…or at least that’s what I thought when I opened my credit card statement from Chase and out fell (along with all the annoying advertising flyers) another “Change in Terms” mice type folder.

Do any of you bother to read these things? I do. I hate surprises.

All the usual jack ups… universal default to apply to all accounts you have with them or related companies if you have a problem with any account with them… increase in minimum interest fee to $1.50… interest rate going up (no balance, don’t care..yeah I’m a “deadbeat”)… they reserve the right to refuse to pay any balance transfer checks for whatever reason they want… balance transfer fee upped to 5%, no limit, $10 minimum… and the one that pulled me up short and even had me calling customer service (in greater than mice type size):

…if you change your name, address, or any other contact information such as any telephone number or email address you must notify us immediately in writing at the address shown on your billing statement. Numbers and addresses you provide include those you give us and/or those from which you contact us. We may, at our option, accept mailing address changes from the United States Postal Service and obtain telephone number, mailing address and e-mail address information from third parties.

So let’s address this portion… it’s required of you to give them mail, phone, and email contact info. If you call them from work, then they have the right to call back at your work number even if you don’t want them too. If Aunt Sally or Uncle Joe answers and give them your private cell number they can call you anytime they want.

Further down:

…You agree to pay any fee(s) or charge(s) that you may incur for incoming communications from us, and/or outgoing communications to us, without reimbursement from us.

You authorize us, or anyone acting on our behalf, to call or send you a text message to any number you provide or to any number where we reasonably believe we can contact you, including calls to mobile, cellular, or similar devices, and calls using automated dialing systems and/or prerecorded messages or to send an email to any address where we reasonably believe we can contact you. Calls and messages may be made for any lawful purpose, including but not limited to: suspected fraud or identity theft; obtaining information; your account transactions or servicing; collection on your account; and providing you information about products and services.

So this part says we can call you with any form of crap available to us… from automated robo-callers to smarmy sales people.

It was the last sentence that made me call customer service as I assumed it allowed them to bypass the “Do Not Call” list and the CAN-Spam Act by letting them form a “business relationship” with anyone willing to give them a couple of cents for your phone number so they can sell you a Time Share.

Thankfully, Chase hasn’t gone that far… yet… who they share information with is still going to be regulated by their Privacy Policy where you can opt out of a lot of things… including (supposedly, we’ll see in the next couple of months) all the trashy little fliers that come with the statement… I was told I could opt out of them and I have… No more balance transfer checks will appear in my mailbox unless I specifically call and ask for them… and no phone calls trying to sell me fraud protection… now if I could have only stopped the customer service rep from doing the same. Took three firm NO’s to make her stop.

While email doesn’t cost anything and it doesn’t cost anything to have a separate email account just for stuff from credit card company, I have a very hard time with the idea of letting them call me on a cell… even though I only have one for emergency use.

I know that a lot of people have ditched the land line for cell only but are you willing to let the credit card people and their potential marketers call or text you at all sorts of odd hours and inconvenient times when YOU are the one paying the bill for it?

And will other card issuers not stop at the restrictions in their own Privacy Policies like Chase has and go whole hog trying to sell junk?

Photo credit: stock.xchng.