Consumer complaint received 2019-03-09
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TX
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed

Complaint:
I opened a Citibank Checking and Savings account on XX/XX/XXXX in response to Promotional offer XXXX from Citibank that if I deposited {$50000.00} in new funds into the checking+savings accounts and maintained that balance for 60  days, I would get a {$600.00} bonus. I did everything needed to satisfy the offer, but due to a Citibank funding error, Citibank delayed in funding my account, and they have refused to honor the promotional offer. 


On XX/XX/XXXX when I opened the account over the phone, I provided the funding instructions on that same phone call ( XXXX ) when I opened the account on XX/XX/XXXX to draft the funds from my XXXX XXXX XXXX account. I instructed Citibank to draft {$50000.00} into my new Citibank Savings account under check number starting with " XXXX '' for the XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) date of my request to fund the account. I also asked that they draft {$5000.00} to fund the checking account, for a total of {$55000.00} new funds into the Checking+Savings accounts. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called back to Citibank ( XXXX ) because I noticed the {$50000.00} and {$5000.00} drafts had not taken place. The representative let me know, " Funding of the account should happen in 7 to 10 business days now that the paperwork is complete. '' She also let me know that my debit card for the account had been mailed the previous day, on XX/XX/XXXX. At this point, the representative let me know there was nothing more for me to do to have the account fund, and it would take place in 7 to 10 business days, so I would satisfy the offer for my account opened on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I called Citibank ( XXXX ) again on XX/XX/XXXX because I noticed that my XXXX  XXXX account had still not been drafted by Citibank per the instructions I gave them on XX/XX/XXXX ( and which were confirmed to me on XX/XX/XXXX ). The customer service representative I talked to on XX/XX/XXXX was named XXXX. XXXX was very thorough and investigated the issue. XXXX saw that there was a funding error on Citibank 's side, and he said that he could fix that issue and fund the account. He also talked with the " Assistant VP of his Department '' to confirm that the error was on Citibank 's side and the Assistant VP of the department signed off that there should be no problem with me getting the bonus once I have satisfied the 60 days of maintaining the $ 50,000+ balance. XXXX said he discussed with the Assistant VP of the department that I was now past the original 30 day window to fund with $ 50,000+, but since the funding didn't take place due to Citibank 's error, the offer can still be earned by me. XXXX told me that the funding will use the same XXXX XXXX  Routing/Account numbers that I provided on XX/XX/XXXX, and that the " check numbers '' used in the drafts will be XXXX and XXXX, since I had asked for check numbers with the XXXX in the number for XX/XX/XXXX ( the day I opened the account and provided the funding instructions ). Those two checks did draft on my XXXX XXXX account two days later ( XX/XX/XXXX ), with check XXXX drafting for {$5000.00} for the Citibank Checking and check XXXX drafting for {$50000.00} for the Citibank Savings account. Note that I was not asking for any changes in the funding compared to my instructions on XX/XX/XXXX, and it was a Citibank Error that the funding had not taken place right after XX/XX/XXXX. It took human intervention on Citibank representative XXXX 's part on XX/XX/XXXX to get the Citibank Error corrected. There was nothing I could do beyond what I had already done on XX/XX/XXXX ( which was also confirmed to me on XX/XX/XXXX when I spoke with Citibank as documented above ). XXXX let me know that if I don't get the {$600.00} automatically when the 60 days is up, I can simply call back and ask for a " Dispute '' to be opened, and they will then be able to review the notes on the account and see the Citibank funding error that caused they problem, and they can then honor the offer since I did everything to meet the requirements, and it was only Citibank 's error that caused a problem with the offer. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called Citibank at XXXX and they looked at notes on the account and said the assistant VP of the department signed off that there was Citibank error, and I was still going to be able to qualify for the promotion. The notes from the assistant VP of the Department were clearly on the account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Citibank at XXXX to see if a promotion dispute can be opened for the offer. The gentleman I spoke with reviewed the account and. He said that I should wait until 60  days of maintaining the $ 50k+ as well as an additional 30  days to let the {$600.00} offer credit to happen. He advised me that if I don't see the {$600.00} bonus by XX/XX/XXXX, I should call back and open a dispute. At this point, on XX/XX/XXXX, he reviewed the notes from XX/XX/XXXX and again agreed that the Citibank funding error was properly documented, and that he could see I would qualify for the {$600.00} bonus. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the {$600.00} bonus had still not been credited. I called Citibank at XXXX to check on things At this point, the customer service representative, " XXXX '', said he could not find any notes on my account about a Citibank funding error on XX/XX/XXXX or on any other date. I said, " You're kidding me. '' I couldn't believe that. Did Citibank delete notes from my account that were disadvantageous to them? I really can't believe that a banking institution would be able to delete notes on the account where they acknowledge a funding error that hurts the customer. I asked to open a dispute on the matter, so that my account could be reviewed, and so that Citibank would honor the {$600.00} offer for me keeping $ 50,000+ in the account for months. 

On XX/XX/XXXX Citibank closed my dispute and denied the {$600.00} offer, indicating " Unfortunately, your account does not qualify for this promotion because the required deposit was not made within the stated timeframe. '' I called Citibank on XX/XX/XXXX to open a second dispute. I am doubtful that Citibank will investigate my second dispute thoroughly to find the notes on their Citibank funding error that caused my account to not fund until XX/XX/XXXX when I asked them to fund it on XX/XX/XXXX. It is unethical for Citibank to provide this offer and for me to do everything to meet the offer, call back so many times, and for Citibank to not honor the {$600.00} when the only reason the funding didn't happen on time was due to a Citibank error. Citibank has had my {$50000.00} in a very low interest bearing savings account for months and been letting me know the offer is still good, and then suddenly all of the notes they had about the funding error disappear and they say they won't honor the offer. 

I take very detailed notes with every financial call that I make, so that's why I have the dates and names above.

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