Niri | Blog

I have a credit card with Chase. Not by choice, but because I used to be a Washington Mutual customer. Since becoming a Chase customer it’s been downhill ever since. Between killing my credit limit and raising my APR from 9.99% to Prime + 19.99% I have had enough of this horrible, horrible company.

There is no reason not to suspect Chase will raise your APR before new legislation hits in February 2010. Even if they haven’t done anything to you yet that doesn’t mean they won’t. You might want to check out a credit card comparison sites, like Mozo credit cards. I decided not to take these punches laying down so I sent this not so elegantly written e-mail to a couple of known entities within Chase. Some slight edits of personal info has been done. I expect nothing in return.

To whom it may concern,

I am a current customer of Chase, who used to be a WaMu customer, and I am thoroughly upset and disappointed with the treatment you as a company are giving me.

We have always been responsible customers paying our bill on time and making sure we pay more than the minimum, yet Chase has decided I am not worthy of the responsibility of owning a Chase card it seems.

I knew Chase had a reputation for mistreating their credit card holders but I always assumed I would never be at the mercy of this kind of abuse.

Chase is the only company we do (read: did) business with that is treating us like second grade citizens.

After being migrated to Chase from WaMu my available credit limit was lowered to almost match my credit use on your card. This negatively affected my credit score and was the first time I raised my eyebrow at WaMu/Chase. This is why I stopped using my Chase card all together.

Had I known this was only the warm up period I would not have kept giving you money.

Recently I received a notice telling me my APR was switching to a variable rate. Prime plus 19.99% I believe. My only options were to either accept these changes or dispute them, only Chase would then close my account. Guess it wasn’t enough to lower my credit limit.

How is that fair? What have I done to Chase as a customer to deserve this kind of treatment?

I’m outraged at the shady business practices employed by Chase in these hard economic times and I plan to make my words heard to anybody who will listen to what I have to say. If this is how you plan on treating your customers you don’t deserve my money or my future business. I would like some clarification as to what I have done to be treated this way by Chase but I do not expect much from this corporate monster. Clearly customer service means nothing to Chase and the first word that comes to mind when I think of Chase now is “bully”.

If Chase can’t appreciate responsible customers then I can’t continue doing business with you. Nobody should be doing business with you and I feel for those that cannot get away from your hard-line approach to customer gouging.

I have transferred my balance to a more responsible, customer oriented company. I’m expecting my account will be closed because of this and if not this letter will probably take care of that for me. It is not a letter asking you to close my account, but I expect nothing less as a reaction based on what I’ve seen so far.

Thanks for listening.

The only response I expect from Chase on this is canceling my account which would only illustrate how much they don’t get it. I know this behavior isn’t personal. They’re a huge corporate hog and they don’t know me or care about me. However this is personal to me and this kind of corporate bullying really pushes my buttons.

Here is a number supposedly for the Chase Executive Team, whatever that is: 800-242-7339

Numbers for Chase executive customer service:

713-262-3866 (Banking, Michelle Crabtree)
800-242-7399 (Banking, General number)
888-622-7547 x 4350 (Credit card, general)
888-622-7547 x 6833 (Credit card, Jessica)
888-622-7547 x 6164 (Credit card, Sharon)
888-622-7547 x 6838 (Credit card, Patrick)

Thanks to The Consumerist for their help distributing this info.

I guess AT&T has had enough of Verizon poking fun of them with their ads recently. They posted the following press release on their site today. Not pulling any punches they address all the points hinted at from Verizon’s ad campaign.

“AT&T’s wireless data coverage reaches 303 million people – or 97% of the U.S. population, where they live and work.

AT&T is the #1 network for smartphones, with twice the number of smartphone customers than Verizon, our closest competitor. Some of the reasons include:

Most popular smartphones. Unlike Verizon, AT&T offers the most popular smartphones in the industry.

More wireless apps. Unlike Verizon, AT&T customers have access to more than 100,000 applications, more than with any other wireless company.

