Consumer complaint received 2018-01-27
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
My Citibank card was charged five times in XXXX, TX : XX/XX/2017 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX   XXXX, TX {$1.00} XX/XX/2017 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX {$600.00} XX/XX/2017 XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX {$250.00} XX/XX/2017 XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX {$280.00} XX/XX/2017 XXXX - XXXX XXXX {$38.00} I normally check my bank and credit card statements on a weekly if not daily basis. Around XX/XX/XXXX I discovered that my Citi credit card had five charges that did not belong to me. I immediately called Citi customer service. I gave them the information they needed over the phone and said that they would get back to me. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter from Citi stating that since the card was in my possession at the time those charges were made, I was responsible for such charges. I immediately called Citi customer service again and spoke with a few representatives several times, none of which were able to help me saying they would look into it. I had to explain everything over again to about 5 or 6 representatives, recounting the whole ordeal over again to each new person. On XX/XX/XXXX, one of the representatives agreed with me, saying that if those were not my charges they will be credited back to my account on the next billing cycle. The next billing cycle being on XX/XX/XXXX. I waited until XX/XX/XXXX and I noticed that the charges had not been credited back to my account. So, I called back to Citi several more times and explained once again my entire concern and they said that they couldnt do anything and that I had to pay for those charges. I then requested to speak with a supervisor. At that particular moment a supervisor was not available, so they took my information and then XXXX from Security Investigations called me back, once again I explained the entire problem and they said they will call me back. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX, a supervisor from Citi called me back and said that since the card was physically used they can not credit those amounts back to my card. 

I was extremely disappointed and I asked her who should I write to, in order to pursue this dispute, since I didnt make those charge and was never in the city where those charges had been made. She then told me that I had to write to the Office of the President at XXXX, XXXX, SD. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I wrote to the Office of the President explaining my concern ( letter enclosed ). Few days after sending the letter, XXXX from the Office of the President called. Once again I had to explain everything that had happened to me. She said by XX/XX/XXXX she would have an answer and would call me back. When she called me back, she told me they were still investigating, but they had removed the charges from the gas station and the vending machine. The other charges, however, would take a little longer and she would get back to me. I have been in touch with her since then, trying to find out if this matter was resolved or not, but she still said that they were investigating and nothing was concrete yet. Finally, on XX/XX/XXXX, she called me saying that they could not credit the amounts back to my card because they couldnt get the necessary information from the vendors. She told me Citi had contacted the vendor 's banks but they wouldnt offer any information. She went ahead and googled the restaurants to provide me with their phone numbers. XXXX XXXX phone number is XXXX and XXXX XXXX phone number XXXX. She suggested that I should call and try to get the information myself. 

I went ahead and called the numbers and both were dead ends. The number of XXXX XXXX lead to an automated response that said subscriber not available and the one for XXXX XXXX was a number for a private residence, not a restaurant. I looked at a different number online and that one ( XXXX ) led to a voicemail that was not set up. At this point, I am very frustrated that Citibank wants me to pay for something that I never bought in a city I havent been to in the past decade. 

I have also included letters exchanged with Citibank.

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