I have an extensive relationship with JP Morgan Chase Bank but when running into an issue with wire services, a crack was exposed in otherwise stellar customer service and it’s concerning.
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Don’t Get Me Wrong, I Like Chase
Many travelers like me utilize the bank for their excellent Chase credit cards. Over the years, my relationship JPMorgan Chase Bank (NA) has grown to a variety of products including savings accounts, business credit cards, and even Chase Private Client checking. I have a number of business accounts with the bank and to this point, I have been a happy customer.
The bank has been an essential tool for me and my family, but especially also for my businesses. I contemplated not writing this post at all because outside of one particular area of the bank, they’ve done fantastically.
But my experience with Chase Wire Services has been so appalling that I can’t possibly ignore it anymore.
Chase Wire Services Customer Service Is A Problem
One of my businesses has staff in Armenia and I have well documented that here. I have transferred between my Chase account and my corresponding account in that country numerous times so that I can distribute to contractors. I have made this transfer more than a dozen times, every one of them has been initially delayed, but then arrived sometime within the next 2-3 days. While I don’t love the fact that such regular transactions are first delayed 100% of the time and that I can’t accurately predict when they will ultimately arrive, they have all made it eventually.
In early August, I made the same drop-down wire transfer I always have. As always, it was delayed but this time it never arrived. What’s worse, Chase showed this transfer as completed. We gave it a few days, and then inquired further. Here are some steps and events we’ve taken along the way:
- Branch Meetings – I’ve met with multiple branches and multiple account executives, managers, and support staff. I’ve spent roughly 12 hours of my time and Chase staff’s time in this effort.
- Secure Messages – I have sent a number of secure messages, the “only” way to communicate with Chase Wire services is through secure messages through the app or website. (What does an old-school luddite do? Nothing, they literally have no way to communicate with wire staff during an issue)
- Branch Escalations – I have been dealing with the same “Jessica” who is calling on a recorded and monitored line, and she calls daily to tell me that Wire Services has done nothing. She was calling weekly but after week three, I wanted her to call me every day because I figured that if she or her boss looked at how much time was being spent on this issue, something would get done. We talk every day, and I was wrong. After about a dozen or so calls, they finally researched a successful transfer but not the one in question. Cool.
- Twitter – I’ve reached out
Everyone at Chase claims that the wire department doesn’t have a phone neither for internal purposes nor for customers to connect with them. I’ve heard everything from security concerns to thousands of open but unfilled positions at the bank due to COVID as a reason why the wire department literally doesn’t have a phone.
Seems unlikely.
When I follow the instructions and use secure messages, the bank claims that they cannot reach anyone at the destination bank (incorrect, they have not contacted them, we have agents there.) They have researched the wrong wires. They have marked the case as closed and resolved as the money was delivered – though it obviously was not and I can prove that. They suggested that the recipient (me) was lying and that it had actually arrived.
Whether it’s COVID (it’s a little long in the tooth to still play this one), or security, this approach is not working. The copy-and-paste answers from the secure message team don’t address the problem, they often don’t even address the right transfer. Branch staff is so helpless that it makes me lose confidence in my entire Chase relationship.
I actually suggested that I should take Chase to small claims court. Even if I would lose, it would still get the attention of their legal staff who might take out a calculator and figure out that their time is worth more than either just actually investigating what happened or giving me the money back that they said was wired but wasn’t. At least one branch manager said I should do just that.
It really isn’t this hard to send wires. In fact, I used my Chase debit card to send a Moneygram and the money was there instantly for about the same fee. No delay. No waiting. If I have an issue with Moneygram, I can connect with their staff online through chat and resolve the issue.
The escalations agent I deal with stated that similar issues take an average of two months to resolve (which we have already crossed) and that blows my mind. How is this profitable for the bank?
The bigger issue for me is that even if this failed transfer is returned as it should be (it’s been recalled and “is being sent back to me” for several weeks) I can’t rely on Chase to send the money a) on time, b) predictably, c) and be assured it will arrive ever, or d) if something goes wrong that they will make it right.
What’s The Solution?
The solution is fairly simple.
- The wire team needs to be contactable at least internally.
- If secure messages are going to be the way consumers communicate, Chase needs to respond to the issue.
- The wire team has to be open to investigating the matter.
- The wire team has to be held accountable if and when they make an error. That’s not happening because I can prove they’ve made an error and there’s no one at Chase that can hold them to account.
Archaic problems like this will be why cryptocurrencies actually take off more than anything else. There’s no excuse for this in the modern era at all. The bank has all of the tracking information and none of the gumption to simply track it and correct the problem.
Conclusion
If Jamie Dimon had any clue as to the experience I have had (and likely many, many others) I have no doubt he would do something about it right away. If his nephew had a wire go awry and told him over a Labor Day BBQ (this issue was already a month old by then), he’d be appalled and something would be done. Instead, neither branch reps, escalations, nor wire services can seem to get it together. I am too small of a customer to care about, so maybe it’s time I find a bank that will help me out when they make a mistake. What else can one do? My businesses, customers, and contractors deserve better than Chase feels bothered to deliver.
What do you think? Have you had transfer issues with Chase? What did you do about it?
