|
Victoria of Los Angeles CA (05/13/08)
Had immediate family involved in SO Ca Fires. Called Citibank to make arrangements to be late on apayment with a payment plan. Been a customer 7 years with outstanding record. They said we could make a payment plan so then my account wouldnt be affected. Next thing I know the account is closed because I made payment arrangements and they are calling my phone 4-5 times a day. Worst company I have ever dealt with other that HSBC
Deborah of Riverside CA (05/12/08)
I had opened some cd's ,short term ,@5.+% in 2006, until the stock market settled down. When they matured at various times I planned on pulling them out or putting them in MM, liquid accounts so I could utilize the money to buy investment property quickly and without penalties.
Mrs D told me of a new product that was liquid, and paid a higher percentage. I was TOLD that I could pull it out anytime and the penalty would be minisqual, if any. They put me in a Citibank MLD linked To DJX enhanceed income strategy FDIC DTD 1/30/2007, amount invested was $30,000. Again I asked if this account was liquid without penalties. The latter part of 2007, I wanted to withdraw the $30,000. to make some improvements to my home, and was told I would be penalized by withdrawning my investment. It was a 5 year investment, not short term.
I was misled, by their statements and cannot finish my home improvements as planned. I havent been able to buy my vacation home, as I have planned, or goo on vacations. Very stressed and angry. This irresponsibility suggests that Mrs. D, received a commisiion on the investor and their investments, and it was a conflict of interest for her to advise me in such a way to put me in this investment.
Michael of Pittsburg CA (05/06/08)
Have been Citibank-gold card customer for 1 yr.(ALL 12 check ptys. average 3 times minimum due amt. made ON TIME. Beginning Jan 08 Citi began delaying statement mailing 5-8 days and shortening pyt. due date 4-6 days, thus effectively allowing ONLY 5-7 day pyt. window. Prefer paying by per. check, but now FORCED to make on-line pyts. What gives? Seems like a Citi-inspired SCAM requiring me to pay on-line or risk getting dinged $39 for late fees.Rip- Off?
Called Citi-3 times:told ea. time from someone 15,000 miles away(India or PI) it must be the USPS fault. Called US, Cal Sen/Reps. about prob. Told he/she would look into it. Thanks 4 reading this! Good luck all dealing with these.
TREMENDOUS EXASPERATION!
Dee of San Bernardino CA (04/29/08)
Last year I had a high risk pregnancy, a preemature baby and suffered much time off work. Before this unfortunate turn of events, my credit score was over 700. I entered into a Debt Management Plan mainly because Sears Citibank Mastercard hiked my interest from 14% to 32% when I may my first partial payment (that was all I could pay - 1/2 the amount due).
I tried and tried to negotiate on my own with them, they wouldn't have it. Then they acted like they would accept my payment plan from the dmp company, if only I made a little bit higher payment. So I did, twice. Sears Citibank charged off my account, refuses to lower my interst and continues to receive monthly payments of $240. My balance just keeps growing every month. They (Pioneer Collections) threaten to take me to court over and over. I don't know what to do. This is causing so much stress, my quality of life has sufferred greatly. If I could I would borrow the money and give it to them, so they could leave me alone!
Consequences: monthly pymt: $240 for 8 months and my balance has grown over $3000 during that time.
Greg of Des Moines IA (04/28/08)
I recently received a Notice of Change inTerms and Right to Opt Out letter from Citibank. It basically states that they are increasing my APR to 17.99% for purchances, cash advances and foreign purchases. Now I just got them to finally reduce my APR from 24.99% to 11.99% about 2 weeks prior. Although my history is considered somewhat short (2 years), I have never been late and always pay well above the min. due. each Month. I called asked why this was happening, but was advised there was no reason we are just increasing everyones APR.
Now if I choose to opt out of this strong arm tactic of Citibank's, they indicate in the letter that my account will simply be cancelled. In other words, if you don't allow us to take more of you money, we are going to cancel your account and demand our full balance.. (fortunately, it is managle at 2,800.00). I am sure this is not happening to everyone as the service rep. states. Just wondering if this is even legal or if this is happening to anyone else. My stong feelings here are that this is only happening to certain folks. I plan to dig a bit more and if I find this is permissable and legal tactic. If it is only happening to a paticular type of customer, I am going to check out bringing a class action.
Danny of San Jose CA (04/27/08)
I recieved a letter noting that in the event I defaulted or a payment was not made on time that my interest rate with rise to 23.99% or to a high of 28.99%. Though my balance was zero and I have never been late, I was so incensed at the tone of the letter which talked about additional fees for this and that. I feel that the credit card industry has been allowed to run wild. The banking industry in general. The consumer has no protections today. The government says it is going to do this or that about the current economic crisis and yet that bail our wall street and banks, and the consumers are left holding the bag.
These interest rates are, in a word, immoral. I have been a stellar customer and I was deeply offended by the mailing. I cancelled my card today. I am considering closing my citi bank account of nearly 10 years. Where is our congressional advocacy? They are all in the pockets of the banks and wall street.
Mehul of Clarksburg MD (04/25/08)
I have been a citiNRI member for about 3 yrs. I have used their services on a monthly basis for past 3 yrs. They have some hiccups on and on. But, this time it is absolutely not acceptable. Normally my transfers takes 3-5 business days. It is now 7th day and it is very urgent and critical for me. But they are not able to locate the funds and not able to answer to my queries. within past 4 days I have spent abuot 15 hrs on the phone and we have got all kinds of irrelevant info. and multiple phones. They are just passing the buck and not accountable for providing right information at the right time to the clients. We feel bullied and helpless.
I spoke at the Chennai office to the floor supervisor Ms. Cimmron and Mr. Sridhar. They could not help me. After being promised to hear back, they did not call and finally they too passed the buck to get info. from US office. It is now about 12+ hrs. I requested (a) transcript of my call and (b) speak to a Sr. Supervisor. There is NO MANAGER to respond and call back. It is horrible operations and they do not care of clients. I have never felt cust. service so careless and uninformed. They have no clue on where to pin point the issue.
It was critical for me to send the funds for domestic issue. This is causing me ~17% fees on a daily basis. It is also hurting my reputation where I gave a timeline estimate and there is no way to track and trace it.
Joel of Hendersonville NC (04/24/08)
I called to close online savings account because the interest rate had gone down drastically.After transfering my call 3 times they took my phone number and said they would return my call but never did.I called again and finally was told that I would have to mail a request to close my account.They make it easy to put money into the account online but you can't close it online and make it very dificult for the consumer.
8
Ren-Yi of Peachtree City GA (04/11/08)
I called the Citibank to close one of my credit card that I have not used. I was told they will combine the credit on this account to another card that I use more often. Which is a good thing. I was happy. I received email the next day to confirm the changes from Citibank. In the email, my existing account number showing 3 times, only the first time the number was x out (like xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-1234), the other two times it displays all 16 digits. I don't think that is right. We have been advised to use the virtual number not the real credit card number on the Internet, never send credit number thru the email to protect ourselves. Why the bank will do thing like this? Is this a part of the Internet Security for them or for us?
I contact Citibank, the answer they gave me is that email is sent to my email account directly and it will not be viewing by other people. I plan to watch my account for few days then I am going to close this account or have them sent replace cards.
Robert of Dunnellon FL (04/10/08)
Bill due 3/17/08. Sent payment 3/14/08,Citi says payment not received until 3/18/08. Because of Saint Patrick's day Citi is charging me the fees. For a $1200 bill I'm paying $63.88 for, at best, a matter of hours. I'm sorry for Citi's bad mortage losses and the Chinese bail out, but Citi now lost a customer that has been with the bank, in good standing, for 25 years.
