Citibank N A Consumer Reviews - Page 3

We American tax payers bailed out the banks to only be slapped in the face. I am spreading the word out about how Citibank has no respect for their customers nor the Americans who helped bail them out. I'm like a lot of you out there. I work very hard to keep a good FICO score. I pay all of my bills and I pay them on time. To make it consistent and easy, my accounts are paid automatically through my bank every month the same time and the same amount. So when I overlooked that my minimum had been increased by $1.63 on my ExxonMobil account owned by Citibank, I had one payment short $1.63. I am not kidding it was less than $2.

When I contacted Citibank I was told that CitiBank "assumed" I was having financial problems and that they cut my credit with Exxon in half and made my balance look as if I was close to my limit. This takes a hit to your FICO score because I did not have the 50% ratio to credit anymore. If CitiBank is going to "Assume" and not look at the facts like I have never been late, short or anything less than a good customer then I plan to pay off all my CitiBank accounts and not use them.

As it turns out, Conoco Phillips and Home Depot are also under Citibank. If a $1.63 means that much to Citibank to make assumptions instead of looking at the facts of the account, then I am going to "assume" Citibank doesn't care whether I remain a customer or not.

Assume this... Citibank's insult has been "handled" and I paid off the entire balance to the cards and I refuse to listen to anymore of their insinuations or excuses. In addition I am spreading the word about the disrespect Citibank has for their customer who WAS a very good customer who not only used to carry a balance on all three cards and paid the interest but was never paying late or missed a payment or was ever short until they accidentally underpaid an account ONCE for a just $1.63.

I discovered all of these stories AFTER my mom informed me that we had become an unexplained canceled card victim of CitiBank this morning. I knew of their card sharp like practices through situations my mom had encountered since she had a Visa through CitiBank and I had never had more than the oil cards with them. Sadly, I cannot say that over the last six years my family hasn't been a victim of medical hardships that lead to financial chaos both with me and my dad.

With that said, Mom gave me her Conoco/Phillips and Shell Cards all that time ago to make certain that I always had availability to a means to put gas into my car since I live about 400 miles away from where I still consider home. I have diligently made the payments to the related CitiBank gas cards on time (I was one day late in February and I paid the late fee with that payment then, too), online where THEY knew in advance that I had scheduled the payment and in excess of the minimum payment during the last six years.

My mom received a letter in the mail this week stating that CitiBank had closed the Conoco Card - after they had received the payment on time yet again this month, by the way - with the explanation of not meeting their credit criteria. Funny how that just happened this year, isn't it?

Fortunately, I wasn't in need of fuel and discovered the fact when the card was declined like some, but to say that we are incensed is the understatement of the year! How much bailout money has CitiBank gotten from the taxpayers? Enough that I favored letting them go under or being taken over by the government since we all know how reckless and cavalier they had been during the same time period with their decision making that I was diligently making my payments to them!

I am starting to get my feet back under me from the medical issues that I have faced physically and financially, but there is one thing vividly clear. I WILL NEVER be a customer to CitiBank again and they better start watching their pennies as closely as all of us have had to for so long. My smaller bank has been there for me over the years and green is still accepted everywhere I go. I don't believe there are enough Cadillac customers out there in America to help Citi's bottom line soar again anytime soon.

Since there wasn't any government bailout for us, I hope these greedy pieces of garbage don't come with their hands held out again to the American taxpayer anytime soon. No bank is too big to fail, regardless of what these banker types choose to believe in their rarefied air. The ill will they have generated isn't exactly going to make the public at large cry if/when they fall flat on their faces.

P. O. BOX 6500, SOUTH DAKOTA -- I had dual problems with Citibank that compounded themselves over many months to create something of an issue. It began when I redeployed from Iraq, and then had trouble getting statements in the shuffle that followed. When everything caught up, there was clearly a problem. Worse, the normal systems had basically been shut off for resolution. Not exactly blameless, there definitely appeared to be a extreme case in the records I finally got my hands on.

To put it mildly, I was not pleased with the situation and not looking forward to dealing with another credit card company over an issue. In contrast, during a previous deployment, I had a credit card stolen (issued from major telecommunications corporation) in what was both an easy case and bound by very firm federal regulations. Nevertheless, the firm in question refused to follow the regulations, routinely lost information sent to them, at one point was literally threatening me, and only followed the regulations after they were threatened by a government backed lawsuit.

