Consumer complaint received 2019-09-13
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
Citibank automation called me and it was difficult to get to a person. The recording said that I owed money and this was an attempt to collect a debt. I pressed 0 repeatedly and finally got to a person, XXXX ( agent ID # XXXX call back # XXXX ) from Citibank collections. She didnt know anything about the debt and could not locate any information. She said no manager was available. I asked her to document that I wanted no more phone calls from Citibank. After 30 minutes of my time waiting she told me I owed {$38.00} and she finally notated my account so that I would not receive further calls, she said. XXXX then told me that she would transfer me to customer service to resolve the debt claim and I waited on hold another 11 minutes and then was disconnected with no resolution. 

In XXXX I was visiting XXXX XXXX where there was a Citi branch and I went in to pay the existing Citibank credit card. I was told that I could not pay for the credit card in cash unless I had a bank account with Citi. I asked if I would be able to deposit money in the ATM to the account as I did not have Citi branches near me at my address that Citi already had for me on my credit card. I was told that I could. So I opened a savings account to be able to pay the credit card. Then Citi changed my address on file. I did not get the ATM card for a month because they changed my address on file. When calling I told them I needed a card to make a cash deposit and verified again that I could do that. I was told that as soon as I had the ATM card that I could make a deposit. I could not. I called them when I got the card and it didnt work. They spent time trying to find a branch near me. I said that I just needed an ATM that would take deposits and they said that they did not have that anywhere near me. So I said I didnt need the account as I couldnt use it. Citi did not close the account. They charged me monthly service fee of {$38.00} ( According to XXXX as I can not see it in writing ) for a savings account an did not send me notice of this. 

Citi compounds their customer service problems by having a website that it is perennially showing this notice when I sign in : 'Were experiencing a temporary technical issue. Please try again later. ' Further, when I can log in I can only see my credit card and never was able to view the savings account under my Citi accounts. 

Citibank is extorting slave labor from its customers : forcing us to use our time, phone, computer, other equipment, education, and skills to defend ourselves from attacks on our reputation and credit to escape Citibank 's unscrupulous business model dependent on fees for illegitimate bank accounts that don't work. 

So how do I resolve this attack from Citibank? keep calling them in the hopes that they will stop trying to extort my time and money? There is no accountability for these harassing tactics of Citibank that extort my time, talent, labor, and resources.

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