I am a Chase Sapphire checking customer. And I am well aware of that Chase won't charge non-Chase ATM fees and will refund the ATM fees charged by the other ATM owner. Here is the description from Chase website.
3There is no Chase fee at non-Chase ATMs. Chase will refund ATM fees charged by the ATM owner/network. This benefit will begin the next business day after opening the account. Some ATM owners/networks do not identify these fees in the information they send to us and, as a result, we may not automatically refund the fee. If for any reason the refund is not processed, please contact us. There is no Foreign Exchange Rate Adjustment Fee when conducting transactions in a foreign currency. If you choose to convert an international transaction to U.S. dollars at either an ATM or on a purchase, foreign currency commissions and fees included in the exchange rate charged by third parties are excluded from Chase reimbursements. The "No Chase Fee" benefit applies based on your account having this benefit when the debit card or ATM transaction is posted on the account.
I had a one-week family vacation in Taiwan in the last week of May. On the day of arrival, I made two ATM withdrawals with same amount: 5000 New Taiwan Dollars. The first ATM transaction worked perfectly. The second ATM transaction owner prompted me that they will charge 4% ATM fees. I was OK with it since I knew that Chase will take care of it and refund me. However, 15 days after the statement closing date, I still do not see the refund.
It turned out to be a painful and long conversation with Chase CSRs. The first Customer Service representitive could not figure it out and transfered me to Claim Department. The Claim Department representitive told me that I was not disputing the entire transaction. So she could not help me and transferred me back to Customer Services. The 3rd represetitive was even worse. He told me that Chase would only refund the ATM fee if there is a separate ATM fee transaction. I pointed him to a non-Chase ATM transaction I had in February for $303. I was refunded with $3 fee on the same day by Chase. Then he could not explain himself to me. So I was transfered again to a supervisor. The supervisor obviously understood my concern. But she told me that this 4% is not ATM fee, but the exchange rate. The ATM owner added 4% to the exchange rate, which Chase won't reimburse me. This is my first time to here about it. This is not a POS transaction with dynamic exchange rate. This is an ATM withdrawal using local currency. I asked her "isn't the exchange rate set by VISA"? She told me "no", it was by the ATM owner. Unbelievable! After spending 1 hour 15 mins over the phone with Chase CSR, I told the supervisor that I would give up for this 8 dollar less fee. She promised me that she will open an inquiry internally and have someone research this transaction. But no promise.
Does anyone have the similar experience?
Thanks.