Citibank
reviews and complaints

I had been a Citibank Mastercard client for the past eleven years, always paying off balances, now because of just a few late payments, that are easily explainable they cancel my card with no notice. Brutal, ### rates and customer service they can all go f&%$ themselves. I will go out of my way to ensure no friends, families or colleagues ever have the mis-fortune to use this bank.
Greg Holes

I had a CitiBank credit card for many years which I rarely used. The few times I used it I had problems with CitiBank properly crediting payments on time which resulted in interest and late payment fees which I disputed and I cancelled my CitiBank credit card. After cancelling my credit card, CitiBank continued to charge fees on the disputed amount although the cardholder agreement states that the primary cardholder is not responsible for any fees after the card is cancelled. Subsequently, CitiBank informed the credit rating agencies that I was in default and that they had written-off the charges as an uncollectible debt which significantly lowered my credit rating. That was over a disputed amount of approximately $250 of which over $200 was for charges/penalties. Those penalties/charges are how CitiBank became the biggest bank in the world which, happily, they no longer are. I hope they go totally bankrupt and their executives go to jail for fraud.

Sir:
Greetings!
I am submitting herewith as attachment the transfer slip from the Citibank, London. I would like to verify the veracity of this transfer slip.
Hoping for your kind considerations.
Please send respond to : [protected]@yahoo.com

I can't gain access to citi bank https://www.na.citiprepaid.com/ to view my account activity. I spoke with customer serve 5 times and each time they seem to be reading from a script leading me to resetting my password. I keep telling them its not a password problem. after the 5th time complaining, they tried to log on from their system and received the same message.
"site unavailable our site is currently unavailable. please check back later.
For more information or immediate assistance, please contact: [protected]@citiprepaid.com, or call the customer service number on the back of your card."
They told me to try again again in 48 hrs... that was 3 weeks ago.
To this date I can't logon to check my account. they stated I can call them for transaction details.

Citifiancial is a predatory lender. They were fined in 2004 and the FTC is supposed to be watching them. CitiGroup uses the same dirty illegal tricks today. They start out with a small personal loan, come across like financial advisors. Then start flipping into another loan, because they won't let you pay it off early. They keep trying to get you to take more money and get your deed. Then CitiMortgage buys up your first mortgage, and you are dead! They foreclose on you from out of state, rip off Freddie Mac . They expect you to pay the equity loan after the house is gone. They wouldn't budge on modification. They are liars, cheats and thieves! CitiGroup is like cancer. They are diseased cells gone bad . Citigroup must be stopped

On October 5, 2010 I applied for a refinance load and my credit was pulled. I have over 12 months of late payments with Citbank master card showing on all 3 credit bearues. I was concerned with this since I have entered into an agreement with them in September of 2009 where I have been paying each month and have had it automatically withdrawn from my account the entire time. I was unemployed and had asked to make arrangements until I could get back on my feet. Citi bank as well as other financial bank card interesting that Citi bank was the only one who continued to report me. I thought contacting them and arranging a plan to pay instead of ignoring and not paying I was doing the right thing as a consumer. I owned up to my situation and asked for help little did I know if didn’t matter and the arrangements would not help me at all.

. October 2010 -I phoned citi bank and spoke with Tim Collins, I informed him in writing of my concern and could not understand why there any late payments being reported. He informed me I had an outstanding balance of 428.00 I had no idea I had that since I had the arrangement in place. I paid the 428.00 on October 26th and Tim advised me he would research my complaint and that he understand my situation since “he is a consumer too”. He would phone me in 3 days with the outcome. He did not phone me I had to call and talk to Dawn, Mr Storks assistance who transferred me to a person named Mike who assured me that he would call me back today (Friday). I finally got a call back Friday and he stated he needed to research more and he did not have the information. No recording or documentation of conversation of my arrangement. He stated he would call me on Monday or Tuesday to give me the final answer. He called me on my cell phone which is the number I asked him to call me on.

