Chase Financial Services Crosses My Line

Apparently, Chase is offering a new financial service to those of us who pay our mortgages a month (or more) ahead. The twist to the new service is that it's a surprise: they don't tell you that they have taken your advanced payment plus and applied it to the principal, rather than as a payment plus, because they figure (ha-ha-ha) that you are too stupid to know how to manage your own financial resources.

Case in point: I am three months ahead in my mortgage payment; thus, when I sent in my March payment, I used the payment coupon for June (because I had already paid April and May). I was recently on-line checking my accounts and realized that I had not received my next mortgage statement from Chase, so I checked to see how to send the payment without a coupon. Imagine my surprise to learn that my entire last payment plus amount was credited to the principal, rather than to the payment coupon I had included in the envelope. Instead of continuing to keep 3 months' ahead of my mortgage payment due date, I am now back to only 1 month ahead and that only because of my call.

Well, I called to talk to a person about the logic behind the Chase decision, and after going through endless menu options that had nothing to do with my issue, I pressed the 0 several times until Victor answered. When I asked why I have not received a payment coupon, he explained to me that I am already "paid up" and do not owe a payment this month (May).

"Really?" I asked him. "How did you arrive at that conclusion?"

Victor schooled me: when I sent in the payment coupon the first of March, it was for June, which was not due, so it was applied directly to my principal. I will receive a payment coupon this month (May) to pay for June, but I currently do not owe anything.

Isn't that amazing?

I am ecstatic that Chase caught this egregious financial error on my part and fixed it for me! Imagine in these tough financial times anyone sending money to a mortgage company for a payment due a month or two or three down the road!! It must be a mistake! I could be spending that money on shopping, on credit card bills, on summer vacations, but I (idiot that I am) decided instead to send it to Chase to apply to my mortgage.

The only action on Chase's part that could possibly have made me angrier than I am is if they had credited my "over-payment" to a debit card and told me to go forth and stimulate Obama's economy with all this extra money I seem to have or re-distribtue my wealth to those less financially fortunate than I seem to be!

I have asked for a payment coupon to be sent to me immediately and instructed Victor to add to my account notes that in the future, when I send in a payment, it is to be applied to my account the way I direct -- not the way someone in their corporate structure determines it should be applied. I will over-look the obvious error of their ways once, but I will take it to them if it happens again.