Consumer complaint received 2018-08-26
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
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:
Yesterday ( Sat., XX/XX/XXXX ), at about XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX, I went to my local Citibank branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX , California , XXXX ( branch phone : XXXX ). I have two Citi MasterCardsa ThankYou Rewards card ( opened about 12 years ago ) and a Simplicity card ( opened about 3 years ago ). I am a consumer with a long and strong credit history, having and maintaining a FICO score of at least 700 for about the last 10 years. 

I was at the branch to make cash payment on both cards, which effective XX/XX/XXXX, must be made via ATM ( see Att. A -- Citibank Notice Re Payment Policy Change ). Besides, it was a Saturday evening, and regardless, I have been making cash payments at the branch ATMs for the life of the cards. The branch has two ATMsa walk-up and a drive-thru. I first dipped my ThankYou Rewards card into the walk-up ATM and used the touch screen to navigate to make a cash payment ( as I had done countless times before ), at which point, I was prompted for, and correctly entered, my PIN. My pin is actually the same on both cards and has not changed over the life of the cards. 

Normally, once a PIN is entered, the ATM 's automatic depository opens to receive cash payment. However, this time, the depository did not open. Instead, a blue error screen appeared. It read, in whole, as follows : " I'm Sorry. I can't do that right now. For assistance, please call Customer Service. XXXX Please give this number : XXXX '' ( see Att. B -- Photo of ATM Error Screen ). So, I waited until the screen cleared, at which point, I was automatically logged  out. I then repeated the entire process, which for the second time, produced the same error screen. Thus, I drove to the back of the branch and entered the drive-thru ATM with my car. I repeated the process, which for the third time, produced the same error screen. 

At this point, I though I would test a theory of mine, so while still at the drive-thru ATM, I accessed by second card, the Simplicity MasterCard ( you will remember that I also needed to make a payment on that account as well ). I again navigated to make a cash payment, entered my ATM ( which again, is the same on this second card as it is on the first and has not ever changed ). This time, the depository did open, and I made cash payment on my second card. So, I thought maybe I would try my first card again to see if the issue had cleared up. After doing exactly the same thing again, it again and for the fourth time, produced the same error screen. At this point, I took a digital photo of the error screen with my digital camera ( that is the photographic evidence that I previously said is available on request ). 

Once I arrived home a bit later in the evening at XXXXXXXX XXXX, I called the phone number that the error screen advised I call, reaching a male XXXX agent named XXXX. I reported the problem to him precisely, and he proceeded to authenticate my identity through a process that took nearly five minutes. After putting me on hold, he returned to say that he saw no issues with my card on his end. I asked him what the error code meant. Rather than answer my question, he ignored it entirely and instead repeated that he saw no issue with my card on his end. I asked him if he has a way to lookup the error code. After again placing me on hold, he returned to repeat, yet again, that there was no problem with my card. I grew even more frustrated. I confronted him and asked him what the code means. He said it is a BRANCH error code. I followed up by asking if it is a branch code, then why was I advised by that error message to call customer service instead of visit the branch. He again said there was nothing wrong with my card. I grew angry and insisted that he stop ignoring my question, stop repeating himself ( which he himself admitted he was doing ) and answer my question. He finally confessed that he did not know. I asked him why he did he not just say that to begin with ... why he was not honest. I then asked to speak to someone else who did know the answer to my question/problem. He seemed confused and asked with whom I wanted to speak. I told him that I wanted to speak to someone who knew the answer to my question. After putting me on hold again, he returned to transfer me to his supervisor, XXXX. 

While waiting on hold, I turned on my digital audio recorder for informational and impeachment purposes ( see Att. C ; D ; E -- Audio Recording 1 ; 2 ; 3 of Call  with XXXX ). Then, the supervisor, another XXXX man who was seemingly XXXX-school educated named XXXX, answered and told me that the call was being recorded. XXXX summarized the reason for my call, which was incorrect, so I corrected him by providing the above details. He apologized for his supervisee, XXXX, and then confirmed some of the details of my experience at the ATM. XXXX then told me that the only issue that he sees is that my card has been suspended ( you will recall that XXXX did not even mention this ). I asked him who suspended it? He said it was suspended because the account was over the credit limit, and he GUESSED that the error screen was a way to remind me to " sort things out '' with the branch. 

I grew angrier still. I told XXXX that there was nothing to sort out. I said that Citi wants me to make a payment, and I was trying to make a payment ... nothing to sort out. Then, XXXX searched for what he could say next, when he suddenly blurted out that I need to make a payment over the phone. I lost my temper and said, " No, I'm not making the payment over the phone! '' I said I am making a cash payment and per Citibank, that needs to be done at an ATM. I told XXXX the following : ( a ) The account balance always exceeds the limit at the end of the billing cycle because that is when Citibank hits me with an interest fee, not because I exceeded my spending or cash-advance limit ; ( b ) This is how it has been for over a decade without problem ; and ( c ) Even if the card is suspended for making purchases, I was trying to use it TO MAKE A PAYMENT, not a purchase. Taken aback, XXXX grew nearly silent. He murdered and stammered trying to figure out what to say next. 

