Citibank N A Consumer Reviews - Page 5

Citibank was the only one who would give me credit when I was young and had no borrowing record. They charged fees and interest rates comparable to other companies. However, when the other companies who later extended credit to me started sending me notices of change to my terms disguised as glossy ad inserts, Citibank always sent me any notice of change in an easily recognizable formal pamphlet with the changes listed clearly.

When I eventually fired the other companies and tore up most of my plastic, I called Citibank and asked for a reduction in interest rate. They lowered it to 8% and have kept it there until just recently. Although they occasionally have charged me for late payment, they have often rescinded those charges after a phone call.

Citibank is the only credit card company I will do business with. I had another card, until recently. This other card sent me a notice that they were raising my interest rate, not only on future purchases but on any outstanding balances as well. I refused the change, cancelled the card, and cut it in half. Citibank later sent me a notice that they were raising the interest rate on future purchases. That is okay, the raise was not excessive and not retroactive. That is just honest business.

After dealing with a BK and keeping my mortgage current through the BK and always making payments on time now that that part of my life is passed I am told it will always show "currently in BK" until it is paid off or I pay them to re-finance it?!?!?!?

The worst part is I paid over $1,000 in fees to keep it through the BK and was told then it would be fine when I was finished. 4 years later it was never changed and it took 3 weeks of conversations until they finally told me this wonderful news. I'm told this is not the way it should work - stay away from CitiMortgage.

I have a Citibank card in which I pay off the balance each month. I recently received a notice of an APR change. The reasons given: I do not make the minimum payment when due, go over the credit line or make a payment to us that is not honored. Now the APR change does not affect me because I pay off the balance each month but I was insulted by form letter that was sent out to me. Upon calling, it became clear to me that the company wants to get rid of "deadbeats" like myself. If Citibank insults the customer, they'll then likely tear up their card.

My answer is: don't tear up your card. Each month use the card to buy a stick of gum. Let's tie up Citibank for the billing. Granted, my return postage will cost more than the gum but it's worth it.

POMPANO BEACH, FLORIDA -- This company looks fine when you visit their website. However, their dealings are all by the seat of their pants. They claim to have an "Honesty Policy" with their customers, but what about their staff? Their staff contracting/employment files does not include any employment or tax paperwork. Imagine a business that you will make such a large purchase from, not maintaining any real documentation on the people who handle your sensitive information?!!? It says a lot about their business ethics and professionalism! Their employees do not have background screenings, and have no form of former work experience verification.

In this day and age of identify theft, think twice before selecting Citi Auto Group/Exotic Auto Brokerage (or any other company) that will have access to all your sensitive personal information! My issue is that they allowed a person to come off the street, without even obtaining her social security number, and work for over a month to then not compensate accordingly. If that is how you treat the people that make your business work, how does this company treat a simple consumer that just needs a good car??? Beware Consumers!!! Beware!!!

Citibank just hiked our VISA credit card (issued through Key Bank) rate for the second time in a year by a whopping 5%. We pay our bills on time and our credit rating is well into the 700's. I think we made the mistake of paying it off the last time they made a rate hike. Probably made us less valuable to them. We let it run up a bit, but not much. Of course they might be trying to fix their financial problems on the backs of their customers. Dumb idea. That will just make it worse, not better. But what the heck, the government will bail them out with our tax money -- right?

Opt-out provision will keep our old rate until 2011. Guess we'll pay it off by then and wave goodbye. Too bad. It was nice being able to pay by direct transfer from our checking account. Bank of America has higher rates now, but after the Citibank hike, we'll be using the BA card and shred Citibank's. I wish Key would do their own card. They seem to be less predatory than Citibank.

54915, WISCONSIN -- I've had credit cards from a number of vendors (Discover, Chase, Citibank, MBNA). This is the worst company I've worked with. I pay off my balance every month (which is probably why they don't like me). I got a Citibank card a little over a month ago and get paperless statements. I went online to pay my bill as I've done with every other credit card I've ever owned. When I tried to set up my checking account information, it asked me for a "secret phrase that I created when I set up my account." No matter what I tried, this did not work. There was a link to "get a hint," but that did not work.

Since I signed up for paperless statements, I don't get a bill I can pay by mail. I called customer service to pay off my balance (either with a different credit card or by check - I didn't care), and they told me that there was a $14.95 fee to pay off my balance by phone. Ridiculous! I can't pay by mail, I can't pay online, and they want to charge ~$15 to pay by phone? I've never experienced that with another CC vendor. Their online interface is *absolutely awful*, and I used to have a Chase card!

I had my private insurance cancel in Oct 2007, no mention of Citi buying a policy until April 2008. I called the company and asked why these charges for insurance all of a sudden on my mortgage payment and they said we owe from Oct 2007 to April 2008. Okay why did I not get billed for this until June 2008, they said they were being NICE. This a company that is in business to make money not to be nice. I don't know. I think they made a mistake and now I'm having a hard enough time paying $2300. Now I have to pay $2500.00 along with the high cost of living.

HONOLULU, HAWAII -- I "was" a 12 year customer of Citi Card with 4 accounts. Zales The Diamond Store uses Citi to finance a program for interest free payments for 12 months called the "Zales Credit Plan". At the end of that period you must pay off the balance or incur accrued interest from the original date of purchase! I missed by one month and it cost me dearly! $4,700 accrued interest! Buyer beware! Read your statement or you will be like me, BURNT BAD! Citi's customer service said basically, tough luck, you should have read your statement. Don't let this happen to you! Don't use the Zales Credit Plan from Citi Card.

It seems that Citibank no longer support a 24 hour fraud help line - it is now only available 8am to 12pm EST. It is still advertised on the website as 24 hours. The impact and risk to the customer is immense. For international travelers this makes the Citibank Card unreliable and often unusable as most international purchases trigger a Fraud check above a pre-determined amount - DO NOT USE CITIBANK CARDS IF YOU WANT TO TRAVEL INTERNATIONALLY.

What happens to fraud that occurs on a lost card outside of the "normal" banking hours? Unfortunately criminals do not respect office hours. Carrying or using a Citibank card even within the USA is now a serious liability. My advice for anyone living West of the Appellations is to use a different card. I have received no communication from Citibank that they have removed the 24 hour service, and the website is still advertising 24 hour support (is this not fraud itself?).

Citibank's ThankYou Network advertised a pre-order of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows last March. After using my points to reserve a copy of the book, I was informed (only by calling and checking) that the book would actually be delivered 3-5 weeks AFTER July 21 (also, they had my shipping address wrong). The advertisement was totally misleading and the order cannot be canceled.

For those of you who argue that the points system is free money, the dollar equivalent is $25 for every 1000 points, and the book cost 3500 points, so you can do the math. It's something like $17.99 at Borders, Citibank is such a rip-off! Hopefully the book will still be worth something when I try to sell it on Amazon.