Consumer complaint received 2021-09-23
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: AZ
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
This is related to complaint number XXXX. Please see that too. 

This complaint is about my Citibank Priority Checking account.

I had much difficulty 1 ) moving funds into this account, and 2 ) verifying that an offer I responded to would be honored. Multiple calls to customer service went around in circles, and I filed the above complaint.

The " resolution '' to that ongoing situation was that I was given a deadline by which to move a certain amount of funds into the account in order to be eligible for the incentive/offer to which I responded. I successfully got the account funded before the deadline. 

I was too successful, however, as an extra {$15000.00} ended up in the account ( $ XXXX total when all I needed was $ XXXX ) and therefore I attempted to move funds out of the account electronically, paying attention to daily limits. My original intention was to set up three {$5000.00} transfers on different days. 

All electronic transfers failed. Calls to Citibank 's fraud department revealed that my account " had a block '' on it and after verification, these were removed but the pattern repeated : initiate transfer, transfer fails, call Citibank, receive reassurance that the next one would work, initiate transfer, transfer fails, and so on. I attempted at least seven such transfers, either from Citi 's website ( push ) or from my other bank 's website ( pull ). All failed. 

So, I called Citi and explained the situation. I told them that I was going to attempt to deposit a paper check from my Citi account ( # XXXX ) in person at the counter of my other bank. They verified that the account was not blocked and assured me that the {$5000.00} check I was about to deposit would go through. I explained that if it didn't, my other bank would charge me a bounced-check fee and asked if they would reimburse me if that happened ( on or around XXXX XX/XX/2021 ). I was told 'yes ' they would. I drove to my bank and deposited the check there, and within two days saw the reversal on my other bank 's website, and a {$19.00} fee, and on the XXXX of XXXX received written notice from my other bank ( XXXX XXXX ) that they had charged me {$19.00} for passing them a bad check. 

I then called Citi to have them honor their word to reimburse me for that charge and was ready to provide proof, but was told at that point that they had no way to reimburse me for another bank 's fee, and that I should call them. I pointed out that this was not feasible because the fault was with Citi, but even a supervisor explained that nothing could be done. 

On a lengthy call on XXXX XX/XX/2021 ( first one that day was dropped after about 25 minutes ), I was told that while the account was not blocked, I had exceeded some " limit '' on the account. This apparently differed from a 'block '. However, the agent was unable to tell me whether this " limit '' was related to the number of transactions ( of which all had failed ) or a dollar-amount limit. It was when she went to transfer me about this " limit '' that the call dropped. I called again and no one mentioned any " limit '' again. 

On that same call, I was placed on hold for approximately three minutes while the agent ( Fraud department ) was transferring me to another agent, only to have the original agent return and tell me that that agent could not help. Not professional at all. 

The number I was given to call Citibank back in order to start the process of being reimbursed for my returned-check fee of {$19.00} ( which I subsequently learned was impossible ) was XXXX. However, this number, which the Citibank customer service agent ( fraud department ) gave me, is answered with " Thank you for calling Citibank Fraud Prevention for internal staff. '' In other words, it is not a number for customers! 

During the final call to Citi customer service, made shortly before creating this complaint, an agent told me that my check 'starter pack ' had not been activated. There is no way to confirm the accuracy of this, but I had not heard this before that call, and that agent was probably the 15th agent I had spoken to up to that point in the whole Citibank saga.

Thus, Citi failed in two main ways : 1 ) they told me that my account was not blocked in any way directly before I attempted to deposit a check written on it, when in fact it was blocked ; and 2 ) they told me that they would reimburse me for a returned-check fee, should it happen, when in fact they could not and did not.

A successful resolution to this complaint has two parts. First, I want that {$19.00} back. Second, I want the account completely and assuredly unlocked/unblocked so that I can actually use it. 

In my opinion, Citibank has quite a lot of work to do to ensure a smooth experience for customers. They seem to be good at attracting potential customers but once they have the business of the customer, follow up and customer service seem unorganized and agents seem untrained. There is no coordination. With every transfer, I had to retell my story from scratch.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief