Consumer complaint received 2023-02-06
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Didn't receive terms that were advertised

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Citi XXXX XXXX XXXX with an offer to earn up to a {$300.00} bonus if I met the following criteria : " Open a Citi XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX and make the required minimum deposit within 20 days of opening your account and maintain the required minimum balance for an additional 60 consecutive days. '' ( {$300.00} bonus if the account was opened prior to XX/XX/XXXX and I maintained a balance of {$30000.00} or more ; the bonus was {$100.00} for balances less than this over {$10000.00} ). 

The e-mail explicitly stated that ANY Citi XXXX XXXX Account was eligible for this promotion - " Certain Savings Accounts are eligible for the Citi XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Any Citi XXXX XXXX Account opened during the Offer Period that you continue to own until the end of the Maintenance Period in the Access Account Package can qualify for the Citi XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. '' I used the link directly in the email to open a new Citi XXXX  XXXX Account XX/XX/XXXX. 
I make a deposit of {$30000.00} in New-to-Citibank Funds, in XXXX Citi XXXX XXXX Account balance on XX/XX/XXXX ( within the required 20 days of opening the Account ). 
I maintained the {$30000.00} balance in the Account until XX/XX/XXXX ( beyond the required 60 consecutive calendar days after the XXXX day from the date that the Minimum Deposit was met. 
My Citi XXXX XXXX Account and my Citi XXXX XXXX credit card account remained open and in good standing from the time the Citi XXXX XXXX Account was opened I contacted customer service in XXXX ( before I took any money out of the Savings Account ) to make sure that I had met the requirements to receive the bonus BEFORE I removed any funds from the account. The representative I spoke with confirmed that I met the criteria and that my Bonus was supposed to be paid to my Savings Account by XX/XX/XXXX ( within 90 days after I successfully completed all required activities ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted customer service via online chat to ask about the bonus. The representative confirmed that I met the criteria to receive the bonus, but since the bonus was not " due '' until that day, they asked me to wait in case the bonus posted that day and to follow up the next day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) if the bonus did not post to my account. 

Since the bonus did not post, I contacted customer service via chat again on XX/XX/XXXX and they opened a case to investigate the missing bonus ( case ID XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ). I did not receive any correspondence or follow up, so I again contacted customer service on XX/XX/XXXX. They escalated the case and advised me to reach out again if I did not receive a response within 14 days. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Citi entitled " Our Research Results '' that indicated " Unfortunately, your account does not qualify for this promotion because the Basic Banking package is not eligible for this promotion. '' I did not open a " Basic Banking '' savings account. I opened a Citi XXXX XXXX Account using the direct link that was provided in the original targeted offer email. I don't see any distinction on my account that says my savings account is a " basic '' account, and the account description online and in my app say it is a Citi XXXX  XXXX Account. Additionally, the offer email indicated that ANY Citi XXXX XXXX Account was eligible for this promotion. 

Both times that I spoke with the representatives ( in XX/XX/XXXX and on XX/XX/XXXX ), they confirmed that I had met the requirements to qualify for this promotion. The interest rate on this account is substantially lower than my other savings accounts, so I lost out on valuable interest because of this " bait and switch '' tactic and even after confirming that I was eligible, Citi did not honor it's promotion. 

I would like to receive the bonus that I was offered ( and earned ) of {$300.00}. 

Thank you for your assistance with this matter and have a great day!

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