Mary of Alexandria VA (04/09/08)
Had stroke in March; 3 bills were more than 30 days late in June. Both Penneys and Mastercard agreed not to report problem after I explained what happened. I also talked to JJill (their credit card is issued through Citibank), which said it would not report the late payment. Last month I saw the late payment reported on my credit report. They not only deny I called last year, they refuse to remove the 30-day report until 2014.
I will build a house in 2010 and am afraid I will be denied a loan because of this report. Mostly I am angry that consumers are not allowed ANY leeway with credit, despite illness, catastrophe, etc.
Bernard of Garfield NJ (04/08/08)
i have been working with green path solutions to help pay my debts on 2 cards. citibank will not work with greenpath to lower the interest rates. my current rates are 28 and 24%. they constantly call me between 8-15 times a day, 7 days a week. i have asked then numerous times not to call me so many times per day. they have refused and on one occasion i was told that if i pay my bills they wouldn't have to call me. i am working with them to pay back balances and everytime i make a payment, they start calling me 2 or 3 days after the payment has been made. they call everyday asking for payment. do they really expect me to make a payment everyday?
with my interest rates so high, its very hard to keep up with the bills. i have told them on numerous occasions that i am having trouble and was told to pay my bills and there will be no trouble. it is very annoying and frustrating to be woken up on saturday and sunday at 8 am with a telephone call from them. life is stressful enough lately, with gas prices going crazy, they are not even willing to work with me to find a solution.
Laurence of Aylesbury OTHER (03/29/08)
This letter I sent Citibank sums up what I feel: My mother lived in Spain and had a few Citibank credit cards. She sadly passed away in November 2007, and since her death I have been hounded on a weekly basis by Citibank staff in Spain. Yes, I know she has debts, but everything is in hand with our Spanish lawyer. No matter how many times we have re-iterated that she is DEAD, we still get people from Citibank asking for her by name. Not only is this a distressing time for me, but I find it totally disgusting that although Citibank staff already have all of her details, including her death certificate, I have been constantly hounded for payment. To add insult to injury we still having to pay interest fees which have accrued since her death! My lawyer has been in constant touch with Citibank, and has pointed out to Citibank that NOTHING will be settled until her estate matters have been finalized and paid out. Not only has Citibank caused me a great deal of distress but this experience has taught me that Citibank is totally uncaring, harassing, and a despicable company to deal with.
K of Floresville TX (03/18/08)
Columbia House (DVDs and CDs) started charging my account without my permission. After getting nowhere with them because they only have automated customer service, I requested that CitiCard step in and prevent them from making fraudulent charges on my account. After two more fraudulent charges appeared, I asked that they close that account and send me a new card. Since then, five more charges from the same company have appeared on my bill -- thus putting me over my credit limit.
Has Citi stepped up to the plate to help? NO. They are taking advantage of the situation and ruining my credit in the process. They have slapped me with well over $700 in fees and have NOT responded to the countless calls, email, and letters I have written.
Horrible credit score on the eve of my applying for a home loan.
Charles of Oshkosh, WI (03/10/08)
I have a personal loan with Citibank. They mail their statements out on the 15th of the month. I have to pay this bill by the 2nd or 3th of the next month.
Last month the bill was due on 3/3/08,and I received the statement on 2/23/08. That gave me 10 days in which to pay my bill. Often I am charged a $30 late fee, because they don't always process statements on the day they arrive, but wait several days for some reason.
I believe the credit card companies do this deliberately to earn late fee charges for doing absolutely nothing.
Jeff of Noblesville IN (03/06/08)
They moved my due date to cause me to be late and give them the ability to charge a late fee and move my rate from 3.99 (for the life of the balance) to 24.44%. I have always paid electronically on the 24th. I believe they moved it to an earlier day on purpose as there is a rash of reports of Citibank doing this to many people. I want my rate back.
This sent my monthly bill for Citibank from $211 to $495. With recent hospital bills, this just has caused that much more harm to my budget. I cannot afford that. It is not like I chose a variable rate card. It is fixed at 3.9.
Nicole of Bozeman MT (02/28/08)
In 2005, most college students, if they were smart, consolidated their student loans to avoid the interest rate increase. Federal Guidelines state that you have the choice to request, prior to graduation, that your loans be put into a repayment. Once your loans are in repayment, you are eligible to consolidate those loans and receive a fixed rate. You will lose the grace period on your loans once you graduate. But the benefits of a fixed interest rate may outweigh the grace benefit. Therefore, I filled out and submitted a federal loan consolidation through Citibank for most of the loans I had prior to July 1st, 2005. Then, since the interests rates were going to increase again on July 1st, 2006, I consolidated the loans I had following July 1st, 2005. However, Citibank failed to consolidate ANY of my loans.
I have asked repeatedly for an investigation into this issue. But, the only thing they did was send me a piece of paper telling me that I did not have any consolidated loans. I have told them that I have copies of both loan consolidation applications that were submitted in 2005 and 2006 but they do not seem to care. The last time that I spoke to one of the supervisors (operator #SE009) who was, coincidently, the same operator that I spoke to a few months ago, stated there was nothing she could do. Since we were obviously not getting anywhere, I asked to be transferred but was told that she could not do so and actually hung up on me. Therefore, I called back but was unable to accomplish anything since that operator would not even transfer me to a supervisor (apparently, a caller cannot be placed on hold. . .even though I was on hold prior to the operator answering). All I am trying to do is get my loans consolidated that should have been consolidated years ago. The interest rates of my loans are now at 7.2% and when I consolidated, many of them were at 2.7% and the ones after 2005 were at 4.7%. Supervisor (operator #SE009) told me I could write a complaint letter, which I will do so they cannot say I did not do what they told me to, but I doubt the letter will do any good since it just goes to the supervisors who will not look into the issue or simply hang up. Please help. I am at a loss where to seek help regarding this issue.
If I don't get this settled, I am going to end up paying thousands of dollars more than I should have to pay.
Tawny of Redondo Beach CA (02/25/08)
Originally they told me my first payment was due on 4/20. I received a statement on 2/19 stating that my first payment was due on 2/20. I called to have this fixed; they said that they had it noted in their system that a representative told me that my first payment was not due until 4/20, but because the invoice was already created that they could not change it. If I couldn't pay I would have to go into forbearance. Well, I requested the form to be faxed to me. They told me it would take one business day. I did not receive it. I called them back, and they told me that they would email me the form. I did not receive it again; then I called again, and they told me that they would fax the forbearance form to my work. I STILL DID NOT RECEIVE IT.
Finally I realized that this company was obviously playing a game and that they want me to be late. I ended up using every cent of money that I had in my bank account to pay the payment for the month of February. I paid it on 2/22. They have deducted the amount from my account, but yet it is still showing that my payment is due and that it is delinquent. Citibank is an abusive company.... This needs to be stopped.
I spent all my money I had for the month because they told me that my first payment was not going to be due until 4/20. In order to pay it, I had to use my food and gas money. I was fearful that it would end up on my credit because they weren't getting the forbearance form to me so I just paid it. Now I am still fearful that they will not post the payment even though it has been deducted from my checking account because their system still states that the payment is pending.
Andrew of Wilmington DE (02/24/08)
Freshman Loan - They refuse to removed parent as cosigner three years after graduation and three years of on-time payments. They claim I have to wait 4 years and then reapply for the loan! I have also requested auto withdrawal from my account 4 times, but they have never sent me the form. They claim I can put my loan in deferment (I have gone back for additional classes). I have never requested deferment, I want to pay it off. I'm sick to death of their games and want to get this resolved.
This loan shows up on my parents credit report and, at age 27, I believe I have demonstrated I can make payments myself. It is embarrassing. I prefer to set up any payments for autopay to keep my credit rating high, but I think they hope I am late so they can charge me even more. I'm disgusted with this situation.