I called Citibank expected just to address the administrative portion of the problem, and deal with the substance of the issue later. However, when the operator asked about the issue and I explained the situation, I was shocked to hear her say that she see could where I was coming from and would help me submit a case into the bank's system for resolution. She then walked me through each portion of the issue helping set each and every aspect of the issue straight, taking pains to ensure that the details were handled correctly. She was polite and professional throughout the interaction.

I called ready to leave the company, but was so impressed with the customer service that I would risk paying greater fees to retain the solid support I got during a potentially difficult situation. I wish that I had recorded the operator's name for praise here, as the service she gave may quite literally have been the best I have encountered. Hopefully, the company can figure out who it was and pass along the appropriate praise. Again, very, very impressed with how this was handled. Regardless of outcome on initial issue, the stark contrast between the two companies cannot have been greater and I very much appreciate it.

CINCINNATI, OHIO -- So the word is out, Citibank, with Billions of taxpayer's money from the TARP, has decided that long term customer's relationships are not worthwhile and that those with outstanding credit who do the right thing and pay their balances on time and in full are not the customers they want. How ridiculous is that? Most financial institutions want the best customers they can find who pose the least credit risk.

I was so outraged to our MasterCard Shell gas card issued by Citigroup had been canceled that I had to dig further. I signed up for credit report monitoring through Equifax, the company Citi noted they had referenced when deciding to close my account... costing some $120 annually. I learned, as I suspected, that my credit score is EXCELLENT at 751.

Notably, we have been customers for some 15 plus years dating to when the Shell MasterCard was administered by Chase. My credit report shows we started the card in 1994. We have always paid the balance in full and one time. My credit score is 751 as of the date CITI canceled our card... WITHOUT ADVANCE NOTICE OF ANY KIND.

Our Income approaches $400,000 a year this year and has been over $300,000 for the last 10 years... we pay an extra $1500 a month on our house which will be paid off in about 5 years after we refinanced it to a 10 year fixed term earlier this year. We own our 2008 Audi S5 purchased in June of 2008 for $63,000 car outright... we owe just over $24,000 on a new Chevy Tahoe SLT, purchased this summer. In short, we don't carry balances on credit cards and we don't owe much to anyone.

So what is the problem? Congress, where are you? We, as taxpayers, give credit to large financial institutions only to have them pull credit from their best customers. If I am not worthy of credit from Citigroup then no one would be. It's time for your Congressmen to be involved to get the Consumer Fair Credit Act updated.

If you have been a victim of Citi's ridiculous credit decisions, I urge you to cancel all Citi relationships where possible and contact the Congressional representative in your district. Shell is not without blame either. They have enjoyed our business for 15 years. Like others, we chose to buy gas from Shell for the 5% rebates they offered roughly 70-80% of the time. Now Shell and Citi will get ZERO percent of our business. Consumers unite... BOYCOTT SHELL... BOYCOTT CITIGROUP.

DALLAS, TEXAS -- I was sent a settlement statement for my Citibank account, because I had fallen behind on payment. I called and made the agreement on 10/08/08. My outstanding balance was 1961.88. They reduced it to 843.61 as a settlement offer. It was agreed I pay $100 on that day, the next payment was 67.61, and 67.60 thereafter. I even made payments for more than the amount I needed to. February 100, March 70, April 70.

The last time I called was in May to pay my next payment. I asked the girl what the current amount was, she told me that after making my May payment that my amount would be $300.81. I told her I was going to make the regular payment and that I would pay off the rest the balance next month.

I had always used my debit card to make my payments with no problems. The girl said that she couldn't do it because her system wouldn't let her. She said she could take a check over the phone. So that is what we did. Then at the end of May I get a letter in the mail from a collection agency for the Citibank account. I had only owed 300.81 more on the account for Citibank. But collections wants 1500.

I called Citibank and they told me they no longer have any information on my account, because it had been sent to collections. I checked my bank statement when I got it on June 05 and the check #** that I gave them the numbers for, was not there. Somebody screwed up and didn't put it through. Now I owe even more than when this all began, because somebody didn't follow through.