Not to excuse Chase, but I think I’d be using Wise or another service after the first few wires werr delayed. Major banks do not seem to be well set up to handle consumer transactions beyond simple deposits and checks.
It is too bad an EFT option is not available as I find that to be pretty seamless, esp w Fidelity
Exactly this. I would not dream of using anything other than Wise for US originating wire transfers – it is an absolute cluster**** otherwise.
This matches my general experiences with Chase and I have surprisingly found Citibank far superior for wires and most other things – and the “secured messaging” none sense is a sure sign of bureaucracy running amok for the sake of bureaucracy. The best by far though was Transferwise, but it can’t be used for certain transactions or countries.
The same here. I find Chase excellent, except for international wire transfers. In my case between Chase and a major bank in the UK, the transfer happens quickly……. but takes a route through a bank in Spain for some reason !. Worse, somewhere along the chain $30 something dollars “disappears”. Enquiries either end get stonewalled, I’m looking for other options.
Kyle, there is no doubt in my mind what you experienced was frustrating.
What I don’t understand is why you didn’t reach out to your contacts at CHASE which either yourself or Matthew have from hawking their credit cards?
I have to imagine you have contacts at the bank who could pick up the phone and get things straightened out.
Instead you go about it like a mere mortal customer would experience, have frustration and then complain about it.
As a mere mortal I have resorted to emailing the C-suite when front line customer service fails me because I no longer have the patience for the experience you went through.
@Interested Traveler – I think you’re confusing us with another travel blog. We don’t have a direct relationship with ANY credit card company as you might have found on this blog, just a non-descript affiliate link at the top that we don’t push.
I am a mere mortal customer and I, too, have tried emailing the C-suite but after two bounced attempts, I moved on. If you have an email for Dimon, I would welcome it.
Kyle. I will be the first to admit that I have zero clue how one establishes affiliate links, but I would think there is some involvement between the company and blog offering the affiliate link.
Even if it is an entirely automated process and there is no human involvement, IME people in common fields associate with each other and Matthew has elluded to the fact that he travelled with other travel bloggers and attended events hosted by them.
If you do not personally know Gary Left, I am sure Matthew does and Leff must have contacts at the banks including CHAEE. I am sure Leff would do you all favor and pick up the phone for you to get the ball rolling.
It is about working your contacts and Leff has got to be a contact, I simply cannot believe you don’t know someone in the blog world who has contacts CHASE, maybe Luckycoins?
Regardless, I am sure it was frustrating.
My confidence in Chase has been shaken. Recently transferred about $42,000 from Chase to a new Capital One Savings account here in the U.S.A. all because the interest at Chase was about 11 cents on $50,000 and the interest at Capital One is now over 2.25%. Chase did all the little 30 cent transfers to confirm the new account exists which was established. Three business days later they decide to decline the transfer with no reason. Called Chase and all I got from their low-level clerks was it was for “security” reasons. Security how, why ??? My credit is excellent, no issues with any other bank transfers from Chase only this was the largest amount. After phone and talking and asking how I get this expedited, I was told to try again. Why?…so you can keep declining the transfer with NO EXPLANATION. Finally I just escalated to a “supervisor” and she assured me it was done – immediately. Why do people have to get to that level ???…. of course I would have gone into my local branch (of which they know me well) if it was not accomplished, but believe me, I’m ready to move the last $8,000 and be done with them as far as a savings account. Otherwise I will keep my Checking account and two credit cards…. and I do like the ease of their website, but c’mon…..don’t hold my money hostage. So beware with Chase, even domestically. After the above write-up, I’m pretty sure I would never do anything internationally with them.
In fairness, you should be glad they did this. That’s good security. If you just linked a new account and the first thing you do is try to transfer $47k, of course they’re going to want to make sure it’s legitimate. I’d bet future transfers would go much smoother.
Your first world problems must be so stressful. Please, casually name-drop more 5-6 figure sums to random strangers on the internet so we can continue to be impressed by your wealth and status.
Oh please, that was not the point. I’m sure many readers here have bank accounts worth well more than a $40,000 mention. I would be skeptical with Chase if I was transferring $50 at this point. I couldn’t care less if you’re a pauper or a millionaire.
Please, please, please keep us updated, it is valuable to see how Chase responds from one day to the next. I’m a former Chase employee (sorry, no contacts left) and appalled at the runaround you are getting.
Deal in 3rd world countries that are run by those who learned all the tricks from Russians, don’t be shocked when problems occur. It comes with the territory. Hopefully the potential gains make up for the risks when these things happen.
As much as people want to exploit these places in a “global” economy, it’s still shady. And these people love our money but inside hate us.
Before going to small claims court, I suggest writing a letter detailing the entire debacle, starting with the original wire transfer and then all of the steps since – some could be combined. You need printed proof. In your letter state “copy of wire transfer documentation attached as Exhibit A”. The next portion of your letter would be along the lines of “copy of mail with XXX dated. xx/xx/xx attached as Exhibit B.” Document the entire thing.