I got a call on Tuesday at my home number (which is in my record but I asked him to call on cell) to inform me that what they report is accurate. They will not remove the late payments from my report. I asked him if he had listened to the conversations that were recorded and he told me that they did not have the recordings they do not keep on file all the time. I asked him how long they are kept on file and he did not know. I asked him if there were notes regarding that they stated I had a late over due payment that was outstanding and that I would have to pay that in addition to the arranged payments. He did not see that conversation. I asked if he had any proof that they had informed me of that and he stated no. It was just their policy. He stated he reviewed this with his supervisor and the determined that it was final. I asked to speak with the supervisor and he stated that she was unavailable and would not speak to me. He gave me the name of Linda on team 8100. I then called Ken Storks office and left him a message and I did not receive a call back from him. I called the next day to talk to Dawn and she transferred me to Tim Collins again. He said he met with Mr. Stork and that the decision was final. I asked to speak with Mr. Stork and Tim stated he does not take phone calls and that he was his voice and there was no way I would be able to talk with him. I then asked if he met in person or on the phone. He told me that was non of my business. And he would send out a letter stating the results.

I was not happy with that answer and called Mr. Storks office again. I get transferred to a Teresa Anderson and she was to look into the case again Teresa said she would investigate again and let me know. Well I had to call her back since she wouldn’t call me and they came to the same conclusion as Tim. I then told her that I was misled and that I had an agreement with Citi Bank to pay my bill and there was not mention of any late pay. November 9th I found my documentation from Citibank regarding my payment arrangements. It states in the letter:, "Please pay the agreed upon amount even if a different amount is printed on your monthly billing statement." Theresa stated that the agreement doesn’t state it will take care of my outstanding balance This makes no accounting sense. They contend they will continue to show me late until I make an additional payment which their own agreement tells me not to make. The agreement shows a balance and no mention of an outstanding balance. Teresa stated “Ms. Morgan there is nothing we are going to do about this” and she doesn’t even want a copy of the letter.

Since I have tried countless times to communicate with Cit Bank I am now forced as a consumer to prove that I am not guilty. I will be filing complaints to Attorney General(s), FTC, The Office of Comptroller Currency, FDIC, BBB, Consumer Affairs, US Justice Dept., Federal Reserve Complaint (OMB), Why hasn’t something been done to help the consumer especially since my tax money helped them out of their financial mess? How come Citi Card doesn’t help their customers? They have no compassion and could care less about their customers.

charge dispute reuest was not done when card is active, was fed-up and cancelled card still till now issues unresolved and no one bother to get back at all. 1)called in 3)email 2)went to branch personally 4) emailed again - nothing was finalised since end of march 2010. Card was cancelled and thats it no one explained what happend and no one retrieve my contact records to review what they had done!

I could forward the full email to you for reference, thank you.
one of my request made online(no one did bother ):
From: Customer Service
To: [protected]@singapore.com
Sent: Mon, Sep 6, 2010 8:59 pm
Subject: Re: General Enquiry/Feedback

Dear Mr. Deng,

Thank you for using Citibank Online. Please accept our sincere apologies
for any inconvenience caused.

We will be reviewing your request on the Account Closure and you will be
contacted soon.
Your patience is very much appreciated.

Should you have any queries, please call our 24-Hour CitiPhone Banking
at [protected]. You can now check your latest account balance or available
credit line and more with just a simple SMS. Enrol for Citi Alerts SMS
now. Visit www.citibank.com.sg/citialerts for enrolment details.

Thank you for banking with Citibank.

Yours sincerely

Renuka K. Manohkaran
Customer Correspondence & Services

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Form Message
subject:General Enquiry/Feedback
IGKANRES_CIN:N.A
salutation:Mr
name:*deleted*
email:
telephone:9
blk:
unit
street:
postal:
customer:Yes
branch:Select
hr:09
min:10
period:AM
day:Thursday
qn:CANCEL MY CREDIT CARD WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT IF ANOYONE IS READING
THIS!

I do not want any relation with citibank, my bank acct was already
closed and get a WORKING VP or MD to retrieve a call made in end march
2010 and a email sent about a month later
howknow:Others
others:-
formcode:apfa.genfm
ReferenceNum:[protected]