Tawny of Redondo Beach CA (02/19/08)
I reconsolidated my private student loan with Citibank. They disbursed the payoff amount to my previous lender on 1/30/08. I called Citibank to find out when my first payment would be due. They informed me that it would be due on 4/20/08. I received a notice in the mail on 2/19/08 stating that my first payment would be due on 2/20/08. I called Citibank stating that I was told other information. They had this noted in their system stating that I was told by a representative that my first payment would not be due until 4/20/08. I informed them that because I was given a false due date, I would not be able to pay my student loan this month. They told me that I would have to go into forbearance because once they issue an invoice, they cannot change the due date.
This is detrimental to my financial well being. My payments are $1212.94 a month for 30 years. I am only allowed to go into forbearance for 12 months over the life of the loan. So, because they gave me a false due date on the phone, I now will lose 2 months of forbearance time; and in this time, interest will still accrue making my loan more expensive over the life of it, and now only giving me 10 months of forbearance time for the next 30 years of my loan. What if I need this time in the future? Thirty years is quite a long time. And it is not fair that I am now going to accrue interest for two more months on this loan. The interest rate is 9.75% on a loan that is $141,177.80. This will be a few hundred dollars if not over $1000.
Dale of Las Vegas NV (02/13/08)
i have contacted citibank 8 times asking for my 2007 tax statement and get nothing but the runaround, can you help?
I need to due my taxes, but I can't.
Andree of Kirkland WA (02/10/08)
I was overcharged from Luxury corner. It was in July. The overcharges were $195.00, $195.00, $140.00. Citi cards credit me for $195.00, $195.00 but did not credit the $140.00. Instead they added $29.00 and $2.97 for late fees. I have been trying since july to have this sum of $171.00 but they keep telling me they already credited it.They took advantage of a refund I had from a company named bookin for $524.00 and deducted immediately the sum of $171.00. I tried again and again to have this sum credited to my account but nobody is helping me
I am very frustrated and don't know what to do. I do not want to pay for something I did not get.
Guillermo of Lebanon NJ (02/09/08)
I did not receive December statement; I received January's statement with a late fee, interest and over credit limit fee. I wrote letter explaining this, and the reply was that I had to pay the fees. I have always paid off my balance each month. The credit card is the Citibank Shell Mastercard.
Ludema of Novaliches OTHER (02/04/08)
Early this morning, I got a cash advance facility form from their office. Since I hadn't file any application form, I immediately called the office and spoke to Diana Candazo, (i asked her full name). I got agitated by the way she talked to me-as if she's talking to a kindergarten student. I know everything about credit cards and she told me that my son applied for me as his supplementary. Had she talked to me in a polite way I could have accepted the card, but instead I told her to cancel both my son and my card. I am in the insurance business and deal with various banks, I will not tolerate attitude of this kind.
Kristi of Waipahu HI (02/02/08)
I paid my December 2007 balance in increments, as money became available. I surpassed the minimum balance and made an additional payment and clicked on the wrong bank account. When I went back online to correct the error and pay again, it wouldn't let me because I paid my account too many times online. It resulted in a bounced check fee. Then Citibank froze my account. Afterward, I called to reinstate my account after being declined. She disagreed and told me it would continue to be frozen for use and online until I mailed in payment even though I had already paid well over my minimum for the month. Customer Service transferred me to another person (manager?) who listened to my situation for a minute and then immediately said he would reinstate it within 24 hours (no questions were asked). So I hung up satisfied that it was resolved. That DID not happen.
When I returned from my trip (chargeless) I called customer care, and they said they wouldn't reinstate it due to a bank error. They did not call and inform me of this change of information. I had to find out when I called. I just received a notice saying they closed my account. I do not appreciate this treatment when I have been faithfully paying my bills all along.
I was charged $39 for a returned check. I was also charged by my bank. I was unable to use my credit card and received wrong information about a promise to reactivate my card, which never happened.
Kristi of Waipahu HI (02/02/08)
I paid my December 2007 balance in increments as money became available. I surpassed the minimum balance and made an additional payment and clicked on the wrong bank account. When I went back online to correct the error and pay again, it wouldn't let me because I paid my account too many times online. It resulted in a bounced check fee. Then Citibank froze my account. Afterward, I called to reinstate my account after being declined. They disagreed and told it would continue to be frozen for use and online and until I mailed in payment even though I had already paid well over my minimum for the month. Customer Service transferred me to another person (manager?) and he said he would reinstate it within 24 hours. So I hung up satisfied that it was resolved. That DID not happen. When I returned from my trip (chargeless) I called customer care and they said they wouldn't reinstate it due to a bank error. They did not call and inform me of this change of information. I had to find out when I called. I just received a notice saying they closed my account. I do not appreciate this treatment when I have been faithfully paying my bills all along.
I was charged $39 for a returned check. I was also charged by my bank. I was unable to use my credit card and received wrong information about a promise to reactivate my card, which never happened.
Judy of Columbus GA (01/26/08)
My last payment on my truck loan cleared my account on January 7, 2008. Since that time I have been called by collectors and have faxed a copy of my canceled check three times to Citifinancial Auto. When calling back to confirm receipt, I have been told it was illegible and that I need to go to Kinkos. On the last occasion when I typed the check information on the cover fax, I was told I needed to write it in 1" high letters. I was told this when the recipient's name was typed. I have consistently requested to talk to the payment center so I can read off the check. They respond by telling me they can't take my word for it. I am not asking anyone to take my word for it. I am asking for folks to take the information so they can find out where they posted it. They don't listen, and with every comment they respond saying that I am doing something wrong.
The real kicker is that I was paying electronically, never missing a payment, and Citifinancial auto made the decision for me that the last payment need to be mailed. It appears to me they do not know how to process checks, and they even more certainly do not know the best practices for researching payment issues. All I have to do is read the dates and numbers off the check, and they can find my check and resolve it. They do know how to use condescending tones and and how to insult people with their responses. When I informed them that I have paid almost $10,000 in interest and deserved some help, I was told to keep quiet so I can hear what I need to do. Does it not occur to Ms. Perry that she needs to help me? When asked that, she hangs up on me. This has happened three different times. I cannot get through a logical conversation because their collectors are harassing and not helpful.
I am currently being reported negatively to the credit bureau--in error. I lost a home improvement loan for gutters as a result. After the third harassment in a row, on the last call I had to take nitro-glycerine for my heart.
Joe of Coram NY (01/23/08)
This was the worst experience of my entire life. I was told I could defer my payments and go into forbearance if I could not afford to come up with the astronomical amount they wanted me to pay per month for undergrad loans. Instead I was told my forbearance period was up, and right before I tried to consolidate my private loans with Sallie Mae they would not postpone anything for me--not even for the month or two it takes to consolidate my loans. This company does not care what the situation is, and do not want to even try to help. I just kept being told if I didn't come up with the payment, I would default. What a way to treat our up-and-coming class of college graduates. The whole system is a joke, and I will never use Citibank for a single transaction the rest of my life.
Due to this, I am about to go 60 days late on my student loans and probably destroy my credit for a while. It's a sad state of affairs.
Pam of Blue Point NY (01/20/08)
My husband and I received an offer from Citibank on January 14 for a credit card. We are members of Upromise and the offer was for Upromise members. The offer promised 0% APR on balance transfers until 01/01/09 with no balance transfer fees. We applied for the cards, received them a week later on January 19. When we called to transfer our balance of our existing credit card we were told that the offer was 6.9% for 6 months and a 3% transfer balance fee. When my husband explained about the letter we received the agent claimed they knew nothing about this specific offer. We asked to speak to their supervisor and again he claimed he knew nothing about this offer. He implied that it was nothing that they sent out, as if we were making the whole thing up. I would like to take legal action with this company for doing a bait and switch tactic and would like to know if your department can do anything to assist in this matter.