Send this letter to Chase’s agent of service for process in your state. All corporations have to designated an agent for service of process in each jurisdiction in which is does business. This is usually just a mail forwarding operation, but since it is set up for accepting service of legal process, these agents forward everything received to Chase’s Legal Department. Written in this manner it is very similar to a court complaint. At the end state the relief you want – here it would be a refund of the entire amount of money involved.
This got American Airline’s attention when I had a problem and resulted in a complete refund for me.
I go back and forth from card to card. First I liked AMEX. Then Alaska Airlines Visa, And now United Chase Visa. Who knows where else.
ibid above conversation: I had no problem with Wells Fargo when I made some large transactions for my condo purchase in Mexico.
Kyle, I know we’ve had several (strong) differences of opinion over the years, but I’m with you on this one.
Banks today have, tragically, become unpaid government agents and are no longer in the customer service industry. It’s much better for them to take longer to process anything and not risk running afoul of any real or imagined rules and regulations, than to actually help a client–and no, status or length of relationship rarely helps though exceptions exist of course. Compliance departments run banks nowadays especially anything to do with foreign destinations.
Worst part is, like you said, there is nobody to complain to or even get on the phone. Government will say it’s a private company affair and a commercial decision, meanwhile the bank will say regulations and laws are the cause of the hold-up.
Perhaps now you will join me in being a bit more skeptical of the powers at be and how they restrict our lives.
I would suggest funding a local bank to bank with. If you’re with or were with Chase private client then you should have more than enough in deposit to get a personal backer at a private bank and the service will be 100x better.
Since they were acquired by JP Morgan, Chase bank has changed their strategy to scam customers as often as they can get away with. Even institutional investors have been defrauded by JP Morgan Chase.
What about going to Company Contacts on the Elliott dot Org site? I have used Christopher Elliott’s resources for Hilton–oh, the stories I could tell, AARP, and others, when nothing else worked. Chase is a favorite of mine–usually–but I have noticed it’s dropped the ball on a few things. Wire transfers are very frustrating at times. I have not tried with Chase, but I have contacts in a country I won’t even name due to the awful remarks that would come from labels (NOT Russia!) and trying to send them money to put in an orphanage of all things–one I have visited myself–proved heartbreaking. You’re right about crypto. I keep small amounts and accounts just in case. Sometimes it’s the only way to send a hundred bucks to someone, but its’ so volatile, it has its own problems.
When I use Wise to transfer from US to Costa Rica, Chase is the intermediary (and grabs $17 along the way). Even though Wise uses Wells.
The wire team is contactable internally. When an international wire went amiss, I contacted my Private Client banker and she got someone from the wire team on the line, explained the situation, and then worked with me and the wire team to get the wire sent. This would have been around late July or August of 2022.
The OCC federal agency regulates banks. I would escalate this.
Chase needs to be held accountable. I wired money to a bank in New York to pay for a condo in Mexico. I sent two wires, the largest from Schwab (thank God) and the rest from Chase. The Schwab wire went without a hitch but the Chase wire had some mysterious “issue” and was pending day after day and no one could tell me anything. I have been using Schwab bank for a couple of years and Chase for decades. I called my “private banker” and things really went south. First, the private client banker said I no longer qualified for “private client banking” because my balance wasn’t high enough. When I pointed out that since the wire I was calling about had not gone through and that my balance, then, still qualified, he relented and continued the call. He then told me I could not have initiated a wire for the amount I obviously had. I pointed out that since the wire was pending I had obviously successfully initiated it to which he suggested that since the wire would never go through I could send two wires of smaller amounts. Then he claimed I couldn’t do that either because it would trigger a fraud alert.
What fraud? I complained that all this was screwing up my real estate deal in Mexico and then he said I couldn’t initiate a wire of the original amount to MX. I pointed out that the wire was NOT to MX, but to NY and things deteriorated from there. My condo deal would fall theough. The only thing that saved me was remembering his fraud alert statement. I called the fraud department at Chase and asked about the pending wire and they said yes they were waiting for some form of verification from me. I asked how we’re they doing that and the person didn’t know. If there was a record of any attempt to contact me to verify the wire, they didn’t have it. Silence. Silence. Well, then I asked would this call suffice and after some offline discussion with someone else the wire was “verified” and my deal was saved. When I got home I walked into .y ranch, asked for the Private Client Banker that did not deserve the title and the manager. I had them close all of my accounts at Chase but I one. After decades of a relationship with Chase, I will close that remaining account in a few weeks.
Kyle – I am currently experiencing a major issue with Chase with regard to approximately $100k that was wired to me from a title company on Monday, 10/31/2022. I have yet to receive my funds. Employees at the title company are going out of there way to help me, and have said many times over that they have never experienced a situation like this in their decades of experience. It is unbelievable. How is it possible that JP Morgan Chase is allowed to hold my funds hostage in this manner? Can they be held accountable? If so, how?
Try Twitter and walking into the bank, those escalation teams seem to have the most teeth.
I have had a similiar experience in last 3 weeks with Chase. So much so that I went looking online and found this article. No help, no response and no concern about getting back money that has “disappeared” and waiting on the other bank..who I have personally spoken to several times and gladly let me know that the money was never received. This is downright massive concern for public not just personal issue.