rate reasons to stay –it’s our way of showing you that your business is important to us."
I always make large payments so I don't know why they think I am leaving them. Only if UA had the same courtesy when an elite stops travelling.
both citi and BoA sent me similar letters when you pay off large balances ... usually they suspect it is balance transfers even if you paid it off.
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I wasn't even given the courtesy of a phone call when Chase declined the card (platinum, if that ever matters) after my caterer, for a company lunch of about 75 people, tried to make the charge the day before the delivery.
I wasn't in my office when my caterer called and luckily had me tracked down by the late evening.
Chase says it was a security block because of the unusual activity. This was NOT unusual and it could have caused me great embarrassment. I'm sorry the bank wasn't watching my bank. It never tried before.
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Every time I pay off any chase card balance (usually ahead of a low rate expiring) I get a letter like this. Usually, they enclose a bunch off balance transfer checks for a new nice low rate....:)
Please double-check the terms when using those checks. I've used Chase before and paid $75 max balance transfer fee. However, I just noticed this today and am totally floored by it:
"The Transaction Fee for this balance transfer is equal to
the greater of $5 or 3% of the amount of the transfer, but
not more than $999.99."
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I just got some of those checks and no max fee was mentioned!!
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Got some of the checks myself not too long ago and the fee was capped at $250.
As to the case in which one finds one's self in a different country with only one credit card and worrying about whether or not charges will be authorized, did you consider calling the credit card company beforehand so that they know you'll be traveling? I do this with two cards every time I'm going out of the country, approximately 6-8 times a year, since many years ago Amex tried to pull this stunt with me. Haven't had a problem since. I'm out about 40 minutes of my time for the year...to me, it's not that big a price to pay for knowing that I won't suddenly find myself with legitimate charges being questioned.
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I once had my Chase card flagged for "suspect" activity... Only they didn't shut off my card. They shut off my online access (including payment) two days before a large bill was due (I never carry a balance on that card).
It went like this:
1 - Moved across country (TX to CA), getting gas and food along the way (on the Chase card)
2 - got to new job, bought $3000 worth of computer equipment (all online, several vendors)
3 - Days later, bought $19 in software online
4 - Same day, bought lunch on the card ($7)
5 - Went to pay my (large) bill online, but access to my account was blocked.
So I called Chase, and they told me they had shut off my account access due to suspect activity -- citing the $19 software and $7 lunch purchase (my card was even swiped at lunch!).
Mind you, the card was never ONCE declined for a transaction, and I was never contacted by Chase about any suspect activity. They shut off my ability to pay my bill two days before payment was due, supposedly over two transactions totaling about 0.3% of that month's charges. They claimed it was suspect because my card wasn't swiped for the software (it wasn't swiped for $3k in hardware, but that didn't seem to bother them!). In the end, I told them the charges were legit, and they managed to get my access restored in time to pay my bill before it was due.
So I'm long past the point of believing their "fraud algorithms" are in place to protect me.