I can provide proof that I paid Citibank faithfully every month and a lot of them more than the agreement of the 67.60. I can also show that my bank statements skip over the check number I gave them, but.. because their system voids all accounts that are sent to collection they couldn't check to see when my account was last accessed.. which could prove that I did call.

When a customer makes a purchase based in the country, usually with a foreign currency, the customer is charged a Foreign Transaction Fee, usually around 2% of the value of the transaction. This is a normal, expected fee.

However, a loophole in the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 inadvertently lacks the regulation of these Foreign Transaction Fees. While the bill mentions strict regulation against Currency Exchange Fees, companies are now categorizing them as Foreign Transaction Fees, making them immune to the Act. This is now being exploited by companies such as Bank of America, CitiBank, and Discover Card, as well as some others that charge these fees.

Companies are now starting to charge these fees to customer's credit cards at inappropriate times for inexistent reasons when there is no reason that these fees should be posted. The purpose of the Currency Exchange Fee is to cover the bank's cost of converting foreign currency into the native currency, such as a transaction in Euros into Dollars.

However, banks are taking advantage of this new categorization by charging fees on out-of-country purchases charged in the native currency, citing that they are "foreign purchases." Despite that the bank had no role in converting the currency nor suffered financial penalty, the fee still applied as it was a foreign purchase.

Furthermore, banks are now charging customers Foreign Transaction Fees on US-based purchases. From the blog of Christopher **, a CitiBank customer purchased Qatar Airways tickets through Expedia, a US-based company. The tickets were processed through Qatar's US-based office. Yet, CitiBank still charged the customer a $44 Foreign Transaction Fee, simply on the premise that Qatar Airways is based in a foreign country.

This is the scam that has the potential to impact all of us, customers that use these cards. Even if the purchase was made in the US with US-based divisions and processed in the US, if the parent company is foreign, they will still charge Foreign Transaction Fees, which they will absolutely refuse to remove. And they can legally get away with this now, through this loophole in the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009.

SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA -- Please allow me to voice a concern with the Citi Premier Card. I had over paid this account online by approximately 1500 dollars as I owed it to another Citi card. After realizing my mistake I asked for my money to be refunded. I was told that it takes 30 days to get a refund. At the completion of the second billing cycle I still had not received my cash. I got defensive attitudes from Reps once I began my inquiry.

After discussing with my wife we decided to spend it off the card and when I did I spent more than I had by 196 dollars. I sent the payment in to not be late and have my card at zero balance. Citi was at that time (90 days later) approved my credit for the original 1500 but noticed that I used some so then put a credit on my account, but never gave me back the money. Today 90 days plus I still have no funds back and I owe the amount that they credited back.

When I called again the Citi representative told me that she didn'€™t appreciate that I didn'€™t think her service was a quality one where I immediately explained that I thought she was grand and I wasn'€™t killing the messenger but I was disappointed with the process of taking more than 90 days to refund my money back. Be careful as each representative gives you what I believe they think is good data but it never turns out and then Citi reps start to get uncomfortable and just try to get you off the phone.

I now take on this mission to let people know what type of practices are being used at Citi, the company that took funds from the US gov to stay afloat. Is this right? Is anyone else had this type of experience and maybe found a resolution? Please help me get my money back!

We have a car loan with CitiAuto at 18% interest with payments of 476.00 per month. My husband and I are now both on disability and finding it hard to make that payment. Last April 08, I made arrangements with "Chris" at Citi to redo our loan. I was under the impression that it was all set up so dutifully made my decreased payments of 350 each and every month. On 2/19/09 while we were out of state attending the funeral of my husband's father, we came out of the church and our car was gone! We called the police and they said it had been repossessed. We live in MT and were in MN for only 2 days when this happened.

We were so humiliated, not to mention the fact that we had no verbal or written notice of this action. This is lower than a snake in a rut to do this at this time. How can anyone take your car from a funeral? The repo people even took the magnetic funeral flag that was on the car. I spent over 3 hours trying to find out what happened and was repeatedly put on hold or ignored. My cell was in use the whole time with 5 different people. My husband's medical supplies were in the car when they took it also. He is a diabetic and took his insulin!!! Then, they broke into the car and removed all of our possessions and threw them on the floor.