Talk and E-mail at the same time. Unlike Verizon, AT&T’s 3G network lets wireless customers simultaneously talk and surf the web or do e-mail.

Fastest 3G in the nation. Unlike Verizon, AT&T has the nation’s fastest 3G network.”

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Does this mean tethering for the iPhone is postponed until the dust settles…?

att.com via TUAW

I was cleaning my attic this weekend and while vacuuming the floor out from below an old vinyl floor section emerged this mysterious pin.

Königsstuhl also known as "Kings Chair"

The text on the pin reads “Königsstuhl” which translates to “King’s Chair”. There are several references to this term on Google, one of which is a park founded in 1990 with the same name. Considering the age of our house and the coloring of the pin I believe this is much, much older.

The Wall Street Journal has a great article showcasing why AT&T killed Google Voice recently on the iPhone. Andy Kessler writes a really sobering article on our archaic and ludicrous phone companies and their ancient policies.

Don’t miss his 4 step-solution to the problem which is ingenious. [Link]

I give you – the i.Saw! The world’s first USB-powered chainsaw.

Oh yes. A real, fully functional, USB-powered chainsaw. Be sure to watch the demonstration video. I think the most disturbing portion is probably this section of the website:

Operating Environment
Home and office use
(Standard precautions apply)

How is this a good product? What exactly are you cutting that is within a USB cable’s length of a computer?!

UPDATE — As it turns out the i.Saw is of course not real. It’s a prank, a hoax, but a clever one with a purpose. If you pre-order the i.Saw you’ll receive this e-mail:

Hello.

We love that you liked the i.Saw enough to pre-order.

Truth is, you already own a chainsaw. Your keyboard.

Help save more trees by cutting down on unnecessary printing. Download PaperCut, a free application that plays the sound of a chainsaw each time you press Ctrl-P.

Available for Mac and PC.

Thanks for the support. Help spread the buzz, if you will :)

PaperCut Team
(formerly known as i.Saw Team)

[i.Saw - The World's First USB-powered Chainsaw]

There are not many things in this world cooler than lasers. I mean c’mon. Laser portraits man! Only to be beat by sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads! [We Have Lasers!!!!!!!!!!]

I’ve been following this guy Tyler for a while over at 334 pounds. Tyler started his blog to track his weight loss, like an interactive journal. What a great use for a blog. He just made is 100lb mark so I wanted to congratulate him for doing what I have not been able to yet which is to find a weight loss system I can stick to and have consistent results.

So Tyler’s overall goal is to lose 150 pounds by the end of 2009. At this rate he’ll obviously make that happen but that’s probably when the real challenge starts; keeping it off. Our society is designed for you to become a big, fat slob – sitting on your ass in the car, at your computer, on the coach, at work and so on. It’s really easy to gain the weight and that much harder to lose it. Keep up the great work Tyler! [334pounds.com]

1. Your family photos are accompanied by text ads for skin care and diet plans.
2. Removes all Falun Gong references from your files.
3. Every month, the hard drive is automatically defragged and investigated for anti-trust violations.
4. Invests in, develops, acquires, and abandons your best ideas.
5. Integrated tax preparation software includes “I’m Feeling Lucky” deductible button.
6. Changes your icons daily, forcing you to look up which obscure scientific figure is having a birthday.
7. Spends 20% of its time on tasks not related to work.
8. Prevents all evil activity unless it is deemed to be for the good of the shareholders.
9. Masseuse comes by every Monday afternoon.
10. Constant crashes won’t bother anybody as long as it’s labeled “Beta”.
11. “Beta” status won’t expire until 2038.

These are of course all jokes so don’t get all offended and angry, oh wait that’s Apple fans – nevermind! :) [woot!]

Not sure if this is real or Photoshopped but it sure looks awesome. Some sort of scooter contraption and I’m guessing it comes without seat belts. Notice the front wheel on the cart is flat and it looks like the scooter is on the kickstand. [KK via Makezine]