Consumer complaint received 2021-10-23
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: UT
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
To whom it may concern, I have had an incredibly poor experience with Citi as it relates to making a significant payment to my Costco Citi card account. One which still remains unresolved, and now will have continued repercussions on my credit report- all because of the ineptitude of Citi. 
In XX/XX/XXXX, I refinanced my mortgage and as part of that, received checks to help pay off some of my credit cards- my Costco Citi card being one of those in the amount of {$4400.00}. I received and mailed the checks out to all of my creditors on XX/XX/XXXX, complete with details pertaining to which account I was paying off with the last four digits of my account number. 
Creditors began posting these payments quickly, though Citi lagged behind, prompting me to contact them to figure out the situation. During my first contact with them on XXXX the Citi rep recommended that I reach out to the financial issuer to see if we may be able to provide a status update, as it hadnt appeared that the payments have been received by Citi yet. XXXX XXXX XXXX confirmed that Citi cashed the checks for my account on XX/XX/XXXX and that it cleared on XX/XX/XXXX. 
On XXXX the title company received a letter that the full account number was missing on the checks, which they shared with me and promoted me to contact Citi once more. After a 25 minute phone call, the representative processed the payment over the phone leveraging the title companys account number, routing number, and check number- which bounced a few days later on XX/XX/XXXX as the funds had already been taken with the initial receipt of the checks. 
On XX/XX/XXXX after reviving an email that this payment had been returned unpaid, I reached out to the title company to see what was going on and if they may have any suggestions for what to do. They said that normally they would request a stop payment but where it was visible that the check had cashed, it was not an option and that the best course of action was to contact Citi again. 
During my XX/XX/XXXX call with Citi, I had a great and helpful representative assisting me. We were able to locate the check with the title companys account number, routing number, and check number again and they were able to ensure that this was to be applied to my account- though it would take a few days. The rep informed me to contact Citi on Saturday XX/XX/XXXX or Monday XX/XX/XXXX if I didnt see it post to my account before then. Fair enough. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Citi again to see why the payment hadnt posted, and was getting more frustrated as I didnt know when my account would cycle and report to my credit bureaus with a high balance- when it should reflect this $ XXXX payment - having a negative impact on my credit bureau for no fault of my own. This representative said that they needed to reinitiate an investigation into the payment & gathered my contact information. When I inquired about possibly crediting the payment amount to my account to prevent negative reporting from occurring due to this mix-up, they submitted a request to have the payment adjusted & that it will process within the next 2 business days. When I asked how this would be different from the failed/returned payment credit from before, the rep said that permanently correcting the payment will require an investigation process & they couldnt provide a timeframe for this to happen. Though the credit will be posted within 2 business days while Citi looked into things further. 
Lo and behold- here we are on XX/XX/XXXX and still no payment or mentioned credit has posted. At this point, I am incessantly frustrated and merely want this to be resolved once and for all. The incompetence of Citi to figure this out in over the month since things have been sent & cashed is insane. XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX all figured things out, why cant Citi. My standing is going to inaccurately be harmed as a result of Citis incompetence, which is why I am finally reaching out to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for assistance - clearly my own best attempts to get things resolved havent done a thing. I merely want my payment to be credited to the account the way it should have been done a month ago. I also expect that Citi pay all of the interest that has been wrongfully accrued on the incorrect balance over the past month. All of the time, money, and stress spent pouring over this situation has become incredibly frustrating and stressful. I sincerely appreciate this being brought to the attention of the CFPB for the deception and harm that Citi has brought forth during this situation. 

Regards, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation