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Chase Freedom Credit Cards – A New Way To Trick You

January 13, 2010

Chase Freedom CardBy Terry Smiljanich:

You’ve got to hand it to the credit card companies. When it comes to trickery and misrepresentation, they can outdo P.T. Barnum.

JP Morgan Chase is a prime example. Take its new “Chase Freedom” credit card “bonus offer.” A pretty straightforward internet come-on states:

“There’s never a better time to use your Chase Freedom credit card. Earn 3% Cash Back for every eligible dollar you spend up to $1,500 on purchases between January 1 and March 31st . . .” To emphasize the point, a large banner proclaims: “3% CASH BACK.”

The ad lists certain categories of purchases for which the offer is limited, but it’s pretty clear that you will get 3% cash back on most purchases up to $1,500. Do the simple math and that comes to a potential maximum cash back of $45 at the end of the three month period. What could be more clear?

But wait. What’s that footnote? Oh, just the usual gobbledygook about limitations on the kind of merchants, non-transferability, etc., etc.  But right in the middle of the fine print footnote is this incredible statement:

“Maximum bonus reward accumulation during the promotional period is $20″

Say what? Again, do the simple math. A $20 dollar maximum cash back on the maximum limit of $1,500 in purchases comes to 1.3%, not 3% as advertised!

In simple English that even Chase can understand, “3% cash back” is a bald-faced lie. Either the wizards at Chase, one of the largest financial institutions in the country, are mathematically challenged (not pretty to contemplate), or they simply chose to misrepresent the offer and hope that their potential customers either flunked 8th grade math or, more likely, didn’t read the fine print that would have told them that the big, bold words at the top of the page were a complete lie.

When asked to comment on this clear misrepresentation, Chase chose not to respond to our inquiries. I guess they couldn’t come up with a legitimate excuse for such a clear falsehood.

Written by Terry Smiljanich · Filed Under Consumer Alerts!, Featured, Top Stories