I've been receiving calls from Citi numbers all week, at all sorts of odd hours. I'm a college student and I have just started school again after taking a year off, during which time I handled my responsibilities and paid my student loans on time with the little money I was making. This evening I answered the phone and for once waited through the "please hold for an important message" and silence (which I had thought was a telemarketer until I Googled the number). Once a real human came on the line, she tried to explain to me that I owed Citi $179 for my past due student loan payment and my October payment (the Oct payment technically shouldn't be due until the 25th). This upsets me and makes me think Citibank is shady for multiple reasons... First of all, I'm in school, and I know that Citibank receives that info automatically through a service called Clearinghouse, however back in August when I called to ask them about that, a rep told me that they don't and I needed to print out a form get it signed by "someone" at my school, and mail it in. I set out to do that, but before I could complete the task I received a form in the mail from Citi saying that they had "received info" that I was back in school, and I needed to mail back THAT form in order to have my payments deferred... I sent that back weeks ago, and when I told the caller that, she said, "Oh, let me check and see if we've received it, but if not, I can just update your status over the phone for you." Why couldn't the first person I spoke to in August do that? She came back and told me they had it, but it was still "in process" and I would still receive calls until it was done being processed, but that I could stop that if I made a payment for $89 for September over the phone right now. She really asked me if I wanted to pay them $89 to stop calls that I shouldn't have been getting in the first place? School started at the beginning of Sept and I'm in deferment! I pay dearly for deferment already in the form of capitalized interest... how dare these people try to extort another $89 (plus convenience fees for paying over the phone I'm sure) to stop these extraneous calls? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

One of the worst experiences, if not the worst, for credit card!
Consumer beware:
1) Charge high annual fees $140 and rigid to waive late charges $50 (can only waive once in 12 months)
2) Difficult to cancel card
1st time - called 24-hour service hotline, officer said cannot, will ask relevant dept to call back but no call-back
2nd time - called to cancel, officer said ok but must settle all outstanding fees including late charges / annual fee etc. Fees settled and card cut. But after some time, still received bill and later charges, realised card not cancelled.
3rd time - called to query. Officer said last time tried to call to confirm cancellation and option form for cancellation sent but no response. Told him over the phone already confirm to cancel, officer did not mention there are follow-up form to be done. officer then said will cancel but again must settle the fees.
4) Agent hard sell for SMRT linked citibank credit card at AMK hub. Card is never used for a few months, but when called to cancel, officer said have cancellation charges of $150! if want to cancel, must wait for 1 year but the agent did not mention about this. If wait for another year, not sure by then what other excuses they have to charge the card-holders?

Due to unforeseen financial difficulty I was unable to pay my credit card debt with Citibank. Last September 13, 2010 I received a text message claiming to be from a publishing company (the name of the specific person who sent it was not indicated). The message stated that they will file a estafa case against me, that they will publish my name in leading newspapers, and that they will seize my properties. The text also stated that I should call Atty. Rhea (I forgot the last name) through that number.

I was wondering why anybody would file a estafa case against me when I never issued any cheque. So I dialed the number because I wanted to be cleared from whatever the sender was accusing me of. A man answered my call. He didn’t want to give his name. I asked him the name of the company he was representing. He said he was from an amnesty program. He was still evasive on the name of the company. When I persisted with the question, he said that he was from HSBC. But I told him that I didn’t have an account with HSBC.
l
“Eh, bakit nakalagay ang pangngalan mo dito?” he asked me, irritated. From the tone of his voice he was ready to argue.
Thinking that he shouldn’t ask me that question since he was the one who contacted me, I asked him instead to verify his records. He said he would call again later. My guess was that he was handling multiple accounts from different banks.

Later that afternoon, I received a call from this same man. I will never forget his voice because he was rude during his earlier call. When I told him that he was the same guy that I had spoken to earlier, he denied it. He claimed that this was his first attempt to contact me. I knew this was untrue but I didn’t push the matter.

He said that our conversation was recorded. He was so aggressively rude and arrogant. He kept on asking me, “Ano ‘yung sinasabi mo na ako ‘yung tumawag kanina? Ano’ng pangngalan ng kausap mo? Inaakusahan mo ba ako?” He was deliberately trying to annoy me. He was twisting every word I said so I asked him to play our recorded conversion. He said that it was not allowed. It was pointless talking to him. I was calm throughout our conversation but he seemed to be egging me to get mad.

I was left shaken by the encounter. My whole body was shaking and I was on the verge of tears. This is a case of harassment and false representation. The incident is a clear violation of BSP Circular 454.

I acknowledge my debt with Citibank. I have every intention of settling my debt. I welcome “reminders” from them regarding late payments. I just wish that these collectors could exercise professionalism when dealing with creditors. I may owe the bank money but it doesn’t give them the right to humiliate and insult me.

There should be a definite line that debt collectors are not allowed to cross. Most people who are unable to pay their credit card debt have valid reasons. I pay my taxes diligently and honestly, and yet these collectors treat us like criminals. I have worked hard to gain the trust and respect of my friends and colleagues, and yet collectors are willing to damage my reputation just so they could collect a small commission.