At this time there are no economic or physical damages that resulted, just a feeling of being ripped off.
David of Lockeford CA (01/17/08)
We had opened this account to get new flooring and the deal was no interest, no payments until Jan 2009. We received the first bill and it says it's only until Decemeber 2008, so on Jan 5, 2008 we sent in the total amount due on the credit card of $7249.00. They have acknowledged they received the payment on Jan 9 2008, however it's still showing that we only have $2751 available. We received another bill showing it's still outstanding. When you call them, the machine comes back with received a payment in the amount of $7249 on Jan 9, 2008. We asked why they have not cleared the card out showing the available credit to be $10,000 (now let me remind you this is over ten days, so the account should be totally free and clear).
Because of them not clearing the card, we cannot get a home equity line of credit. The mortgage company is saying they are waiting for this to clear and I owe contractors that will be working here soon.
Marlene of Tinton Falls NJ (01/16/08)
My fiance and I took out an equity line of credit for $50,000 at10%. We both have excellent credit. For the last 2 weeka, Citibank has been calling all day and into the evening. Tonight my fiance picked up and the rep explained it was a courtsey call. We wanted to know why we make payments and $1.00 is applied to principal while over $400 is applied to interest? She couldn't give us an answer, so she transfered us to Andrew. This was his excuse that our payment is due on the 14th, which we always get it before the due date, but he is telling us it has to be posted to the account before the next cycle is generated. We told him it is arriving DURING the cycle, why are we getting hammered with these outrages charges? We told him we have had other equity lines of credit and we were able to pay down the debt; at these rates we will continue to get buried by them. We told Andrew we will never do business with Citibank again.
I lost my job in Nov of last year and we are desperately trying to hold on to our home. Citibank is horrible to deal with the interest rates are obscene and I can't express what the stress of all this is doing to us physically and emotionally.
John of East Lansing MI (01/16/08)
Citibank says it paid Comcast back in July. Comcast says it never got the money. I fear I'll have to pay them both.
It's only $118, but it is aggrivating that they never communicate or respond. They never explain why they're ignoring you.
Deepak of Thane OTHER (01/03/08)
I took a personal loan out last year in the month of July, 2006, for which I used to pay $2719 as monthly EMI. I made total payment of $70,500 and closed the loan in month of July 2007, but they didn't update in their system. Because of that, every month my cheque was bouncing since I was not keeping sufficient money in my account and ICICI used to debit $250 for every cheque bounced which was happening twice or thrice times in a month for consecutive 4 months. Contacted ICICI for my refund since after continuous follow up with Citifinancial they gave me closure letter in the month of December. I visited ICICI along with the letter for reversal of my money that has been debited from my account, they clearly refused saying Citifinance will refund my money, but they (citi) also denied to refund my money, telling me since money was debited by the bank they will refund you. Inspite of making the entire payment and closing the loan amount, I paid excess amount for which no one is bothered since that is my hard earned money resulting in mental harrasment for getting unwanted calls from them 5 & 6 times a day.
Jennifer of Lakewood CO (12/29/07)
I've been a cardholder of Citibank MC since 1993. I had good credit until several months ago. In August I experienced loss of income, family illness and death, and personal illness. Foreseeing financial disaster, as I had no work lined up and was compromised in crisis, I called my credit cards to establish payment programs, as I was unable to continue the amounts due at that time. Citibank was entirely unresponsive. In July they had charged me $85 for a membership fee which had not been included in original terms. From August 8th to today I initiated 13 conversations with representatives in their Customer Service, Collections, and All Stage Unit departments. No one offered any reprieve. I canceled auto payments, but they reactivated--bouncing. I was then charged for the returned payment. When the next one cleared, it caused my other checks to bounce, this, and other banking difficulties I'd been having, caused the bank to close my account.
I reopened the account days later, but the damage had been done: hundreds of dollars in fees, and countless difficulties that pop up whenever you try to pay by check with an account closure on record. In response to my attempts to reach a workable payment arrangement, Citibank raised my APR to 31.49%! This drove the total on my bill over my credit limit. I sought credit counseling, and the counselor reviewed my situation and recommended bankruptcy. I'm trying to avoid that however, so I have repeatedly requested a payment plan I can work with; but Citibank employees repeatedly say, we're not offering anything right now, and that it's company policy. It's infuriating. I try to be nice to the poor souls working for this corrupt system. Today I closed the credit card account.
Compounded financial difficulties: Charged around $1400 in a year of compound interest and fees; bank account closed due to unauthorized auto-pay withdrawal leading to multiple bounced checks; hundreds of dollars of NSF bank fees and check fees on the other end. I was at the point where I had only $10 for several weeks, and I had to decide between gas and groceries. I ate all the canned beans I had in the pantry. Not so great for a person not feeling well already. Exhaustion as I attempt to get work and resolve the financial crisis and deal with illness, loss, and hardship, and those cruel people at Citibank.
Bruce of Jamestown NY (12/29/07)
Citibank seems to be scamming their credit cardholders as this practice happens monthly. I received my credit card statement yesterday (12/28) and noticed that my due date is 1/8. The closing date on my statement is 12/19, and I am not privy to when then actually sent it to me, as conveniently, there is never a postmark on their envelopes. This gives me a window to mail out a check of exactly 2 days for them to receive it by the 8th-- considering it took them 9 days to get it to me. It appears this is an intentional policy of Citi to trap its customers (victims) into late fees and finance charges. They claim a 20-day grace period that is really non-existent, and at the very least misleading.
Apparently they are not satisfied with just the transaction fees they charge your retailers. I can only imagine how this affects the revolving cardholders. Quite the scam they have created. Citibank will notice my use of the card approaching zero, and as soon as my rewards are used up, goodbye to Citi.... amazing what that rhymes with. I feel compelled to notify the NY attorney general's office of their business practices.
Joseph of Highland IL (12/20/07)
A gasoline credit card was opened by someone other than myself during the time I was overseas on a military deployment. The company has refused to acknowledge that I was not the one who obtained the card. Citi bank purchased the collection from Texaco and I stated that the debt was a fraudulent item and that I paid it and asked that it be removed and that it is not longer an issue and to contact Texaco.
It was a fraudulent account opened without my permission and after 7 plus years of paying the account they are trying to ask me again to pay something I did not open in the first place. I have submitting proof of being out of the country and that I did not open the account with the origional company, Texaco, and submitted the same to Citi bank and this company is still demanding payments and the debt has been passed through 3 companys causing my credit report to acquire 3 separate but false sets information.
Neguin of Saratoga CA (12/14/07)
Citibank has never sent me a bill on time, and then when the payment is late they call and say that it is late. They are the worst institution I have ever encountered. They have never sent me a statement on time, and yet they want their payments on time. Please let them know that they are very unprofessional people,
I want them to stop calling me because they are the ones that are not mailing out the statements on time! If my credit gets affected I will have records, and they will hear from me.
Parviz of Lexington KY (12/12/07)
Transaction of payoff BALANCE for Total:$6000.00 was made, and my account with Hoovers furniture- Citi financial was closed on July 7, 2007. On October, 28, 2007 my account REOPENED for additional charge for two chairs! A table/ with 6 chairs for $659.84 had been included, already in payoff balance. Why did my closed account re-opened on October 28, 2007 by Citi financial, with no notice and without my permission? How did Citi financial, after three months, with Payoff balance and my account closed with Hoovers furniture bill me $200.34 for additional chairs?
Jay of Bellingham, WA (12/10/07)
I have been a CitiBusiness Card customer for 2 years and used the card to create new Small Business. I have never been late on a payment, no missed payments, usually paid 2 to 4 times minimum.
