Is there anything here that you find out of the ordinary? Any payment you made before your last statement was applied in the previous billing cycle, it doesn't relieve you of the responsibility to make the specified payment in the current cycle, if there was still a balance.
If I understand correctly that you are not paying the balance in full, each and every billing cycle, Sapphire is not really an ideal match. A card issued by a credit union would likely have a much lower interest rate, and you might get a more personal level of service (unless the card administration is completely outsourced.)
9 months out of 10, I pay it all of at once. Last month, I was on 24 hour duty attending to the death of my brother, for whom I was the only living relative and the only care giver. I paid the bill a day early by accident. I had other things on my mind. It happens sometimes.
I thought I'd paid it. And then I've been busy with being trapped by flood waters for the last entire week.
People aren't absolutely perfect 100 percent of the time. The fact that you can't prepay (even inadvertently) is a real mess. If you go out of the country with janky internet security for a couple of weeks, you're hosed with Sapphire.
I need a card that handles international currencies. My credit union card doesn't allow me to use my card from them in multiple countries. Obviously, Chase is not working out for me, as I'm not 100 percent perfect (although I've never been late in 300,000 dollars of spend and pay on this card) As I've been with Chase Sapphire for a long time - its obvious its the first time that I've been hit with this..
And to pay an annual fee for a card with tighter credit tolerances than a vending machine pre-paid card is something I'm just not comfortable. And Chase doing this during Harvey is extra appalling.