The week prior to January 22nd I was in the process of closing my account with Chase. On the 22nd my wallet was stolen with two bank cards (Chase and my new bank). My new bank card was easy to cancel as they have 24 hour customer service even at 1am sunday morning when I was calling. Chase was another matter, as I did not have information available at hand to answer the automated questions (debit card # being one of them) I waited until a business day to do in and finalize everything.

I went into my branch and told a banker my stolen wallet story, he checked my account and saw no charges, presented me with the balance, and I asked for printed confirmation that my account was closed. I was told to come back the next day for that since everything happens at the end of the day. Two days go by (January 27th now) and I go in for the closing statement only to be told two charges appeared on my account from the previous Sunday before the account was closed. I started a fraud claim and was credited the balance. Now, my account is at zero, I ask it to be closed but they can’t until the investigation is over. OK, I leave and go on with life thinking this will clear itself up and I all but forget about my account with Chase.

Last week (March now) I start getting phone calls from an unidentified number who’s number resembles ***-555-xxxx. Now, anyone who’s ever seen a tv show or movie knows that 555 is universal for “this is a fake number” so I ignore it. The number repeatedly calls me so after a bit of Google searching I find it’s the number for Chase Collections. “Odd” I think to myself “Do I still have an account with them?” So next time they call I answer to find out my account has been over drawn for a week. It seems the credit I was given for my fraud charge had been receded PLUS overdraft fees.
Now of course I was a bit peeved, especially being transferred four times until I was connected to someone who could “help” me. I was told that my claim was denied because of the timing of everything. The man I was talking to quoted me saying I lost my card on 1/22 and not filing a lost card notice and fraud till 1/27. He didn’t have the fact that I tried to close my account on 1/25 when I first told a banker my card had been stolen. I was told I was denied a second claim based on this and he recommended I lawyer up (my phrase, not his) if I wanted to continue.
I go into my current bank to get a print out of when I canceled their card when my wallet was stolen and to my surprise their store manager was a former Chase VP who hates them and tried very hard to help me. We got on the phone with the claims guy again and she grilled him for a bit talking regulations for a while and he was noticeable taken aback but still refused to allow a second look at the case. The former VP said he was playing the douche card (her phrase, not mine) because he sees this all the time, wither it’s legit or not. She recommended I go talk to the banker who first tried to close my account back on 1/25.
So back at Chase bank talking to the banker and he looks at his system and in there there is a record of him accessing my account, emptying the account, and filing for a close. So now HE gets on the phone with the claims guy who tells him that since he is not part of the investigation (wait, I thought there was no more investigating going on?) he wasn’t able to know the details but due to “inconsistency of my statement” I was STILL being denying a second look. The banker told me that this is a very odd situation that he hasn’t seen before and that there was nothing he could do for me at his level. He told me the claims recommend starting a police investigation. I asked the banker if that was going help get reimbursed my fraud charges or if I was just getting the brush off. He didn’t say I was being brushed off, but he certainly didn’t seem confident when he told me it’s worth a shot.
Now the “inconsistency of my statement” is my fault as when I first got the call from Chase Collections I was taken aback. I tried to explain the series of events that happened a month and a half prior to a man who was not willing to hear it and I was not stating the dates correctly. Well as soon as I got home I busted out a calendar and got my story right, filed a police about the stolen wallet, and now I’m waiting for word back from SPD. I didn’t make a report when it happened because there really wasn’t much of value in my wallet but I’m now regretting not doing so. If the police report doesn’t persuade at the very least a second look I’m having a lawyer write and send a letter asking for one to be done. According to the banker I talked to and the former Chase VP it’s within my rights as (sadly) current Chase Customer to refute this.