I just told Chase to close my World Mastercard account. I've had enough of their poor service. Here's my story:

- Signed up for the card in August 2003, paid the $85 annual fee

- End of April, 9 months after opening my account, the $99 companion ticket certificate promised 6 months after becoming a cardmember had not arrived, so I called Chase. The CSR on the line said they needed to refer the matter to the research department and would let me know the outcome within 2 weeks.

- Forgot all about it until mid June. On 6/18 called again. The first agent I spoke with was completely clueless (her response to my question about the certificate was "xxx OnePass miles were credited to your account on May 24 [or whatever the date was]," referring to the miles credited for $ charged to the card). So I asked for a supervisor, who said they had no record of me calling in April (stupidly, I did not take down the name/operator ID of the person I spoke with, a mistake I have not repeated since). Same story as before: would need to do research, answer in 2 weeks. I said fine, and please note that I will close the account if the matter is not resolved promptly thereafter.

- Two weeks later, I call again. The CSR tells me a new certificate is being issued and should arrive by 7/23.

- Today (8/4), still no certificate, so I call again and immediately ask for a supervisor. She tells me that the research department indicated I should be advised that the certificate is sent 6-8 weeks after the annual date (e.g. 12 months, not 6 months, after opening the account). I ask her to explain why I was told differently on my last two calls, and why their website, which I had on screen in front of me, said the certificate is issued after 6 months. She did not know, and apologized that I had been previously misinformed. I told her the apology was unnecessary as she had just lost my business, and asked her to close the account (I'm not paying them $85 again this month for another year of lousy service).

While I don't want to be petty, I did sign up for this card and agreed to the annual fee in large part for the companion certificate (I can already get CO miles through AMEX membership rewards). This to me feels like fraud. Unfortunately, I don't have the original offer from when I signed up, so I can't prove anything, but I swear I remember it said 6 months, not 12.

I'm planning to write both to Chase and OnePass about this, but I'm sufficiently po'ed to take it further. This sounds like a breach of contract to me that at the very least the BBB and the dept of consumer affairs should know about, if not the local DA's office. Can anyone point me to the right places to lodge a complaint that are most likely to result in some action against Chase?

Thanks for listening to my rant....and stay away from Chase!