The Secret Problem You Should Know About the Chase Sapphire Card

There is a potential problem when using your Chase Sapphire credit card at a restaurant

JPMorgan would like its customers to use their Chase Sapphire credit card for dining out, in addition to paying for all major  purchases with the Chase Sapphire. Especially big ticket items to get the rewards / cash back options, but in its zest to beat competitors, or perhaps it was just a bad committee meeting decision, Chase royally screwed up. You might believe there is no problem or drawback associated with your Chase Sapphire, but think again.

I cannot be the only person in the universe to have discovered this secret gaffe. Contrary to my occasional elevated sense of heightened self worth, I am not that special. The problem with the Chase Sapphire credit card is the color. It should not be a sapphire blue. That was a stupid decision. Sure, sapphire blue has a bit of elegance to it, and perhaps it’s what makes people fork out a hundred bucks a year to maintain that card even when there are other options that pay twice as many rewards for no fee available.

Chase had a bazillion choices in color when they designed that card. But somehow, they overlooked the problem that can easily happen at restaurants. A dark blue card blends in with the dark-colored restaurant check presenter. It is very easy to overlook the credit card after signing the credit card receipt and to leave the credit card on the table in the folder, because you don’t see it. I don’t spot it and nobody else at the table spots it, either.

They say once, it’s somebody else’s fault. Twice it could be your fault. And the third time there is no excuse. Yet, I am sad living proof that a third time exists when I’ve left behind my Chase Sapphire credit card at a restaurant. I did not learn, evidently, from the first two times; and I am not a fool who suffers gladly. I generally learn from the first mistake, and am not a fan of second chances. The first time, it was at The Firehouse in Old Sacramento, and they put the card into a vault to save it for me. The second time, a waiter at Morton’s chased me hollering down the street to deliver my Chase card. The third time was at Ona Restaurant in Yachats, Oregon, while on vacation over the 4th of July.

Except by the time I discovered my Chase Sapphire was missing, my husband and I were at the Columbia River Gorge in Washington, at least four hours away. I immediately called Ona and then the direct number to Chase Sapphire, which promised a live person would answer the phone, and a live person did not answer the phone until I answered a few questions for the auto prompt. WT! I asked them to send me a replacement card while I waited for Ona Restaurant to mail my card. Chase could not do it without changing my account number. I’m not doing that again. Chase already changed my number once after the nationwide Home Depot breach.

Ona Restaurant could not mail my card because it was the 4th of July. In fact, they could not guarantee that it would mail on Monday, and I was leaving for the Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis on Friday. I would have to show that credit card at the airport. Huge potential problem. In case you’re wondering, I have not left other credit cards on the table at a restaurant. Ever. Only the Chase Sapphire. Surely Chase Sapphire could make the card a glittery silver, for example, and perhaps insert a small star of sapphire in keeping with the theme, but dark blue totally sucks. I called Chase Sapphire to suggest this solution, but I’m fairly certain that request was overlooked or ignored. They’re probably waiting for all restaurants to switch to table-side swiping so the card never leaves the customer’s little paws.

My suggestion to other Chase Sapphire card carrying customers is not to use the card at a restaurant. In fact, you probably should not use the card at all because there is no reason to pay a hundred bucks a year for the thing when you can get other credit cards that pay twice the rewards for no fee at all. In bright Wizard-of-Oz-Emerald green and brilliant sky blue so you will never leave it behind at a restaurant. It’s called a Double Cash from Citi.com. Two percent cash back.