Consumer complaint received 2020-11-11
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
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:
I purchased an airline ticket with Citi credit card in XX/XX/2020 for a XX/XX/2020 trip. The trip was cancelled by airline company and I filed a dispute with Citi in XXXX. Citi rep advised me that though it is not fraud but due to the high dollar amount, he treat it as fraud dispute. As a result he cancelled my original card, issued a new card, and give me a temporary credit. In XXXX, the credit was taken back and the reason was that I authorized the transaction thus not fraud charge. When I called back after many attempts ( the calls are often dropped due to bad connection, which it seems that many citi reps working from home with no proper equipment ), I was told that the dispute should have be opened under regular dispute and they opened a regular dispute for me. I called again many times in between and was told to wait. In XXXX my case got closed and the reason was simply too much time has passed. I reopened the case and got closed again despite I provided airlines email stating airline has given full refund. Many times during my call, my calls get dropped. Different reps gave me different answers. It seems no one is investigating my case and fighting on customers behalf. Some reps stated they work from home and have very bad phone connection and internet connection and can not open screens. I filed quite a few complaints with Citibank but my complaints were not addressed. One rep even told me I can file as many complaints as I want and it is formality. No actions were taken. On XX/XX/XXXX, the travel agency responded and stated they issued refund on that day. I forwarded citi the emails. When I called back, I was told they do not see the refund. The travel agency rep even got on a conference call with me with citi and provided acquirer reference number, but still no action is taken from citi. Until today XXXX XX/XX/2020 XXXX, I still have not received my refund. 



My case has been mishandled by Citibank in a few important steps. Citibank 's gross negligence directly contributed my financial loss. This experience has also greatly costed me time and distress. 

1 ) My case was originally being handled in the wrong dispute category ( regular vs fraud ) 2 ) The reps are lacking proper trainings and equipment to perform their tasks. Many times, there are extensive waiting time on the call, and when the calls are finally through, the calls get dropped ( 1/3 of the calls had this issue ) or the connections are so bad you can not hear them or their internet speed is so slow they can not open the screen. 

3 ) No proper investigation. For example after the dispute was properly opened under regular dispute as advised by Citibank, my case was cancelled with no detail and simply stated " time has passed ''. Travel agency has clearly indicated the fund was returned and provided acquirer ID, but although I have urged a few times, no one from citi is looking into the acquirer ID to find the fund for me. 


Please help to review the case. I have documents as needed.

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