I missed a payment due and Citibusiness called my work. They told me that the missed payment had run me over limit, and a $341 minimum was now $1100, and that they had changed my interest rate from 12% to 30%. The lady from Citibusiness was very nice and stated that once I took care of the $1100, once it posted at Citibusiness, to call customer service and tell them I wanted the interest rate reset back to 12%.
I will be trying that, or try to come up with another line of credit to roll the $14,000 over to so that I can cancel this card. 30% sounds pretty extreme to me, and I had to get pretty vocal before the rep 'came up with another option'. The rep also said herself that I had a perfect payment history other than this one incident.
Karen of Pleasanton CA (12/09/07)
I worked through my bank, Bank of America, and could not understand the name of the person I spoke with because English was not her first language. After I paid off a balance of over $1,000 last month, they claimed it was received too late and charged me $39.00 late fee and $12.08 interest. I have had that card since 1984 and today it was cancelled because they refused to cancel the interest fee. I paid on time but because of the lag time between B of A and Citibank they expected me to pay the difference. I am going to visit their bank tomorrow and tell them how happy the person was who cancelled my account.
Jorge of Long Island City NY (12/09/07)
I made a complaint respectfully to a branch manager of Citibank. As a result of this, she has been closing my accounts, treating me as if she might call call other banks to tell them I am doing fraud, which is not true. I also sumitted an application to have credit and she called the underwritter to have a negative decision.;
I am suffering harrassment, discrimation, psycological damages and my business has been hurt due to what seems a vendetta against me.
Maria of Detroit MI (11/29/07)
I have several student loans from medical school, one of which is a private education loan through citibank. I am currently in my pediatric residency, and all of my loans are in residency deferment (a common practice). Citibank is refusing to grant a deferment for this particular loan, despite the fact that it was disbursed to my medical school while I was enrolled as a second year medical student. They are in the process of sending the loan to collections. I have no ability to pay the loan off at this point in time. They were unwilling to negotiate a smaller payment while I complete my residency.
They have permanently damaged my once excellent credit rating by sending this loan to collections.
Michael of Pembroke Pines FL (11/29/07)
I was charged by an Internet Dating Service and disputed the charges. The company responded by showing log-ons that occured as they had initiated the contact with me, not me with them asking me to log on. I again disputed the charges as not authorized by me. I called Citi Bank several times, but they have not resolved the dispute and continue to add on finance charges and the like to what were a couple of charges for $24.95 bringing the bill to over $500.
This is stressfull as they refuse to end this situation and as far as I know, charges will accumulate for the rest of my life. I will not pay to resolve this dispute as I owe nothing nor will I pay an attorney to resolve this dispute. But I will take part in any class action suit against Citi Bank.
Annette of New York NY (11/26/07)
I initiated a international wire transfer with Citibank on November 8, 2007 in the amount of $1000; I was told it would take 5-7 business days. I called at least 9 times to follow up on the status. Each time not only was I on the phone for a minimum of 45 minutes but I was told to wait a few more days. On the 23rd I called again and was told that they would place a trace but that is could take up to 2 weeks, and was told the only other option would be to stop the check and reissue a new one, but that would take longer. I asked the representative to place the trace at the time. Today I confirm with the transfer recipient and he had still not received the funds.
I decided to cancel the transfer and wire the funds through Western Union. When I called today the Citibank representative told me I would lose the fees associated with the transfer or that I could wait a few more days. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was placed on the phone with Gilbert, ID 8600976, who told me that I would lose the fees and would only get back the amount they buy back with the foreign currency (Mexican pesos), that it would take 2 to 3 weeks, and that I would not know how much I get back until it is credited. After thoroughly explaining my situation he said there was nothing else except for me to wait a few more days with no guarantee. Due to the urgency of the situation for the ill person awaiting the funds, I had to cancel and lose money. My investment in Citibank's transaction service was not fulfilled, causing stress plus lost money that I feel they should fully refund.
Ann of Melville NY (11/24/07)
I received a student loan from Citibank. I have been informed of my payment and will pay it. I keep getting phone calls stating new information on my loan. I keep getting recorded information and responded to it through buttons on my phone. Now I am getting phones calls all hours of the day and night. As far as I am concerned I am being harassed by this company. My bill is not even due yet, and I have received at least for the past three weeks two or three calls a day. I am working so am not able to respond to the recorded messages that they send. Friday I finally was able to respond and told them what they needed to know, and I'm still being harassed by them. This morning at 8:30 I got another call. How can I get this to stop?
Julie of Livonia MI (11/20/07)
I made a payment of $1,000 to Citibank on November 15, 2007. The money was cleared through my bank and deducted one day later. On 19 November, I called Citibank and asked why they deducted money from my account but still had not applied it to my balance. They informed me that they wait two business days to do so and that my payment would post at midnight EST November 19. As of November 20, this still has not happened. Thus, my money was deducted from my bank account and not applied to my loan balance until at least 5 days later, which allows Citibank to continue to charge me interest.
This seems an unethical way to charge additional interest (which is computed on a daily basis). I am currently stationed in Baghdad, Iraq. The Michigan address above is my permanent address, however, for the time until June 2008, my mailing address is in Baghdad.
Vishal of Chennai OTHER (11/17/07)
i applied for a Citibank gold card and received it but with wrong photograph. This card was invalid from its issuing date, and I never used this card. Still, monthly statements have been continuously sent by Citibank despite my informing them several times and asking them to close the account. The statements are showing an increasing balance for me to pay, which is wrong.
This is mental harassment plus will cost me if they don't clear it up.
Rahul of Glen Allen VA (11/04/07)
In June 2007, I received a flier along with my monthly statement that if I use my Debit Card for $90, connected with my Citibank EZ checking account, I will get back $30 back as rewards in 3 denominations of $15, $10 and $5. I spent $90 from my Debit card during the month of June. When repeatedly following up on the rewards in the months of September and October, 2007, I was told that there was no such offer that Citibank is aware of and they can't give me my rewards earned. On 10/24 I noticed that my account has been credited with $15. When I inquired with customer service about this credit, I was told that this was the rewards credit. I feel quite helpless and will like to know what options can I pursue at the moment.
I used my debit card from Citi which I have never used since and lost the rewards I would have otherwise earned with other banks. Many hours were spent over phone being on hold, and there was no help provided by customer service. I was told by Citi that because I had not kept the flier I had received 4 months back, I was lying and there was no such offer.
Norma of Ocean Park WA (10/31/07)
Citibank sent me a useable MasterCard in the mail without my application or request! Then I had to call a phone number, where they ask my social security number to close the account! In this day of credit card fraud, mail stealing and stolen information no lending institution should be just sending out unsolicited credit cards. It could have been accessed in a dozen ways and I would not even know about it! WHY are the regulators still letting credit card companies get away with that? I have been in collections for 30 years and I know how easy it is for a consumer to get stuck with a debt they did not creat because of careless credit card companies.
George of Apopka FL (10/30/07)
I open an Ultimate Savings Account about 8 months ago with CitiBank. I was not interested in checks. They did send me a ATM card which I had no real interest in and put aside. Recently I wanted to log on to the website. I did not recall my user id or password. I figured I could call, confirm some info and be on my way. It was 1 AM so unfortunately I got India. I went through several service reps with difficulty understanding, but the end result was that without my ATM card and number, they could not help me! So I guess if you lose your ATM card, Citibank holds your money forever. According to their customer service people, the ATM card is the only way to confirm your identity.
I guess the money can sit there and collect interest. The only real loser when I eventually free it up is Citibank.
