Consumer complaint received 2018-02-16
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:
On XX/XX/2017 I went to a business trip to XXXX XXXX. I took a customer and a coworker to have few drinks a bar called XXXX   XXXX after dinner. When the server took us to our table I was asked for my credit card to open a tab which I agree because this is a very common practice in the U.S when you go to a bar. When we were ready to leave, they presented me with a non itemized bill for {$1400.00} US dollars. I invite customers for drinks all the time either here in the U.S or in XXXX and I have never paid this kind of money for just drinks .Right away I told the server he had made a mistake since we only had a few drinks. The server insisted it was the right amount so I asked to talk to the manager. The manager came and also insisted that the amount was correct so I declined to sign for my voucher. 

He asked us to go to his office so we could talk about this charge, once we were in his office he asked me to show him my ID to check if I was the owner of the credit card. I gave him my ID card and immediately he took a picture of my ID with his cellphone. We argue for a few minutes I asked him to call the cops to resolved this issue but he never did, since he did not call the cops I told him to let us go or I was going to call the U.S embassy, after a few minutes they let us go but I NEVER signed the voucher. When I arrived to my hotel. I called Citi Card Customer Service to report this issue. I explained the problem to the first agent and she transferred me to the fraud department where I explained my situation and I was told not to worry they gave me a credit for the amount and canceled my credit card few days later the charged my card again I called back and after taking to several people I was told the case was closed and I couldn't do anything. I asked to talk to a supervisor he apologized and told me that I was sent to the wrong department ( I disagree because this is clearly a fraud ) so he directed me to the billing dispute department were they gave me another credit but days later those charges where posted again on my account. After reviewing the merchant 's response documentation I have the following observations. 


1.- Since the first day I called Citi Cards on XX/XX/XXXX I told the agent I NEVER signed the voucher. After that in all the calls I made to Citi Card Customer Service I stated several times that I NEVER signed the voucher 2.- The customer response states that this is an establishment with meal first and pay later which is a complete lie. If this is a meal first and pay later bar I would have never given my credit card to the waiter after seeing this outrageous charge. They also mention I was satisfied with the service that's another lie. If I was so satisfied why did I have to go to the managers office to argue about this charge? 

3.- Citi Card made its final decision based on a copy of a " signed '' voucher which I NEVER signed. ( Forging a signature is illegal ). Note again that I stated several times in all my phone calls with Citi Customer Service that I NEVER signed the voucher. The signature in the copy of the voucher Citi Card sent me doesn't look like my signature at all they probably tried to forge it with the picture they took of my ID. I always sign with a big signature that basically covers a big portion of the receipt. Citi Card has many copies of my signatures on file you also must have copies of my signature but they probably never checked it. 

4.- I was never presented with a itemized bill. I asked Citi Cards to ask this establishment to send a copy of the itemized list of the drinks we consumed because I was always curios of why this place was so expensive. 

5.- I have been entertaining customers for many years in several countries and I have never been charged {$1400.00} US dollars just for drinks ( dinner at a high end steak house doesn't cost this money ) I ask Citi Card to check my spending history since I use their credit card for business expenses. This kind of money is a fortune in XXXX. I also want to mention that this is not a high end establishment. 

I have been a Citi customer for several years.I have never been late with my payments and right now I don't feel they are taking care of me as their customer. They advertise this card as a card for travelers with fraud protection ( this is clearly a fraud and they won't do anything ) and I don't think they are doing a good job protecting me. It is evident that this bar is committing fraud ( 1. Outrageous charge, 2.Forging my signature. 3. Lying about Meal fist Pay later ). I feel like Citi cards just takes any lame answer from the merchant and don't really care about protecting a loyal customer. I also want to mention that I was never contacted by any Citi Card agent to resolve this problem.

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