JP Morgan Chase Chase Bank Possible JP Morgan Chase fee scam: ripping off the unemployed in Arizona! New York, New York

I am not sure but I think I may have stumbled upon a case of fraud being perpetrated by Chase Bank. I want to tread lightly here but if what I have found is true then...God help the good people of the State of Arizona.

I received a call from the AZ DES Unemployment Insurance office on Tuesday Oct 18, 2011. I answered all of the standard unemployment questions and began waiting for my benefits card to arrive. I waited nearly three weeks and on Monday Nov 7th I called the AZ DES unemployment insurance department. The automated system gave me a number to call JP Morgan/Chase Bank so I called them next.

Initially their automated system said it could not locate me by my social security number so it then transferred me to a customer service representative; unfortunately I did not get her name. Initially she said they seemed to have an old mailing address in their system so we updated the address. Next she said that their systems showed a previous card had been issued but since it wasn't this calendar year, she could send me a new card. I was then given two options. First she said the card could be sent by standard mail and it would arrive in 7-10 business days. The next option was to have it sent by Federal Express which would have the card arrive in two days. Since I'd already waited nearly three weeks, I opted for the Federal Express delivery. She indicated that there would be $10 taken from my account.

My card arrived today, Wed Nov 9, 2011, via Federal Express delivery. I recalled my partner also having gone through the same thing when she initially set up her unemployment back in 2010 so I began my own investigation. I called Chase Bank today and reviewed the charges to my account. I found there was a $15.00 charge instead of the $10 charge I was expecting. I spoke to customer service again and this time I recorded the entire conversation and there is a youtube link included further down. I spoke to Cindy and I advised her of the $15.00 charge. She said their system showed a card was previously issued to me July 2008 and that card was good for three years. She stated the $5.00 additional charge was due to the previous card being replaced and she stated it was issued on Nov 7, 2011.

I advised her, much to my amusement, that the previous card she was referring to was no good since today is Nov 8, 2011 and this is past the three year mark. She then stated the original card for this year was issued on Nov 7, 2011 but then she said that was the second card that was issued this calendar year. I questioned her on this and advised her that was the very card I received today. I explained the options I'd been given by the previous representative and she said she could not refund any fee's and then offered to transfer me to a supervisor. She then came back on the line and said the supervisor advised she was able to issue a $5.00 refund; I accepted this and then I tried calling your offices but the call volume was too high and I was told to call back later.

So reviewing the facts here is what I see. I was charged a $10.00 fee by Chase Bank for what? I still don't know because they admitted initially they'd never issued me a card this calendar year and then tried to change their story saying the first card they issued was on Nov 7, 2011 which is the same card that arrived by Federal Express today. Can you image how much $$ they are raking in if they charge every new person collecting unemployment this "fee"?? It really, honestly, seems like a big scam to me and it needs to be stopped.

My video can be viewed at http://youtu.be/4kcDT153bEo and I emailed AZ DES fraud department and the AZ Attorney General as well.