Consumer complaint received 2021-12-01
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with rewards from credit card

Complaint:
I am filing this claim out of shear frustration over Citicard taking away {$1600.00} in dividend dollars I had earned because of inactivity on my account for XXXX year according to Citicard. They removed ( expired ) them on XX/XX/XXXX as shown on page XXXX of my XX/XX/XXXX statement ( attached ). I immediately called their customer service support when I received my statement on XX/XX/XXXX only to get a customer service area that appeared to be outsourced to an overseas company. I had difficulty understanding the rep and they really didn't grasp my situation. I attempted to explain that I never received any notice that my dividend dollars were going to expire on XX/XX/XXXX on my account. Furthermore, my XX/XX/XXXX statement ( attached ) on page XXXX indicated my dividend balance was {$1600.00} and on the same page it reflected a charge for {$43.00} that is automatically charged for antivirus software every year as reflected on my XX/XX/XXXX statement ( attached ) on page XXXX as well. All the rep did was to read me a script stating how sorry they were for the inconvenience and there was nothing they could do. I went on to explain that I have had this card since XXXX and didn't use the card as much since XXXX moved their card to Citicard that I also use heavily for my purchases because the rewards are better than the dividend card. Again, I was read the same script so I requested to speak to a supervisor in the XXXX in hopes that they would look up my account history and see how much I spent on the card to accumulate that much in dividend dollars as well as my XXXX card history.. I was transferred to a XXXX customer service XXXX and got a recording and I left my number for a call back. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a call from a supervisor in Florida named XXXX ( she would only give me her first name ) and told her my tale of woe on how I was going to use the cash rewards for XXXX presents for my family., I further explained how devastated I was that this was done during this pandemic and that I did have activity on my card and never received any notice the cash rewards would expire on XX/XX/XXXX. She was very pleasant but told me their was nothing she could but would file a claim on my behalf. I asked if she could provide me with a phone number to the area making the final decision but she said she can't do that. I can't do that seems to be the montra for all Citicard customer service areas. Even though each area informed me that I lost the rewards due to card inactivity for a year, why they could not see the activity I saw on my statement is beyond me. Then, low and behold I received the form letter ( attached ) that states that according to the terms of the cash rewards program ( did I receive XXXX years ago or when? ) cash rewards expire after 12 months if they are not redeemed and unfortunately they are unable to replace expired cash rewards. Well, this was a new twist. My last ditch effort to get someone at Citicard to really look at my case I called the number on the form letter. I won't bore you with all the details about the discussion but they were consistent with their lack of concern for customer issues and the amount of money I lost I was told they were sorry for any inconvenience but we can't replace expired cash rewards. Please do whatever it takes to help me get back what I earned and not let companies like Citicard ( Citibank ) do this to people and hide behind pages and pages of terms and just do the right thing and notify customers they need to act before their rewards expire. 

Thank you.

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