Mary of Dorchester MA (10/27/07)
My mother's Citibank credit card has a $199 charge from MWI Essentials. She told Citibank that she did not buy or order or even know what this company sold. Over time we thought it was taken care of, but they sent her name to a collection agency and said they were going to take her to court. She is in her late 70's with medical problems. Before this charge appeared this account had a zero balance. I now to hear Citibank is the one that gave MWI Essentials the names and account numbers of their customers. My mother's credit has been destroyed by this.
Dale of Mesa AZ (10/26/07)
On October 26, 2007, I received by mail a Citi Mastercard allegedly replacing a Macy's card issued by Department Stores National Bank. I have never opened an account with Macy's and do not plan on doing so. Citibank shows me having opened an account, though with a zero balance, which I did not authorize and will not be responsible for. I called Citibank and advised that I did not open this account nor do I want such an account. They informed me that they will close the account and would follow it up with a letter advising me that it was closed by me on this day. I asked for a letter stating that the account was not authorized by me in the first place; they refused to do so. These companies should not be able to arbitrarily open accounts on consumers without prior authorization by the consumer.
I used cell minutes and my time to make the call; it's possible that there could have been a balance due on that account for something I did not authorize.
Meghann of Tempe AZ (10/26/07)
I was sent a Citibank MasterCard (to an old address in a different state) in October of 2007 with credit line of $7000. I did not apply for this card but was told in the accompanying letter that it replaced my Macy's card. I have never had a Macy's Card. There is no Macy's listed on my credit report (as of October 2007) however Citibank IS on there. I tried to cancel the card with the number provided in the letter, but it was not canceled. I had to call customer service who determined that it was in fact still active and assured me that it is now closed. I will call again in a week to make sure it really is this time.
I now have this credit card on my credit report that I never applied for and had to cancel immediately. This is infuriating. It also upsets me that this card was sent to a former address in a different state. Citibank has negatively affected my credit rating and put me at risk for identity theft.
Kathy of Federal Way WA (10/26/07)
Citibank canceled my 23-year-old credit card with Macy's replacing it with a Mastercard without my consent. My perfect credit history of 23 years is now gone. They are being deceptive in their practice of switching cards without consent.
I have now had to cancel a new card with Citibank. It is the ONLY card I have had that length of time. All this happened because I did not open a junk email form Citibank.
Eleni of New York NY (10/14/07)
I transferred a balance onto my Citiband credit card was was charged a $500 balance transfer fee!! This is unacceptable and despicable behavior by a credit card company. Are their practices not being monitored by ANYONE?
They told me that I was responsible for the fee.
Margaret of Watertown MA (10/06/07)
Citi Bank recently mailed me a MasterCard, complete with my name, expiration date 7/10, credit line of $8000 and cash limit of $2000. My complaint is I did not request this card and never filled out any forms for this card. At first I worried that someone had used my personal information to request the card, but then I noticed the message that reads: If you do not want the CitMasterCard, call 800-432-0282 and we will close your account . How dare they send me an unrequested credit card in the mail, and then tell me I have to call if I want to cancel! With all the identity and credit card theft today, how can a bank do this? This is wrong and dangerous!
Fortunately, no one else accessed this card...or that I inadvertantly trashed the whole envelope before I opened it, or this credit card could have been used unlawfully.
Randall Weinstein of New York NY (07/10/07)
I had a passbook savings account with California Federal Bank. CitiBank acquired CalFed in the fall of 2003. In the spring of 2007, I learned that sometime in 2004, CitiBank starting charging my account a monthly fee of $6.50. I was never notified of the change in terms. I never received statements from CitiBank.
I have been e-mailing back and forth with the branch manager but still have not received an accounting of all the fees I have been charged. I estimate them to be approximately $250. I contacted the OCC and was told that the bank must send a minimum of quarterly statements for any EFT eligible account. When I asked the BH branch manager about this he told me that since there has not been an EFT into or out of this account, they do not send statements. I don't understand how a bank can get away with not being in compliance with banking regulations.
Debra of Millerton PA (07/09/07)
I received loans through Citibank all four years of college. After college, I had the loans in deferment until I could find a job to afford to pay for them. They informed me that I would be billed for the interest. However, they just sent a notice of loan adjustment and tacked on the interest to the principal balance.
My loans have sky-rocketed. They gave each year of school it's own separate loan. I have four separate loans (each at about 9% interest). My interest is almost as much as my principal. It has ruined my credit score as I am literally paying a typical mortgage payment for my loans. Loan companies laugh in our faces because of my Citibank Student Loans!
Jennifer of West Lafayette IN (07/05/07)
I was told that my balance transfers would remain at 2.99 and 4.99 for the life of the balance. Low and behold, suddenly I looked like a risk to Citibank and my rates were immediately raised up to 23.90% and then finally to 32.24%. I was unsuccessful in reaching any customer service rep or account supervisor who cared one hoot that I had been a long-term customer and had never missed a payment.
Suddenly, I was dealing with an attorney's office that wanted the full $14,000.00 payment owed.
Jacqueline of Los Angeles CA (04/12/07)
On February 15, 2007 I received (3) stop payment notices in the mail that I did not authorize. On February 17, 2007 I received (1) additional unauthorized stop payment in the mail. So I call the 1 800 number spoke to a customer rep to try to see what's going on. I explained that I did not authorize these stop payments and I need to know why this has happened. He suggested that I go to my local branch and ask to speak to the branch manager. I did as suggested and I explained this whole story to the branch manager, Ms. Sanchez. She in turn tells me that I did indeed authorize these stop payments because some of my check numbers from 1994, (13) years ago are surfacing again and it is in our system to issue a stop payment when they surface. tried to convince this woman that this is an error on Citybank and they should help me clear all this up with the four creditors involved. She told me that she is sure that Citibank sent me notices letting me know that these checks are still out there somewhere. Recently I opened a small savings account for one of our former foster children. On the day I opened her account as her custodian, all of my accounts social security number were accidently changed from mine to the litlte girls. I discovered this by accident when I called the 1 800 number one day and a live person told me you have successfully completed the automated portion but we need more information so they wanted my social security number. I was told to go to the branch and get it corrected. Of course, I went to the same branch where I opened the account. Right away they started to pass the buck and said to us, you need to go to your home branch. We told them but the account was opened here why do we have to go back over there? We did, the error was corrected, and the home branch told us that the other branch could have fixed the problem but they flately refused. I am going to continue to persue this matter with Citibank. I am not letting this get by me. Citibank has yet to prove to us that we requested any stop payments on any checks in 2007. They won't show me anything in writing, they have no recorded phone conversations with me or my husband requesting this to be done nor do they have any confirmations that they issued to us to support these stop payment requests. I have asked for their help and they have out right refused to cooperate so that is why we are filing this complaint.
Three of my creditors have forgiven us for the problem that Citibank caused us because of our long standing with them. I asked the branch manager for a letter to one of my creditors, (my electric company) whom I have had for over (34) years. Who now have demanded a $215.00 security deposit because of the check they received from me and Citibank has put the stop payment on it. As a result of this my husband went today to pay the $215.00 and it was refused because we are now flagged as a risk and the electric company will no longer accept checks from us. We now have to go back tomorrow with cash or cashiers check. I have talked to (3) different branch managers and (3) different Citibanks, I have called the 1 800 number customer service at least (4) to (5) different times and no one will listen to me. My good credit with my electric company is ruined all because of my wonderful banking service at Citibank. The thing that hurts me so much is that we have been banking with Citibank for over 34 years for as long as we've been married. We have experienced (4) name changes: Citizens Savings, California Federal, 1st Nationwide and now Citibank.
