Chase Sapphire
Posted on: July 5, 2010
We applied for Chase Credit Card through Amazon.com. At the time we were looking at a couple of pricey mushroom books. Instead of paying $60 for the books, we were able to get them for $30 because of Amazon's great deal for new applicant applying for Chase credit card, a savings of $30. How awesome was that? I thought what a cool card and continued to use it for almost everything and everywhere Visa is accepted. This went on for about a year.
For the year we purchased and paid our bills on time religiously and never accrued any finance charge until recently, when I decided to use the card to pay for a lottery subscription. The second time I used it to buy another lottery subscription was the turning point. I was charged a $10 cash advance fee, which is 20 percent of the purchased price. They told me my state charges the fee, yet the state's website stated that they process credit card transaction as a normal credit card sale. Chase told me a code allow the fee to take place, but they did not disclose the code which is managed by Visa and Mastercard Association. I will have to do more research about this later. My disagreement prompted me to call customer service. They were not helpful at all and I hung up the phone with great disappointment. We paid the fee and our balance anyway and decided to close the account as well. We received a letter confirming the account's closure within a week. But it wasn't over until the fat lady sings.
Arrived with the days mail lo and behold was an envelope that looked like Chase credit card statement. It didn't look good at all. I tore open the envelope and confirm that it was indeed another statement listing a finance charge including the $10 cash advance fee, which we already paid on time. In addition to the fee they added a $1 “residual fee” because of the last purchase and because our credit card balance was so small. On top of that we now have $1 balance left which will be charged an APR of 258.77 percent for any unpaid balance. When I talked to Chase card Customer service supervisor he apologizes, “Sorry you feel that way.” I'm like yeah right that's what they all say. I called again and my account was eventually credit the dollar which means we now have zero balance, but come to think of it our savings of $30 for buying books is not worth the stress. You tell me.
If you're interested in credit cards we recommend a Sears or Discover card. We are happy with them at least for the time being.
Sources:
personal experience
Chase Sapphire - Zero APR Credit Card 
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