Then, taking another shot-in-the-dark with more guessing, XXXX claimed that an email was sent to me in mid XXXX about my account. I confirmed my email address to him. He asked me to log into my email account, which I did. I did a search for the email but did not find it. However, I told XXXX that I remember receiving a Citibank email but told him that it had nothing to do with my account being suspended. I told him that the email was only about the change in policy ( that I mentioned above ) restricting cash payments to being accepted only at ATMs, not inside branch offices. This, of course, was not the issue anyway. Again, not only was I not trying to make a payment in the branch ( as it was Saturday evening ), but also, I had already been in the preferred practice of making cash payments at the ATMs for the entire life of both of my cards anyway. Nevertheless, I told XXXX that because I had also received a hardcopy of the same message but via post, I could go into the other room and try to find it for him if he wanted me to. XXXX declined my offer, apparently realizing that this shot-in-the-dark was not the issue either. In fact, XXXX confirmed that it " sounds like it's just the normal letter that we sent to everybody. '' XXXX then said that he doesn't see any other issue. 

After putting me on hold for some time, XXXX returned to take another guess at the problem : He mentioned something about an old card and a new card. I told him that this is the only card that I have activate on this account. I told him that I had received a new card in the mail some six months prior but had no reason to activate it, as my currently activate card was good until late XXXX. XXXX, apparently convinced that he had finally made the right guess, declared, " That's the problem. '' I asked him what was the problem and why he thought that I could not use my current valid card just to make an ATM payment ( not even for purchases ). He responded by effectively admitting that he was only guessing that this was the issue at the ATM. He then said that he could activate that new card, at which point, I insisted he slow down for a moment so that I could understand the so-called problem. I asked him if I was being required to activate the new card because it is more secure. He responded that it was " equally secure '' but it is " more updated, '' which did not clarify WHY, if that was the case, that I had to use a new card. XXXX even asked me about the condition of my current active card, and I told him that it is in perfect condition, which further made my point : That my current, valid, " equally secure, '' and good-condition card should work and that I should not be forced to activating a new card. Even then, all of this remained an assumption. In fact, XXXX later again and more explicitly admitted, " That's the thing ; I'm not sure what was the reason, '' at which point I can be heard on the recording exasperatedly saying, " Oh my XXXX ... '' At this point, I was fed up. Although the conversation with XXXX continued for another 15+ minutes, it devolved rapidly and never recovered, so I will simply summarize the key points and reaffirm my offer to provide a digital copy of the audio recording that I made. At one point, XXXX had apparently grown so frustrated with ME that he asked to put me on hold to step away for " a drink of water, '' a request that I obliged. At another point, XXXX begins to say something that was clearly going to be snarky : " Well, Mr. XXXX, I think you're just ... '', but he stopped himself from finishing it. When I pressed him on it, he wisely chose not to finish his personal and obviously inappropriate comment. However, at another point, XXXX let loose and snidely said, " You're not calling to get help ; you're calling to complain. '' I shot back by saying that these are not mutually exclusive concepts ; on the contrary, I could not ask for help unless there were a problem about which to complain. I further reminded XXXX that he and his agent had only offered guesses, none of which solved my problem, and I reminded him that customer service personnel get PAID to hear complaints and solve problems, while I and other customers do not get paid to waste our time by being inconvenience and led around from one guess to guess. I told XXXX that I too was recording the call and that if he kept in this direction, I would close both accounts and forward a copy of the recording to Citibank. His response sealed the deal : XXXX replied, " Well, sir, that's not really a threat to me. '' I immediately demanded that he close BOTH of my credit accounts, which XXXX did effective immediately. I then gave XXXX another chance to take another dig at me, a nearly-15-year client, but this time, he wisely declined my offer. 

BOTTOM LINE : I called to resolve my inability to make a payment on one of my Citibank credit accounts per Citibank 's own policy. More than one HOUR later, and I had CLOSED BOTH ACCOUNTS. I, a TWELVE-YEAR customer with multiple accounts consistently in good standing, was all but TAUNTED into walking away from Citibank having closed two accounts, and all on the back of a SUPERVISOR 'S guesses, the last of which was that I was SUSPENDED from MAKING PAYMENT to Citibank, despite my doing so per Citibank 's own explicit policy. A bank that doesn't want my moneyMessage received loud and clear. 

NOTE : I broke up the audio proof into three parts/attachments so that your system 's file-size limit would not prevent the upload. Further, the audio in all three files contains the occasional blip resulting from my bumping my desk during the call ( I was understandably animated at times while speaking ) ; please do excuse this issue, as it does not alter or obscure the substance of the recording in any way.

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