We did get access to them but only for the medical, nothing else. We had to pay a 20.00 fee to get our possessions back. The next day, I started at 8 in the morning and at 2:00 received our car back. It was a nightmare from hell. Nobody wanted to claim their fault in this. I had to borrow over 2000 from my mother to get our car back, plus a 370 repo charge (this included towing/personal property). When we were looking at the paper given to us to sign (by Citi) they had the wrong address on it. That address was over 2 years old and I know they have our right address as we get statements every month. Is what they did legal? Don't they have to inform us of their actions?

This put undue stress on my husband with his medical problems (high blood pressure; dialysis patient, cardiomyopathy) and could have very well caused a stroke (especially since he was attending his father's funeral). Does anyone know if we have any legal avenues to pursue??

I had a Children's place Credit card for about 5 years. I was posting automated payments on my Credit card just in case not to miss any payments. I've checked my credit/balances sometimes. (Not often as I wish now). I had around 7 month break in using these card when I've noticed that the money I am paying in advance just keep disappearing from the account. I've expected that the money I've paid in advance would stay there. NO. They just GONE.

We are talking about few hundred $$$. I've called the customer service and the explanation was that the policy is -- In case of credit on the account posted, they usually cut the checks for the refunds and as soon as check is cut, the credit removed from the account. BUT, I did not cashed any refund checks!!! More to that, sound as nobody cashed them! Where all that money I've paid GO? The next question in my mind was: How much money really disappeared for all these years, knowing my bad habit time to time pay in advance? The phone representatives are sitting in India, so you can get nothing from there, spending long hours on a phone.

All of them actually acting as a manager as soon as you request one. LOOP. I feel that the money was stolen from me. They are STOLEN by the credit card policy, which allowed it to happen or probably just designed these way on a purpose. Were the checks ever sent? I am not sure about it. The "Manager" of the Credit Card explained that, the only way to complain is by letter and there is no Phone# available for complaints or investigations like that.

So, for me to get my money back from them is the long way to go. I have to calculate what was stolen from me. I have slight idea where to start beside the latest few month bills I have on hands. By the way, to request a previous months statements you would have to sent a letter and it cannot be done over the phone as well. If somebody would tell me it is happening here in US legally, I would not believe in it. But it is the reality! Really disappointed with the Credit card services. Bad, bad and sad experience.

I used to love these store, actually it was my #1 store for children's closing, but because of the situation -- my mind about shopping there, unfortunately, cannot be ever the same. OH... Do not get these Credit Card! If you already have it -- just monitor each move on your account and close it ASAP. I JUST HATE BUSINESSES LIKE that! The best advice would be-- Do not get these Credit Card on a first place!

This is not the first time they do something like this, but this time they didn't help at all. Once in a while, for no apparent reason Citibank refuses a legitimate transaction and acts as if it has no repercussions on their customer. Earlier today I shopped for about one hour with two kids in tow, accumulating over $400 of materials. When I went to pay with my Citibank Mastercard, the transaction was refused. I asked to use the cashier's phone and she sent me to the store's customer service phone. After some begging and insisting, the customer service person let me make the call.

I called Citibank. They asked security information (good) and I asked why my transaction was refused. They said my card was reported stolen. Confused, I assured them that I never did such report, I am the only owner of the card, I have the only said card in my possession and it has my picture on it (another good feature which helped me stay with Citibank). At this point I get transferred to a 'security specialist'. The security specialist informs me that the card was not reported stolen but was compromised and someone called me yesterday to tell me so.

Indeed, I got a call yesterday from someone at Citibank saying that a receipt with my credit card number has been stolen and therefore they would be sending me a new card in 7 to 10 days. Well, as I do not have a new card and clearly 7 days have not passed, I ask them to authorize the transaction. I'm told it can't be done because the account has been closed. So I ask if they can use the replacement account. No they can't do it over the phone. If I knew the number I could make a transaction online but they won't give me the number although I passed all the security questions.

So there I am, 1 hour before store closing (after spending at least 20 minutes on the phone and on hold with Citibank), with $400 worth of materials and no other credit cards or sufficient cash. The store was kind enough to put my items aside so that I can go to the bank (luckily there was one close to make it in time), kids in tow and come back to pay them cash. So much for having a credit card for emergency needs. Needless to say, this is the last time I go anywhere with only one credit card and I informed them that I'll be closing my account with them and that they lost a customer.