Phyllis of Royal AR (02/27/07)
I have a complaint about the policy and procedures of Citibank. I have a Citibank Platinum Select Card that I obtained while remodeling my house. It has a $17,500 line of credit and I had 0% interest for a time and then it was supposedly to change to 9.74% according to the notes I took when I obtained the card and line of credit. About five months ago the 0% evidently ran out and was replaced by 11.99%. Then I received my bill for January and discovered that the interest rate was jacked up arbitrarily to 23.24% and the payment was $150 more than usual. When I called I was told that I received a letter in December, which I never received and do not believe was ever sent, telling me that my interest rate was being raised because of a credit check showing that I owe too much money to other places. I am in the process of paying off these debts one at a time. I have never missed a Citibank payment. We had a contract and agreement at the beginning of taking the card and I keep copious documentation. They said I had to terminate the previous agreement, which obviously meant nothing anyway, to get the 11 % rather than the 23.24%.
ˆ
Thomas of Sedona AZ (01/31/07)
Nearly two months , three certified letters and over a dozen telephone calls just to close out a certificate of deposit with CitiBank ! And to add insult to injury my check with my funds had a stop payment put on it and another check was mailed out yesterday ! I hope the second check clears !
Why is CitiBank allowed to get away with such incompetent behavior towards their cutomers ? I have a fixed income and have health problems. I depend on every cent I make just to survive !
Kila of Tobyhanna, PA (12/20/06)
I have a Citibank Simplicity card. The selling point of the card was that if you make a charge during any period, they will waive the late fee if you make a purchase.
Well I made a payment a few days after the due date. I thought it would be no big deal because the card has the late fee protection feature. I was surprised and shocked to find that my interest rate went from 0% to 32% because of my late payment!
They waived the $39 late fee automatically and charged me a $134 finance charge. I guess that was the simplicity part.
Nancy of Lawrence, NY (11/28/06)
I am a Citibank customer for 20 years, in good standing. Last week, Citibank decided to close all my accounts, and refused to tell me why.
This is a major disruption to my business and I suspect, a violation of my rights.
Sam of Washington DC (03/15/06)
I was in China for the past three weeks. A few days after reaching Beijing I took @ $ 3000 from the Citibank ATM. My assistant then tried to make a transfer from one of my accounts, and discovered that all of my Citi accounts had been frozen as an anti-fraud precaution in view of the unusual withdrawal -- no notice to me. I went to the Citi office in Bj where we called the anti-fraud squad. They then asked me detailed questions, beyond mother's maiden name, like when was my last deposit and in what amount. I explained that I don't handle these matters, that I was 9000 miles from my records, but to no avail.
I flunked the quiz, and was told to send a letter to the squad to request unfreezing, and that a fax would not do. I got a Citi executive at their Bj office to tell them she saw my passport, and that I was the acount holder. But this was irrelevant. Later my assistant arranged a conference call with my Citi account executive in San Antonio, the squad and me but this had no impact.
For the remaining two weeks I borrowed from clients. I went to my local Citi branch in DC on my return and they got the accounts unfrozen, with many abject appologies. They told me I should have told them before leaving that I was travelling and might want to withdraw funds, and that I should have enlisted their aid, and not Citi Bj or San Antonio for help.
I think the problem is size. These institutions have grown so large that they feel it necessary to develop rigid systems and give the low scale employees who administer them no discretion. Citi DC was sad to hear that I was closing all my accounts and planned to try another bank. Bank of America assures me I will have a personal banker to deal with my accounts professionally.
We shall see, but I could not stay a minute longer with Citi. Maybe if enough customers vote with their feet it will ultimately have an impact, but I have my doubts. We need restrictions on size, not because of concerns over price fixing or market entry, but because a small number of hugh enterprises become invulnerable to customer dissatisfaction, while they are also invulnerable to regulatory sanctions and any other feeble attempt to make them behave.
Ginger of Pittsboro NC (02/08/06)
Unauthorized monies was taken from my account. I was called a liar and was told it was my fault that the monies was taken. I had a death in the family and was told I was lucky if I received any "insurance monies." I have never been treated by any business like this. I was taken out of work by a physician for health problems and my payments got behind. I have continued to make payments to the best of my ability. At one time I was told that my money would not be accepted because it was not the amount they asked for.
Jerome of Mandan ND (02/07/06)
Opened new account that has been blocked for the last 2 months. Customer service reps cant tell me why it is blocked they keep saying the will remove the block but it never happens.
Juan of Bronx NY (02/07/06)
This financial institution "hold" the money I depost, because they said that something happend with the "address". They do not give me other explanation. This situation still the same since 01/20/06.
Cherokee of Longview WA (01/12/06)
I opened an account online,and it took them three weeks to process my signature card to validate my account. Then I was sent an ATM card,and a pin number and the pin number wouldn't work,so another pin was issued. That pin also wouldn't work,so there sits $300.00 of my money that I have no access to because the nearest bank is 4 states away. I had to call customer service 18 times to be told something different each time.
First I was told that they couldn't issue another pin over the phone, then I finally got to the department that handles pin replacement and was told no problem. Needless to say that has been 3 pins ago,and over a week of call to customer service,and still no access to my funds. Each time i call i get told to call back tomorrow.
My daughter has cancer and needed her meds 3 days ago, and she sits in pain because citi bank isn't competent enough to do what they were hired to do. I think they are sitting on my money to accrue interest before they finally make my funds available to me.
Margaret Lynn of Cleveland OH (01/11/06)
Citicard's office hours are listed as 7am-7pm M-T CST, but no one seems to be taking calls? It is 4:30 PM EST on Wednesday; why aren't they open?
We have been trying to work out payment arrangements, and have been constantly harassed by them. When they want to ring my phone off the hook, they don't have a problem.
I have high blood pressure and these threatening phones calls have made me quite ill.
D.E. of Manhasset, NY writes:
The recent on-line craze has attracted thousands of people to begin paying their bills using the Internet. Nobody has more of an advertising budget to lure customers to their on-line service than Citibank. But, did you know that, unlike other institutions, Citibank cheats us by stealing the interest on the checks you write which have yet to clear?
Here's how the "convenience" works:
You get onto the Citibank web site and decide to pay a bill. You tell Citibank who to write the check out to, where to mail it, and how much it should be made out for. Then Citibank actually cuts what they call a "cashier's" check (although it's free, while a real cashier's check has a $10 fee) and mails it to the address that evening. The check arrives in the mail at the customer's address, the customer then takes it to their bank and cashes it normally.
Sounds great, right? You can even set-up future payments to be mailed automatically on a certain date without you having to do it each time -- like your mortgage or car payment.
Here's how Citibank "cheats" us:
The moment you decide to cut the check Citibank REMOVES the funds from your checking account! This may sound right at first, but it's really unfair. Consider this: when you write a check to someone the old-fashioned way, the funds stay in your account for the entire time until the recepient cashes that check. In fact, you can even write a check for funds than are currently unavailable if you know that you will get paid in a few days -- because that's how long it will take to be cashed anyway. Many people live like this: writing more than is currently available because they know they'll get paid soon and the funds will be there in time.
Well, now consider what Citibank is doing by removing the funds immediately: you LOSE out on the interest for the entire time from the moment you click the mouse! How fair is that? In fact, the funds are GONE FOREVER even if the recipient decides never to cash the check! This means that Citibank is sitting on YOUR interest for the ENTIRE time!
I don't know about you, but I write at least $4,000 in checks a month, most of which takes at least a week to clear. At 2% annual interest, that's about $1.50 a week, times, say 50,000 customers, that's $83,333 a WEEK profit at OUR EXPENSE!
To make matters worse, if the recipient never cashes your check, you would never know about it! According to customer service, you have to go out of your way and enter a special on-line screen to view ALL your past payments and carefully find ones that have yet to clear among a huge list, then cancel them yourself!
I've dealt with other financial institutions and they all hold the funds you write as checks against your account, but they still acquire interest until cleared. I feel this is blatant fraud on the part of Citibank. Their customer service department confirms this and tells me there is nothing I can do short of changing banks.
