Consumer complaint received 2022-02-07
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
On Monday, XX/XX/XXXX I received my paycheck via direct deposit in the amount of {$1800.00}. 
On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX I made my usual on-line monthly payment of {$560.00} to AA Citicards. The payment was made on AA Citicards website. My AA Citicards account is linked to my XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account. Whenever I make an online payment through AA Citicards, it debits the amount I authorized from my XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account. 
The next day, Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX I tried to make a purchase but my debit card was rejected for insufficient funds. I then went to a XXXX ATM to withdraw cash and check my balance but was also declined due to insufficient funds. When I arrived at my office, I logged on to my Chase checking account and discovered a {$18000.00} was pending from AA Citicards and that my checking account balance was now over {$17000.00} in the negative. ( See attached ). I immediately logged in to my AA Citicards account and confirmed XXXX had indeed improperly processed a payment of {$18000.00} ( for the entire amount due ) instead of the amount I authorized of {$560.00}. 
I logged on to my account with AA XXXX and chatted online with one of their representatives ( XXXX XXXX who stated AA Citicards would be refunding me {$18000.00} but that it would take 3-5 business days. This meant I would have no access to my checking account funds until sometime the following week. I saved the chat and submitted it as an attachment to XXXX via email. XXXX responded that it would respond to my email in 1 or 2 business days. As we were facing an imminent winter storm that evening, I needed to access my checking account to buy additional food/water/supplies. I went to a XXXX branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX and spoke to banker XXXX XXXX. I gave XXXX XXXX a copy of the online chat transcript I had with AA Citicards. XXXX XXXX faxed it to XXXX whom I believe is a claims specialist. I was assigned claim # XXXX. Ultimately, however, they said there was nothing they could do until Monday, XX/XX/XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I received the following email response from XXXX : We removed {$18000.00} from your account because the check or items deposited on XX/XX/XXXX were returned unpaid. 
We received your request to research a transaction on your account. 
When I logged on to my XXXX account, the correct balance was reflected ( {$1300.00} ). An email from XXXX directed me to call the Customer Claims Department at XXXX. I immediately called and spoke to XXXX and she said there was nothing else I needed to do. I was able to make a couple of purchases so I thought everything was resolved. 
The next day Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX my debit card was again declined due to insufficient funds. I logged on to my checking account and again saw a pending debit of {$18000.00} from AA Citicards. My checking account balance reflects an overdrawn account balance of - {$16000.00}. I called XXXX again and a banker informed me a stop payment could be made for {$30.00} and that this was my only option. The banker said the stop payment would not be processed until the end of the business day on Monday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and would be in effect for 18 months for the exact amount of {$18000.00} from AA Citicards. I therefore authorized the stop payment.

Tomorrow will be 1 week since this ordeal and out of no fault of my own, I have been denied access to my own money. It is difficult to understand how a credit card company can erroneously process a payment and hold ones money up for a week. It is also difficult to understand how a bank could withhold ones money for days because of a credit card companys error, and when a credit card company repeats the error, charge the consumer {$30.00} for a stop payment. As a consumer, I feel powerless and defeated. 
Consumers need protection from errors like this. A credit card company should not be able to submit an unauthorized amount and hold up a consumers access to their checking account for days at a time. A bank should also not hold up an account for days, especially when such a discrepancy between the pending claim ( {$18000.00} ) and the actual funds in the account ( {$1800.00} ) are so obvious. A consumer should not be made to pay a {$30.00} stop payment fee when the error is clearly not their own. In the past, I have received calls from XXXX XXXX  for fraud alerts before they paid an item. While this was not fraud, but rather an excessive unauthorized payment, this should have flagged XXXX Bank to call me. 
It only took minutes for these corporations to completely drain my checking account, yet when it came to reversing the transaction it has taken days, and in my case almost a week. This is unacceptable and needs an appropriate and immediate legal remedy. I am a single, working mother who relies on my checking account to pay for basic needs.

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