This kind of harassment doesn’t speak well of Citibank’s status and reputation. An international bank like Citibank should employ professionalism and courtesy in dealing with creditors.

Nobody has the right to be humiliated and harassed by collectors who couldn’t even get their facts straight.

Ms. Harassed

I have been a user of Citibank cards for years. The majority of my student loans are also through Citibank. I recently obtained a Citibank American Airlines American Express.

I pay each of my monthly bills at the beginning of each month, as I am paid monthly. I had the card for only a few months, but I had decided to use it for slightly larger items, such as plane tickets, that I intended to pay off over a 2-3 month period. During the month of April, I made a payment. Then, at the beginning of May, once I received my paycheck, I made a payment, which was intended for the May bill, as the April bill was due by April 30. In the beginning of June, I received a phone call warning me that I had yet to make my May payment. I thought that was strange, but made a payment over the phone just in case. I went home and found out that the "closing date" for my April bill was actually May 5, the day I made my May payment, even though the April due date was April 30. I also saw that I had a $39 late fee. I thought to myself, "No big deal, I'll call and I'm sure they will see the error and credit me the late fee." Boy, was I mistaken. I spoke to several people, and they all seemed very sympathetic, they informed me that this would have to go to their supervisors, but they were confident that I would be refunded. I then received several letters and emails denying my request. The letters simply stated that I did not make a payment by June 1st. "No, " I called back and explained, "but I had made a payment less than 30 days earlier on May 5th." Not one of the responses I received even acknowledged the fact that I had indeed made a payment in the month of May.

I will never be using my Citibank American Express again and I only wish I could pay off my student loans in one swift motion so that Citibank would never receive any money from me ever again. And all of this for one $39 late fee.

I am sampath. g I got an email from citib. [protected]@gmail.com that I have won award winners of the uk lottery promo. contact the citi london bank. for your £2, 500, 000.00. please verify the details given and reply me soon my email is g. [protected]@gmail.com. they were asked me to contact the given person mr. kevin kessinger.
Chief operation officer.
For: citi bank

Awaiting ur reply

Thanking u
Sampath. g

My Citi Bank credit card payment was due August 2nd but I misplaced it so sent the payment on the 5th. I have received 3 robo-calls reminders that I am late - one this morning that woke me up.

When I called customer service, the representative said it was my fault for being late and he could not guarantee the calls would stop before the payment was received. I informed him that it was not good business to harass your customers and I canceled the card. I hope you will too. Maybe their management will get the message.

Note: After I canceled the card, told Citibank I didn't want to receive any more calls, and wrote the above message, I still received two more calls. I called them back and told them I was charging them $50 per call - but they just thought it was funny.

I had 3 unauthorized ATM transactions. I notified Citibank and they said they would investigate. A month later, I learn that the investigation is closed based on the fact that the banking practice was the same as mine and my atm card was needed to do these transactions. Basically they called me a liar. Then they took $109 from my account, stating that I had settled my debt with the merchanct and since they originally gave me credit for the disputed about, they were taking it back. I never settled with the merchant and dont know where they got this information. I told them to check my account and they would see there is not credit for this amount. Because of this, my bills came in and were returned. I was charged NSF fees and now not only do I face having my power cut off, I am way overdrawn. They are clearly in the wrong by doing this. How can they conduct an investigation and assume things when this is so important?

I'm holder of Premier Miles Platinum credit card # [protected]-XXXX-6XX4.

I have filed the mileage transfer request for the 27, 000 earned mileage to my Asiana Airlines (Royal Orchids : Star Alliance Fleet) Club Membership # 608907XXX last Mar. 7, 2010.

I have been advised several times from the Citi Gold Wealth Management’s customer service representatives that the mileage transfer will take 2~3 weeks as SOP. But then here I am still following up and complaining after the 1st request which had been filed last Mar 5, 2010 and followed up again last Apr. 16, 2010 and recently Apr. 23, 2010 through Ms. Erica(who politely assisted).

I'm frequent user of this particular credit card to accumulate the miles to transfer to the airline membership particular to the ASIANA AIRLINES.

During the conversation with Ms. Maui Go last April 30, 2010, That was the only time that I was informed through her that the mileage transfer request can not be processed since Citibank Phil. is only transacting with 5 Airmile programs only.

Then why did they receive the request and filed for mileage redemption? Infact it was redeemed!

And prior to filing for redemption I was informed last March 7, 2010 through a customer service representative of Citi Gold wealth Management that it is possible and confirmed several times that the it is possible to transfer the earned miles to my Asiana Airlines membership!

In fact it is clearly stated on the website that “The PremierMiles you earn for every Peso you spend can be converted to miles, rewarding you free flights, upgrades and companion tickets with over 70 airline partners” so isn’t this information or marketing true?

Kindly refer to the following web address and the attached files.
1. http://www.citibank.com.ph/global_docs/microsite/premiermiles/privileges.htm
2. http://www.citibank.com.ph/global_docs/microsite/premiermiles/airlines.htm

Now, Citibank made money out of my credit usage which is evidently showing through the earned miles of more than 30, 000 miles under my account. And that mileage shows how much I have spent by patronizing the premier mile credit card among others.

I do believe that I have spent almost 1 Million Pesos by the deceptive marketing and product sales strategy with unpractical promises which is a fraud.

Citibank have wasted my effort and time on following up towards mileage transfer and more over making me to believe that we should patronize your card and even endorsing the referrals to our friends and relatives.

Another SURPRISING evidence of proving the Citibank’s evil act is deleting your complaint!

Modifying/Fabricating/Changing a precious customer's complaint status to "RESOLVED"!

This has been truly and evidently verified by Ms. Reya Reyes(a supervisor of customer service rep. of Citi Gold Wealth Management.) last June 16, 2010 that she mentioned that “the complaint has been marked as RESOLVED" and asking if this is not! (Wait for the recorded conversation to be uploaded on the YOUTUBE.COM

Until this very day they kept saying "pls wait.. the investigation group will be in touch with you"..which I've been hearing since last Apr, 2010.

How can you make deposits and leave your money with them?!?

And transact with this deceptive corporation!?!

How can you trust them to handle your money?!?

Scary…

Jin(2010-07-06 / 18:12) from Angeles City

Hello sirs,

One mr broachard ndri claimed to be general manager from cofipa investment bank and his associate sonia courage powell are for transfer of us$10, 500, 000 with following contact details

Cofipa investment bank cote d’ivoire
Address: 04 bp 411 abidjan 04, abidjan, cote d’ivoire

Contact: mr. brochard ndri
Position: general manager
Direct tel: +[protected]
Tel - fax: +[protected]
E-mail: [protected]@aim.com
P-email: [protected]@live.com

Vigorously after me. now they have sent me following message which I am verbatim quoting being self explanatory. from its body you will yourself notice it highly fraudulent and suspicious asking my account details. I am reporting this matter to investigate from all angles and also advise me as I am also one of your customers here in karachi.

Since it involves your group name, I will appreciate an early action and response in the matter. as to your branch and the official named therein really exists at the location and could be relied upon for safe and further dealing. further take necessary action against them according to law.

I am sure you will oblige me with response.

Yours faithfully,

Syed israr ali
Attorney at law and
Business & legal consultant.
Karachi

Quote

From: [protected]@live.com
To: [protected]@hotmail.com
Subject: re: contact citibank london-uk
Date: sat, 3 jul 2010 14:25:23 +0000

Attention: mr. syed israr ali, date: 03/07/2010

This is to confirm the receipt of your e-mail messages and hereby to inform you that your cheque has been despatched to our international consulate in london attached to our embassy. his name is mr. james taylor as we told you earlier; he will submit your cheque to the citibank london. this is the officer telephone you will call is +[protected].

Immediately you dial this number above, it will respond in french and introduce all the departments. for example it will advice you to press one (1) on your telephone set in-case you wants to speak to any person in financial or administration department on that order. now, you have to press two (2) on your telephone set to talk directly with the bank director of the citibank or somebody from his department office.

Your name has already been submitted to his office including your cheque and all related information towards your fund final release/transfer. they will ask you to reconfirm your name and the amount involved. remember you will be requested to open account with the citibank london where your cheque will be credited for onward transfer to your account in pakistan.

Their contact details are as follows:

Ms. mary blair, telex credit department
Citibank group 334 strand london
Wc2r 1 hb, london-united kingdom
Tel: +[protected]
Fax: +[protected]
E-mail: [protected]@citibnkgroupuk.com

Go ahead and contact them as soon as possible you can for your funds payment, it is very important that you strictly follow their instruction when you contact them and keep me update.

