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Today I received 2 emails concerning the year end summary (credit card usage) from Chase. It’s a great tool to track your yearly spending and prepare your household budget for the next year. I have a Chase Freedom Card and a Amazon.Com card, both of which will provide year end summary.

To review your year end summary:

1.You can login to your account at www.chase.com/yearend.

2. On the Statements page, click the “Year End Summary” link at the bottom of the page.

The year end summery will give you month by month list of your spending at Travel & Entertainment, Restaurant, Automotive, Merchandise, Services, and Miscellaneous. It will also give you detailed list of your transactions—a good time to find out wrong transactions and file dispute. Hereby, I strongly recommend you all to look through your year end summary. One of my friends found out that he has been charging by the Reservation

Rewards Program all the time in the past 11 months with a $11 monthly fees. And he doesn’t know what it is!

The Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express also provided year end summary for its cardmembers. the Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express features:

• Earn 10,000 Starpoints® with your first purchase — enough for up to 3 free nights at a category 1 or 2 hotel.
• Earn 15,000 bonus Starpoints after you spend $15,000 in 6 months
• Use Starpoints® for free nights and upgrades at over 825 participating Starwood hotels and resorts in 95 countries
• Transfer Starpoints® — almost always on a 1:1 basis — to the frequent flyer programs of over 30 major airlines
• Earn one Starpoint® for every dollar you spend and double Starpoints® at participating Starwood properties and retail partners
• No annual fee for the first year and $45 thereafter
• Express Approval. Get a decision in less than 60 seconds.

Apply Now!

This is the second part of the “10 Confessions Of A Chase Customer Service Rep”. I hope you can learn something from this series. Read carefully before calling them up!

COMMON SCENARIOS I ENCOUNTER

4. DON’T SAY “MY PAYMENT WAS LATE BECAUSE I DIDN’T GET MY STATEMENT”

Please, don’t tell me this. This is the worst excuse ever. While I don’t doubt that some people somehow legitimately didn’t get their bill, for the most part, its a lie to cover up the fact you didn’t make your payment on time. Hmm, for the past 5 years you’ve always gotten a statement to the correct address on file, but the one month you’re late it didn’t show up. Right. Somehow, whenever the car payment or the mortgage is due, people never forget that, even without a paper reminder.

3. WATCH YOUR CREDIT LIMIT

Going over limit- Its your responsibility to watch out where your credit line is. If you really don’t ever wanna go over your credit line, but a block on it. We do let cards go over a little bit, just in case you’re in a situation where you really need it. Imagine these scenarios. Imagine you’re in a restaurant, and you go to pay the bill. Would you rather be declined and be embarrassed in front of your friends and family, or have it go through and pay the $39 fee. Or, imagine you’re stuck on the side of the road and need a tow truck. Do you want the charge to go through so you can get out of the cold, or do you want it declined and sit there shivering for hours? We’ll allow the card to go over, but usually not more than $100.

2. READ YOUR CONTRACT

Not being aware of fees, or APR’s- Everything on your card is agreed upon when you accept the card. The Cardmember Agreement basically states that the bank has the right to change your limit at any time, change your APR, or close your account, no reason needed. That agreement basically leaves the bank holding all the cards. The one constant I see is people never ever read the agreement, and then are surprised by things later. Please, read it, or at least call customer service and ask any questions you need answered.

1. IF YOU DON’T NEED IT, DON’T BUY IT

The only other advice I have for people with credit cards….get a hold of your spending. I can’t tell you how many people I see every day who are absolutely drowning in debt. I get so many people making minimum payments, never getting ahead on their balance, or people just playing the balance transfer game to move their balance to a lower rate card, but they’ve moved that balance 10 times and it’s still not paid off. If you use credit cards wisely, you can make the bank work for you, but instead, we see banks with profits in the billions of dollars every year.”

