Consumer complaint received 2021-12-12
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MD
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, I received a notice from Citi Cards that my credit card was going to be expiring soon and that they would be unable to reissue my card. The issue is that I have a charge off on my credit report. 

On XXXX XXXX XXXX, I called to discuss this with someone and was told by multiple representatives that there was nothing that they could do until my card actually expired. I asked many times to speak to a supervisor and eventually got to someone who gave me a mailing address or fax number that I could submit a complaint to the " Citi Credit Bureau Reports '' which, I was told, was the only part of Citi that has the detailed information about my account that would be able to look into the issue but that there was no phone number associated with and you could only mail or fax information to. 

After this was faxed I received a document on XXXX XXXX, in my online account saying that my request for reissue would be forwarded to the appropriate area for investigation. I then received one voicemail from Citi saying they received my request and that if I still wanted to speak with someone I could call the generic customer service number. 

On XX/XX/2021, I tried calling going through the general customer service number again to discuss with an appropriate party. The first person I spoke to said there was nothing they could do. I asked for a supervisor and was transferred. I then spoke to the supervisor who said they could not do anything until my card expired on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained that that would be a problem because then I would not have access to a credit card for a period of time since the card would be expired. She said she would try to put through a request to reissue but that usually it wouldn't work until the card was expired. It did not work. I asked to speak to someone else. I was finally transferred to an account manager in the US who again told me there was nothing I could do but wait and request that the card be reissued after the card was expired. I explained again that this did not see right. I wanted to speak with someone about my specific situation, that I could not believe that after having this credit card with Citi for XXXX years in excellent standing, and still being in excellent standing with this card that a one off Macy 's card that happened to be a citi card that was sold to collections for a less than {$100.00} balance that was overlooked, that was taken care of as soon as collections contacted me and was going to cause Citi to cancel my card that I have had with them for XXXX years. She continues to tell me there was nothing she could do and that there was no one else higher than her that I could speak with about the issue. She finally did the same thing the other representative did and said she would try to push through a reissue request, but again it wouldn't let her go through with it because my card was expired. 

At this point I have spoken to XXXX customer service representatives from Citi and have been given no information or route to discuss my specific circumstance with someone from Citi. I understand that my credit report shows a charge off card. I do not want to dispute that on my credit report it is accurate and I took care of it as soon as I realized that the Macy 's card that I only used once a year had been sent to collections. My problem is that I had an XXXX XXXX XXXX Citi card that was and has always been in good standing and no one at Citi who would discuss in detail and with care why they would not be able to continue my service aside from the fact that when they run my credit report they see that charge off. 

I then conceded and waited until XXXX to call and ask that they to request the reissue. On XXXX XXXX, I received a communication that my reissue request has been declined, again because of the charge- off listed on my credit report. 

I understand that I am at fault for allowing the Macy 's card to go into default and that the charge off appears there for that reason. However, as stated I took card of this promptly when I did get called by collections. I however, continue to be baffled at how there is no one that can discuss my complaint with me in more detail after I have been a customer for XXXX  years. I have done everything I could possibly figured out to do in order to reach out to the right people and get the appropriate people on the phone and to have the option that they keep pointing me to come back with the same generic response that my card can not be renewed simply because of the credit report showing a charge off just does not seem like good customer service and it seems hard to believe that after XXXX  years of being a customer with Citi there is no one that can discuss this with me and give it the appropriate attention. 

In the mean time I had no problem opening a different credit card with XXXX, so clearly this is a Citi specific issue as my credit is good, almost excellent on my credit report.

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 non-monetary relief