I’ve had to quit my First USA Mileage Plus VISA card after over 15 years with them because they are having some MAJOR problems. I’ll spare you all of the gory details but the last straw occurred the other day when my card was declined. I’ve never been late with a payment and spent over $75,000 with them last year. Customer service is rude and unprofessional. Have had autopay (they pull from my checking account to pay bill) with them for years and then they couldn’t find my records for it and then they could and then they had the numbers wrong....A total fiasco. I’ve lost all faith and trust with that company. The integration to Chase has not been easy according to a supervisor.

Why was your card declined?

I have a British Airways Visa from Chase/Bank One/First USA and at first, they were too aggressive in "fraud" protection---declining small charges at gas stations and fast-food restaurants in cities I was traveling to. It's gotten better now that I've established a charging pattern in 5 months of cardmembership. Of course, since banks, not consumers, are the ones who absorb losses due to real fraud, they are very cautious when they see "suspicious" spending, passing it off as "for your protection" when it's really just a big nuisance.

I know how you feel.

My FirstUSA/Bank One Priority club card was declined at Best Buy, Fry's electronics, and several transactions overseas, all for "security reasons." In each case I had to call in to have a "flag" reset. The last straw was when it was declined at a Priority Club-affiliated hotel in Manila, even After I gave them my itinerary, and had my "security flag" reset twice already.

No thanks. I don't need any more abuse. I put both my business and personal BankOne/Chase/FirstUSA cards in cold storage.

Nobody there could really figure it out. (That's the scary part) My February auto-payment did not go through (I checked online and saw it right away) and it seems that someone had transposed some numbers in the bank account info so they said, "sorry we'll get it right next time." I even told them to go ahead and take the payment then but they said they'd get it all the next payment. So I asked about the $200 in finance charges and they said they'd reverse them, which they did. I go on using the card with no problem. I was a little uneasy about them so I called last week to verify that they had the autopay info correct and so I went over the account info with them and we seemed to be right on track for the payment due this week.

And then BOOM. I go to use the card the next day (last Friday) and it's declined. I've got a $20,500 credit limit with them and I'm not even halfway there. I tried to call customer service Friday afternoon and they're CLOSED. I finally call Saturday morning and get a surly agent who tells me that my payment is past due. I try to tell her about the autopay fiasco and she says "You don't have autopay set up on this account!" Imagine my surprise.

I figure I'm not going to get anything figured out with the weekend crew and get through on Monday to a very apologetic supervisor who also can't explain any of the confusion either. She tells me that yes, I do have autopay set up and that it's set to pay the balance on the 24th. But she can't explain the card decline and offers to turn it back on. She also says that they've been having a lot of computer foul-ups with the Chase integration. By this time, I've decided I don't need these people having all of my financial info and decide to close the account immediately.

I learned some were having problems with using First USA's (Now Chase)internal AutoPay, so I was hesitated. Especially when I've been happily using NetBank's free online billpay services. My payment have been sent and received within the promised timeframe. I would advise you to use your own bank's billpay services instead of theirs, unless Chase happens to be your bank.

The transition for First USA/Bank One/Chase merge might have more impact on their banking systems. I am not sure if the payment was the main reason for you to close your account with them. If so, setting up billpay from other bank might better solve the problem.

So far, I haven't had any declined card usage happened to me yet. I am trying to build up my UA miles with the creditcards I have with them. So I'll keep using them. With your buying power ($75000 in 2004), it's a shame to let go of those miles!

By autopay I meant the paying of my FirstUSA credit card bill automatically taken from my Wells Fargo bank account every month. (So that I don't have to remember to do it) I use Wells to pay my bills online for no fees.
As far as the miles go, all it means is that American Express SPG card will now be my primary credit card. Lower fee and transfer miles with a 20% bonus to the airlines or use for Starwood hotels. I'll use a no-fee CitiBank Master Card that refunds 2% as a backup.
P.S> I see on my VISA account that they were nice enough to also refund my $60 annual fee that I paid a month or two ago. Nice. At least they're trying.

I think lin821 was saying to change from the pull method (where they take the money) to the push method (where you send the money) for a few months until they get their quirks straightened out from the merger.

FWIW, the credit for your annual fee is controlled/requested by UA not the bank.

Thank you, GoingAway! That's exactly what I was trying to say, in a much longer version though.

It seems you were using the "pull" method to pay your First USA bills. Am I right? I read from other FTers' misery that First USA messed up their autopayment. That's why I suggested the "push" method, i.e. having your bank (Wells Fargo) send payment to First USA. Nowadays, most of the banks offer free online bill pay services. On top of it, you can track the payment history in case anything went wrong.

Yes, I want to pay the bill in full every month so I was using the "pull" method so that I wouldn't have to remember to send it nor check to see how much to send.


Hmmm...I wonder if UA would have really been that nice?

As a 1K, your annual fee is waived (one of the published perks) ... if you're not 1K and got the waiver, smile and say thanks

Thanks!

Neither banks nor consumers get hit with the fraud bill. It goes to the retailers who's responsibility it is to verify that the person charging is the person who's card it is.

I worked for a major retailer and handled all the credit card issues. We'd lose $1MM a day to credit card fraud. We get a letter in the mail notifying us of the fraud and to provide either provide proof that the cardholder was lying or we'd be out the funds. I don't think I have ever been able to prove the cardholder was lying. And those electronic signature pads don't help.