Consumer complaint received 2020-01-21
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Notification didn't disclose it was an attempt to collect a debt

Complaint:
In XXXX, XXXX, I registered for a Citibank credit card to pay for the item I purchased at Home Depot. They asked for some basic information and my driver 's license then told me it was all set. 

I went to Home Depot 1 week after my purchase as I didnt receive any letters or the credit card. They told me to stay tuned or ask the bank directly. When I called CitiBank, they were not able to locate my account number/balance according to my SSN. 

We moved out from the old address since XX/XX/XXXX. When I was registering for the credit card, they didnt double check my current address but assumed to use my billing address. I am aware of my responsibility to update my information, but the bank was not able to find my account due to the wrong SSN they had. Home Depot also had my email address, but I didnt get any notifications from Home Depot or CitiBank After collecting all the letters from my old address, I called Citibank again regarding how to pay the balance. They froze my account and put it under debt collection. They corrected all of information after my call and kept adding interests to my account. I asked them whether they could waive the interests since it was not my problem. The staff told me to fax a letter explaining the situation to the dispute department ( the only way to communicate with the department ). It took more than a week to hear back from the department. Meanwhile, the interests were still adding up. They mailed me a letter back ( as attached ) asking me to call the number below.

I called the bank once again the following day. The staff answering my call told me that he was not able to see the detailed information, nor my fax history. After explaining my situation ( the letter I got from the dispute department ), he said he's not able to do anything. I need to fax the dispute department again, asking them what else they need from me. Ask them if they have more questions. Faxing back and forth seems a very inefficient way to deal with the problem, and none of the staff had a definite answer. 

To resolve the problem, Id appreciate help to waive the unreasonable interests. Im happy to pay for the initial amount. Home Depot/Citi Bank should improve their service as : Home Depot had all of my information wrong ( address, SSN, etc. ). I was not deliberately avoiding to pay the balance, but was not able to ( they had my information wrong at first, by the time I picked up the letters, my account was frozen ) Citibank was resolving the problem in an extremely inefficient way and made it hard to communicate ( the case was not assigned to any staff. Staff answering the call was unprofessional. Departments were kicking the ball. Dispute Department sent a letter back asking me to call the debt collection department. When I called, the staff told me to ONLY fax the dispute department again )

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