Consumer complaint received 2024-01-27
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, we applied for the Citi XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( it was then approved XX/XX/XXXX and shipped on XX/XX/XXXX ). At the time of our application, the offer on Citi 's website ( which we clicked through ) was that they would award XXXX bonus miles after meeting {$4000.00} of spending in XXXX months. I have attached photos of that page which do not have our name on it because we went directly to the Citi website to review/compare before applying. 

We indeed spent {$4500.00} within XXXX  months, exceeding the minimum requirement and qualifying for the bonus, which was then never received. 

We have reached out to Citi twice by phone and twice by email. In all of our outreach to Citi, we keep being told that we were not registered for a XXXX bonus and that instead, our account shows an offer of XXXX miles after {$5000.00} of spending in XXXX months, of which we were a couple XXXX dollars short of. 

This, however, is not what we applied for, nor is it listed on ANY documentation, was not listed in my account, we received NO email about this offer, and it is not provided ANYWHERE in our terms and conditions paperwork. Therefore, the only offer we were aware of was the one that we clicked on their website for : XXXX bonus miles after {$4000.00} in XXXX months. If there was something that changed or occurred behind the scenes on their website or system, we had no control nor no knowledge of it. 

We are extremely detailed and watched our spending very carefully every XXXX XXXX XXXX to ensure we met the {$4000.00} requirement. I also poured over all of our documentation, emails, online account, etc. to make sure I didn't personally miss something that notified us differently. We keep coming to the same conclusion : we met the XXXX bonus offer requirements and were never informed differently until we " didn't meet it. '' After multiple conversations with Citi, I have yet to receive any proof that Citi informed us of the requirement to spend {$5000.00} which therefore appears to be a " bait and switch '' approach to avoid honoring the bonus we expected of XXXX. 

To be clear, I am not requesting the XXXX bonus miles be honored. I am requesting that they simply honor what we applied for : XXXX after {$4000.00} in XXXX months. 

I called Citi in XXXX, XXXX as well as XX/XX/XXXX. I also emailed them on XX/XX/XXXX based on the suggestion of the rep I spoke to on the phone. Citi replied with the attached letters on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. 

The letter dated XX/XX/XXXX says that they can not apply a generic offer to an account as they need to be listed in my name and email address, however we applied ONLINE for this card based on a generic online offer, so the letter does not make sense or align with their supposed business practices.

While I have provided them backup showing the offer that we clicked through online, I am still awaiting proof that Citi XXXX notified US of the offer that they are stating applied at the time of my application. So far, they have not provided me any documentation to show that we should have known of an offer of XXXX after {$5000.00} in XXXX months ( which is a different offer than the one that I clicked through online ). The fact that we were unaware that the offer they are stating " posted '' to our account is supposedly different than what we applied for continues to show deceptive marketing and misleading and unfair business practices.

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 explanation