This post is originally written by consumerist.com. I copy it here because I think it’s useful for you guys to know how to deal with Chase Customer Service Representatives. Remember this might be useful for other bank customer service representatives.

Do you know the one thing to never say to a customer service rep if you’re late on your bill? Do you know how Chase ranks you, and how you’re ranked determines whether they help you out in a bind? Do you know the best way to get what you want from customer service? After you read these 10 confessions from a Chase customer service rep, you will.

“HOW WE RANK CARDMEMBERS

There are 3 levels of cardmembers at Chase. They are segregated as BEST, VALUABLE, or NON-PROFIT.

10. BEST
Cardmembers make up a small minority of the people at Chase. If I talk to 100 people in a day, maybe 5 are best cardmembers. If you’re a Best cardmember, pretty much anything you want to get done. You want a late fee taken off? Done. Don’t feel like paying $200 in finance charges? No problem. How do you achieve Best cardmember status? You either have to move a lot of money through the bank, (we can tell if you have a mortgage, car loan, etc thru Chase), or have a high balance that you’re paying a good amount of interest on. If you generate enough fee revenue from finance charges, say $100 per month, and you want a late fee taken off, no problem, we’ll take $39 off this month to make you happy and make sure that $100 monthly keeps rolling in.

9. VALUABLE

Cardmembers make up the majority of people we talk to. Valuable basically means you pay your bills on time, and are in general a good customer. You can get a fee waived also, but not nearly as often. I don’t mind waiving a late fee for you, but usually only every 6 months. That’s standard, but we can base our judgment on it all the way back to a year. And if I remove a late fee for you, don’t think you’re getting anything waived in the foreseeable future.

8. NON-PROFIT

These are the cardmembers who know what they’re doing. They’re the group of people that pay their bill off, in full, every month, like clockwork. They don’t pay finance charges, and they’re never late. They don’t go over their credit line, they don’t have returned payments, and they earn rewards. Which all amounts to the bank isn’t making any money on your account. So if you get a late fee, you have absolutely zero chance of getting it waived. That late fee is revenue for the bank, and it uses it to offset the maintenance on your account. Maintenance includes your statements mailed to you, sending you replacement cards, dealing with customer service, and cashing out rewards point / miles / dollars. For this cardmember, if you threaten to close your account if we don’t do what you want, don’t be surprised to get an offer to close your account during that phone call. Why? What is the incentive to keep you? I know its pretty cold hearted, but that’s exactly how it works. You do a great job on your account, but you can get punished. Hey, I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them.

HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE
7. I WILL GO TO BAT FOR YOU IF YOU TREAT ME LIKE A HUMAN

First and foremost, remember we are people. If you’re the type of person who calls up and rants and rave with a “you better do this or else” attitude, honestly, it’s just going to turn a service rep off. Remember, we talk to a hundred people a day, 5 days a week. It’s a thankless job, and in there somewhere, I’m cursed at, yelled, spoken down to, please God knows what else. Think about it like this….are you more likely to want to help someone treating you like a human being, or someone who is degrading you? It’s only natural.

I’ve waived significant amounts of money off of accounts if I feel its deserved, I’ve reduced APR’s, I’ve contacted credit bureau’s to get your record fixed, I’ve deferred your payment to next month, I’ve done a lot of things. But the one constant, I’ve only done this for people who have been pleasant with me on the phone, and in layman’s terms, haven’t been a douchebag.

6. STATE WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE DONE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CALL

I understand its human nature to explain why you’re payment showed up late, how you’re a good customer, this has never happened before, etc, but if you just tell me you want a late fee waived, I’ll immediately look at the account and decide if you’re eligible. To us, it doesn’t matter if you forgot to mail the check, were on vacation, your boss didn’t pay you, bottom line, you want a late fee waived, I’m gonna judge you on our ratings system and check to make sure you haven’t had other fees waived recently.

5. YOU ARE NOT A UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE

I’ve taken thousands of calls, and I’ve encountered every possible situation. The earlier you tell me what you would like your end result to be, the earlier you can get your matter resolved. Screaming at me does you know good, and honestly, makes me want to help you less.

I have a post about how th banks rank their customers. You might also want to check it out here.

Hello everyone, I just want to let you know that I received the check card promotion as I posted here. I wrote a bank email to Chase about this bonus. Their responses were really disappointing. (see here) So I called them up and asked when I can get the $50 bonus. The lady told me that there’s a delay about the bonus. She also told me that the bonus will be available in the early Jan. When I logged in my account today, I saw the “12/26/2007 CHECK CARD USAGE PROMO $ 12/25CHECK CAR $50.00” in my checking account. Obviously they honored the bonus on 12/16. From my own experience, maybe it’s a good idea to call Chase if you haven’t received the bonus yet. Just tell them your check card number and they will investigate on your case. Attached is the replied email from Internet Service Center. They are useless! If you have any problem, you’d better call them up.

Dear David,

We appreciate your inquiry and we want to help. We have submitted a request for research on the issue and if the requirements were met, you will receive the credit in five to seven business days. We sincerley apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.

If you have any questions or require further assistance, please e-mail us via the Secure Message Center or contact our Internet Service Center at 1-877-242-7372.
Thank you,

XXXXXXX

Internet Service Center

Dear David,
I want to thank you for your patience and your business with Chase and wanted to write you back to let you know that I did receive a response from my inquiry about your promotion. Unfortunately, you did not qualify for the promotion as the requirement was to spend $500.00 with the card during the time period, but it appears only $328.41 was spent. I am sincerely sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your time.

If you have any questions or require further assistance, please e-mail us via the Secure Message Center or contact our Internet Service Center at 1-877-242-7372.

Thank you,

XXXXXXX

Internet Service Center

Dear David,

Thank you for contacting Chase.

I apologize for any inconvenience you experienced due to the promotional offer. If you have not received a response from a previous inquiry, the inquiry may not have been submitted properly. Please provide me with the offer code related to the promotion you are requesting. Once I receive this information I can forward this to our research department to determine if your account will qualify for the promotion bonus. In addition to the time required for your response this may take three to five business days.

If you require further assistance, please e-mail us via the Secure Message Center or contact Chase By Phone at 1-800-935-9935. Chase By Phone representatives are available to assist you 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM, seven days a week with automated account information available 24-hours a day.

Thank you,

XXXXXXX

Internet Service Center

I believe most of us enrolled in the Chase Check Card Promotion (see this post). I sent them a bank mail to ask about the bonus. However, what I got is:

Dear David,
I want to thank you for your patience and your business
with Chase and wanted to write you back to let you know
that I did receive a response from my inquiry about your
promotion. Unfortunately, you did not qualify for the
promotion as the requirement was to spend $500.00 with the
card during the time period, but it appears only $328.41
was spent. I am sincerely sorry for any inconvenience and
thank you for your time.

If you have any questions or require further assistance,
please e-mail us via the Secure Message Center or contact
our Internet Service Center at 1-877-242-7372.

Thank you,

XXXXXXX
Internet Service Center

I remember that I spent more than $500 on this card and I never entered my PIN during check out. Anyway, how can we trust Chase again? I’m really disappointed with Chase.

I have a post about the promotion from Chase Rewards Plus. Today when I carefully look through the merchants listed at that site, I got a new find.

www.giftcertificates.com is listed as a merchant. And you will earn 5% cash back for any purchases through the link at Chase Rewards Plus. My idea is if you buy the gift cards or gift certificates through the link at Chase Rewards Plus you can get 5% cash back. And then you can use the gift cards or gift certificates as cash at most merchants. In this way you can save more.