Very sorry for the inconveniences this may or might have caused you. always note that we work to protect the best interest of our clients. quality service is our greatest concern.

Thanks for banking with us.

Best regards,

Mr. brochard ndri
Telephone: +[protected]
General manager (cofipa bank)
International remittance department

Unquote

I finally finished my last relationship with Citibank . I closed the safety deposit box. I have been very dissatisfied with Citibank every since they acquired Cal Fed who acquired Tech Fed which I opened my accounts and safety deposit box with. In general, if there is no major issue, I stay with the vendors because I am lazy and don’t want to go through the troubles to start a new relationship.

Every since Citi acquired Cal Fed, it’s one disappointment after the other. I closed most of my accounts with Citi after several disappointments with the services. I only got a joint account there because of my mom. We opened the account when the bank was owned by Cal Fed. I gave Citi another try after I closed all the accounts but did not last long. Generally, I feel Citi doesn’t care about the individual customers at all. Their clerks’ manner toward me was cold – I mean really cold.

My last cold treatment happened today when I went to the branch office to close the safety deposit box. I told them I lost one key and could only return one. They said there would be $25 charge. I told them when I opened the box with Tech Fed in 1998 I have paid $10 key deposit. I was told I would lose the deposit If I could not return the keys. Obviously, it took some argument and finally the new owner, Citi, because they claimed they did not get the deposit but finally they honored the old contract I had with Tech Fed. The clerk who helped me was rude. I was waiting to finish the business with Citi. She asked me to sign a paper. After singing the paper, I did not know that was it so I waited. She finally said that “That’s, you DON’T have to stand there”. So, I left. She could nicely tell me that it’s been taken care and whether I need anything else. No, she did not. Her attitude made me feel that I was so cheap and could not pay for $25 fee.

I had very different experience with Chase some time ago. Chase has been sending me $100 bonus card. So, I went to the branch office to check it out. Immediately when I walked in the office, a person came to me and greet me warmly. I asked her about the $100 deal she showed me the person who could help me. To make the long story short, at the end of the visit, I opened many accounts with Chase, which I probably don’t need. But, I feel I have been treated like a VIP despite I am not rich at all.

I know all services may eventually cost me but I would prefer to pay for a service when I am treated well instead badly.

In the future, I won’t do business with Citi Bank and Bank of America. But, I am happy with Wells Fargo and Chase so far.

Citicard customer service seems incapable of addressing a legitimate (and potentially serious) problem with the Citicard (described below), or of communicating logically with me. Here is a copy of our correspondence:

Me: I received my new Citicard in the mail, and had no chance to activate it before my travels began outside the United States. I am currently in another country.

On the front of the new card, there is a message which reads: "Outside the US or Canada call collect [protected]". When I tried to call that number collect I was told by three different operators (Country X, Verizon, ATT) that collect calls were blocked to that number. I then tried calling the general service number for the card (shown on the card and on this web site --" Outside the U.S. Call Collect [protected] "), but was told by the same three operators that collect calls were also blocked to that number.

So now I am surprised, confused, and have also wasted 30 minutes of my time trying to call and also writing you now. Can you please clarify what is going on here and how I can finally activate the card? I would like to use it during my trip.

Citicard:When calling our collect phone numbers please be sure to put a 1 in front of the area code. The phone number you would use is [protected].

Me: Thank you for your advice, but very certainly I have used "1" for the country code. In fact, all calls have been checked by operators working with [country X local], Verizon, and ATT. In every case I am told the same thing by the operators -- that the numbers are "blocked" from receiving collect calls. Can you let me know what to do next?

Citicard: Since you are calling from [country X] please try [country X local access code]-[protected]. We have tested the phone number and it does appear to be working. Adding the [country X local access code]is the country code for the United States from [country X].

Me: The dialing code you gave me (starting with XXX) is indeed a valid number which CAN be dialed from [country X], but it is the direct number, meaning I will have to pay for the international call myself. However, the instructions on both the sticker and on the card explain I can call those numbers collect from overseas. Is there another number I can call for which collect calls are not blocked?

Citicard: You must dial for an operator and have then dial the collect call for you.