Norm of Mystic CT (7/3/03):
While Citibank promptly took my deposit ($5,000) and application, Citibank totally "bungled" the account set up. Their Customer Srvice rep cancelled a pass code that they had issued me for access to the account and on line banking via thier debit card. After sending me an access code, one of thier phone reps accidently cancelled the pass code. I was expected to wait three more weeks for a new code. Despite nummerous contacts, it was never resolved. I ended up cancelling the account, after numerous hours on the phone.
Rosanna of Las Vegas (6/14/03):
My family relocated to Las Vegas as of April 3, 2003. Our garage was broken into and our car stolen on April 26, 2003. We had just moved in and unfortunately had bank information in the car at the time of theft. I called the police, our insurance agent, etc. Took care of the unfortunate problems that occur with auto theft. I also thought that there might have been some bank information in the car so I contacted my bank (Citibank) immediately to ask what I should do? I had never had this happen before and I was very afraid of fraud or forgery.
The representative I spoke with told me that I needed to close my account and open a new account to prevent any problems. He advised me that this was the only way assure that my accounts were safe. I agreed and he immediately opened up a new account and transferred my money into it. He told me my old account was closed and that I did the right thing by calling to prevent fraud. That was on April 26th. 3 weeks later I started getting NSF letters from the closed account. I had no checks pending and had not used my debit card so I knew that it was wrong, plus the account was supposed to be closed! I called citibank and the individual I spoke with told me I was right, that my account was supposed to be closed and that there were numerous large checks that had been let through and she did not understand why. She said that it was their mistake and she would reverse the NSF fees immediately and launch an investigation.
So now it is June and nothing has been done, I get harassing letters a few times a week about the account and now on June 19th I will be sent to Chexsystems collections. I received copies of the forged checks and they are forged checks with someone else's name, address, etc. and my account information. They are obviously fraudulent and now citibank acts as if I screwed up by never calling to close the account. They do not listen and are extremely rude. I get a different story every time I call and no one seems to know or care what to do.
I even went into a local branch and they acted as if they never had a check forged before. They did not even know what forms to give or who to call. My car was recovered and 2 men were arrested. I want them to be held responsible for not only grand larceny but fraud. At this point they will not be held accountable and I will. Citibank's only suggestion to me was that I pay for the charges incurred by these criminals so that I would not be sent to collections.
Rosanna should contact the district attorney's office to ensure that prosecutors are aware of the forgery.
T.B. of Brooklyn:
I deposited an out-of-state check into my checking account at the ATM. I wrote 8 checks against the money I had deposited. I have had the account for 6 years and the check is always available immediately.
After two days when I was checking out cash at the ATM I noticed that the check I had deposited was not available yet. I called customer service and was told that it was not available and would not be available for 10 days (weekend is 2 days), also that a check had come in and been returned and I had been charged a $30 insufficient funds fee.
I told the CS Rep that my checks had always been available immediately - she said there had been a change in check cashing policy. I said I had never been notified. She said it was in my last statement - I had just received my last statement and there was no warning of this change.
I asked to speak with her supervisor and he told me that it was my responsibility. I said that my ESP was not functioning which is the only way I would know of a policy change if I was not notified! I told them they had a responsiblity to notify a customer of changes in their policy - they disagreed.
Three checks came in and were returned. Two of the checks were payments to my wife's credit card and mine. A block was put on my credit for 15 days at a time when I needed that credit. I called the agency that oversees banking institutions and was told that Citibank was completely within the law and that I did not have a legal leg to stand on.
Evidently there are no laws regarding changes in bank "policy". I was angry for over a week calling all of the people I had sent checks to in an attempt to prevent them from being deposited (unsuccessfully) and to try to get Citibank to admit responsiblity (unsuccessfully). I am in the process of changing banks but have little hope that my prospects will improve.
Glenn of Astoria, NY, writes:
The following letter I sent to Citibank explains it all. The bottom line is they purposely delayed the clearing of my checks without informing me causing me much inconvenience and embarrassment and they also treated me unfairly.
I have been very disappointed by the service I have received from Citibank.
Apparently, my account was reviewed and I was put on a "3 day clearing period" for deposits. I was never made aware of this. In the past, my deposits were available immediately or at the most, 2 days.
Last weekend I deposited a check from the NY State government and then wrote a check against it 2 days later to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles not knowing about this 3-day clearing period imposed on my deposits. Even though the deposit showed up in my account, the check to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles was returned unpaid and I was billed $30. I then received a message from customer service that an electronic payment to my credit card was not sent.
The repercussions from this are causing me great inconvenience and embarrassment. The registration for my car (that's what the DMV check was for) is now invalid because this check bounced and I received a $45 parking ticket. I then had to take off time from work to go to DMV and pay in cash. My credit card payment is now late and I was charged a late fee on my account. And, of course, $30 was deducted from my account by you because of this ‘bounced’ check.
I don't think it's fair that you didn't pay the check against the deposit I made considering none of my deposits have ever been a problem and that you changed my account status and never contacted me. If I had known that the clearing period of deposits would be purposely delayed by you I would never have written a check against it.
Furthermore, I did call customer service and was treated rudely by a representative, who, after my "begging" to speak to a manager I was transferred to a Mr. J who was rude, sarcastic and implied to me that Citibank didn't need my business.
Finally, I am very upset over this entire situation and I cannot understand this hold that was put on my check clearing, although I was told it was based on my lower monthly balance. Why am I not as good a customer (the "Good Customer Plan") as someone who has one million dollars in your bank or is that how you measure your clients?
At this point I see no reason to continue doing business with Citibank, nor recommend you to colleagues and family after the way I have been treated.
Colette of Uniondale NY (4/11/02):
I call Citibank to start an investigation to recover my money from an unauthorized debit made to my account in the amount of $1000. I was told that it would take 5-7 business days to receive an affidavit to get the process going. On the 8th business day, I received a letter from Citibank. The letter said that they had completed their investigation and found that the payment was returned unpaid.
I borrowed money and had my husband make a deposit for $1000 to my account in an effort not to bounce any checks. I spoke to a representative who told me that they credited my account. I told them that they did not. My husband made that deposit. They then told me that I should receive my affadavit any day now. If the payment was returned unpaid, the account would read "CHK RET". However, it actually says "DEPOSIT". There is a difference. Now, all I'm hearing from Citibank is "unfortunately, the only think we can do is reopen the investigation". They never started one to begin with.
I cannot believe that such a big company like Citibank, could be so incompetent. I made a conference call with one of Citibank's reps to the company that debited my account. Someone from that company verified that the payment arrangement should have been cancelled two months before that payment was presented. With all of this in mind, after they botched my investigation, they won't even give me any kind of provisional credit. I am a former Citibank employee. I know they could do it if they wanted to. They just like to tell you about their policies and procedures. When they make a mistake, they should make an exception. I would be happy if they just credited me half of the money.
I am so upset and embarrassed because I borrowed $1000 thinking that I would be able to pay it back in a couple of weeks. They closed the investigation without doing anything, and now it's going to take even longer. Now, i'm going to be broke because I MUST pay this money back next week. I worked for Citibank for six years. I am extremely disappointed and annoyed with the level of service and disregard that I am being treated with.
Sylvia of Brooklyn NY (3/24/02):
My mom is disabled and recieves pension from England and deposited her pension check on January 22,2002 in her citibank account. She was told the check would clear in 2-4 weeks. It is now March and Mom has not received her money in the account she was told the check could not be found and the bank was investigating the issue. My mom has spoken to several Bank managers and customer service and has not gotten a decent reply regarding her funds. I think it's a shame that a customer has to argue and be aggravated about money that was put in their trust that somehow they cannot find.
Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.
|
•
