new VISA "feature" from Chase?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: craigp () theworld com [craigp () theworld com] On Behalf Of Craig Partridge [craigp () world std com]
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 5:33 PM
To: David Farber
Subject: new VISA "feature" from Chase?

Hi Dave:

[for IP if useful]

Just had a strange experience.

I was seeking to purchase airline tickets on-line for a trip to Europe
this summer.  Found a good airfare, filled in the relevant forms, and
clicked "purchase."  And, instead of the confirmation screen, found myself
confronted with a "Enroll in Verified by Visa from Chase" screen. I
looked all over the screen and discovered I could not complete the
purchase without enrolling in this program!  Note, this was NOT a pop-up --
it was the next screen in the purchase sequence.  And the enrollment
required information such as last four digits of my social security
number and that I pick a password.

So I called tech support at my airline's website (NWA.COM) and the agent
said "oh yes, that's a new thing in the past few days from Visa."  They
confirmed the transaction had not gone through and I could safely click the back
button on my browser (not usually OK for on-line purchase) and change credit
cards.  So I backed up and changed to a non-Chase VISA and the purchase
went through.

I then called Chase and they told me they could turn off the solicitation
screen if I asked.  So I asked them to turn it off -- this apparently results
in you also not getting offers for convenience checks (which was fine by
me).

Strange from my perspective -- a simple transaction that results in an
hard-to-avoid demand to enroll for a service.  Why would anyone imagine
this was good?  Yet the response from the Chase representative was surprise
given that the new service is "free."

Craig

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