At giftcertificates.com you can buy gift cards or gift certificates from a variety of merchants like BestBuy, Staples, TigerDirect, Macy’s TJMaxx, CVS, Foot Locker, Bon*Ton, SAKS Fifth Avenue, Dillard’s and so on……..As we know, most of credit cards can’t give you 5% cash back at the above merchants (Citi CashReturns Card). However, in this way, you can earn 5% cash back even though you don’t have the CashReturns card. Plus you can still get 1% cash back from Chase Freedom.

Today I noticed that the giftcertificates.com is offering 10% off on orders $100+. It’s super hot!!! Use the promotion code: HOLIDAY2 at checkout to get the 10% off. You have to pay the shipping fees which are about $2.95 for USPS Regular Mail. Take the advantage of this offer, and the promotion will end on Dec. 9th. If you use the link from Chase Rewards Plus, you can get about 15% cash back!

Just received an email from Chase about the promotion will be launched on November 22, 2007. From November 22, 2007 to December 31, 2007, you can get up to $75 cash back by using Chase Visa Check Card. When you make $250 in qualifying purchases, you can get $10 cash back. When you make $500 in qualifying purchases, you can get $25 cash back. When you make $1,000 in qualifying purchases, you can get $75 cash back. Qualifying purchases made with your Chase Check Card that earn cash back include signature-authorized and contactless check card payment authorized through Visa processing system. If you use your PIN to make purchases, the amount charged on your check card is not qualified. (You should use it as a credit card. You can ask the cashier to charge it as credit card at checkout.) ATM transactions are also not qualified. Of course, purchases made online are qualified. Because you have no way to put your PIN online.

The following holiday-related merchant categories that are valid for this promotion include: Department Stores, Miscellaneous Specialty Retail Stores, Discount Stores, Other Direct Marketers, Sporting Goods Stores, Gifts, Cards, Novelty Stores, Women’s Ready-to-Wear Stores, Family Clothing Stores, Catalog Merchant Stores, Shoe Stores, Jewelry Stores, Men’s/Women’s Clothing Stores, Miscellaneous Apparel/Access Stores, Women’s Access/Specialty Stores, Miscellaneous General Merchandise Stores, Hobby, Toy and Game Stores, Sports/Riding Apparel Stores, Children’s/Infants’ Wear Stores, Men’s/Boys’ Clothing/Access Stores, Record Stores, Combination Catalog and Retail Stores, Miscellaneous Specialty Retail, Book Stores, Electronics Stores, Stationery Stores, Variety Stores and other categories as deemed holiday-related at the discretion of Chase.

You can register your Chase Check Card at www.chaseholidaycash.com and use it from November 22, 2007. (By the way, I’m still waiting for the $50 bonus for spending $500.)

The big shopping season is coming. Most of credit card issuers have launched their promotions. For example, discover is offering $20 cash back for every $200 in purchases made with discover card (this post). Citi Dividend MasterCard is offering 5% cash back for purchases made at department, electronics and apparel stores for 3 months (this post). American Express offers to double your rewards points (post 1 and post 2). Furthermore, they are offering buy 5 gift cards get 1 $25 Gadget Lover’s card free (this post).

This morning I received an email (got the mail in the evening) from Chase for my Chase Freedom Card. The Chase Rewards Plus+ is following the other credit card issuers to join the promotion campaign. The offers are very attractive. They offer cash back and most offers will expire on 12/31/2007.

Some featured merchants:

Circuit City 4% Target 7% Sears 5% JCPenney 5% OverStocks.Com 5% Walmart.Com 3% OfficeDepot 4% Staples 3% Dell Home 3% Newegg.Com 2% Toshiba 2% Buy.Com 2% OfficeMax 3% Apple 2% GNC.Com 6%

In order to see whether the price will change or not, I made a simple comparison. I found that the price of Apple iPod Touch is same as the one we can see directly from Target.com ($299.99)

If you have a Chase Freedom Card, you are eligible to register your Freedom Card through www.chase.com/rewardsplus. If you don’t have one, you might take the chance to get one. They are offering $100 cash bonus now. For more details, please login your account and find out more deals. Good luck!