Me: Unfortunately, we're not communicating correctly here. In your last email, you told me I must dial for an operator and then they will dial complete the collect call for me. But that is exactly what I tried to do, through three different carriers (Verizon, ATT, and country X). In all three cases the operator informed me that making a collect call is impossible because those specific numbers are blocked from doing so. Clearly something is wrong with the system and I would like to ask you for your help in solving the problem. This is NOT a question of how I am dialing the call; it is a matter of the way you have configured the numbers at your end so that collect calls are impossible to make.

June 10, 2010

Citibank Philippines
Manila, Philippines

Gentlemen and Ladies:

I am writing to express my utter disappointment over your unprofessional and disgusting treatment of a former client.

I was once your loyal member having been a holder of Citibank Master Card since November 1999 until last year when I canceled my card sometime in October in view of my relocation abroad for a new job opportunity.
Before canceling my card, I followed the step-by-step instructions of your Customer Service Representative (CSR): 1. Redeem my rewards point, 2. Pay my outstanding balance and 3. Call again to cancel my card. Two or three days before I paid my balance and canceled my card, I called your hotline to redeem my rewards points. I was assisted by a male CSR whose name has now escaped me. I can still remember what items I chose in exchange for my 50, 000+ rewards points: a digital video cam and some gift certificates. Since I knew that I would be gone by the time the items is scheduled for delivery, I even gave specific instructions on where, how and to whom the items should be delivered to.

Last January, when I had the chance to go back to the Philippines for a short visit, I checked with my friend if he received the items and he said he has not. I called your hotline again to inquire on the status of the items. To my shock and surprise, I was informed by a female CSR that the items were in fact not delivered because I purportedly agreed to waive my rights to redeem my points when I cancelled my card. What the hell? I was dumbfounded. Who, in his right mind would choose to waive his right to redeem the points just because he is closing his account? I have accumulated those points over so many years, refusing to redeem the points until the very end when I have enough to exchange for a better item.

There is no sense or logic to this explanation, none at all! I promptly explained to the CSR what transpired in October 2009. She promised to attend to my complaint and call me back as soon as she has new information. She further told me that they will review the recorded conversations I had with the male CSR and that it might take some time.

And indeed it is taking some time, a lot of time. Because until now, five months later, I still have not received any update from anybody from Citibank. I am still abroad and I am still using my old Philippine Mobile number (09178******) and nobody called or even texted me about the status of my complaint.

To say that I am thoroughly disappointed by your service, or the lack of it, is an understatement. I will make sure that my friends and acquaintances and their friends and acquaintances will know about this unfortunate experience of mine. I will also post this letter on my blog and my friends’ blogs as well as my friends’ friends’ blogs so that our readers who might just be thinking of getting your services would at least think twice. I don’t really care whether they get your card or not, what is important to me is that they know that this is how you REWARD your clients or ex-client for that matter.

For a company that says it never sleeps, maybe it is high time that you consider sleeping again so that your employees can do their job when they’re awake. As far I am concerned, someone in your company is not just napping but snoring on his job.

Sincerely,

Disgruntled Ex-Client

I have been with Citibank for 5 years now through my company and as my old card recently expired I received a new credit card which I was asked to activate in the usual way by phoning them.

When I phoned, I was asked by a computer to enter the numbers on the card and was told to my surprise that the number was invalid! I tried several times more and was told, by the computer, the same thing. I hoped that by doing this, like a normal call center, I would eventually be put through to a human being who could resolve the issue, but instead I just got cut off. I tried several different routes but never managed to get passed the computer. Eventually, by going through a sales route, I managed to get through to a call center in India, who took my card number and address and also told me that my account was not valid. This is particularly interesting as a couple of days ago I received my statement from Citibank, so I must have existed then and I am sure I will exist when the payment is due!

Despite having a statement from Citibank in front of me they continued to deny that I was a customer and therefore would not help me in anyway. I am lucky because this is my company credit card and therefore I can use my company to help validate my claims and take the time to sort out the problem. With no call centers in locations which you can have a reasonable conversation with, apparently no account against which my calls can be logged and I assume no account which I can make a payment to to clear my account. If I had been an individual, I can only assume, the next thing I would have heard would be a threatening letter from the Bailiffs demanding money in addition to the money that I owe, with no one to validate that I have tried to resolve this.

This is not the first time I have had problems with Citibank and many of my colleagues feel the same. My advice to anyone looking for a bank is keep looking! If they can loose my identity so quickly, what else can they just loose overnight, my life savings (which I might add, are not and never would be with Citibank)!?