Consumer complaint received 2019-08-28
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem accessing account

Complaint:
- In ~XXXX XXXX, I opened two bank accounts at Citibank in XXXX XXXX XXXX Massachusetts , with my tenant. One account was the deposit for a rental property, and the other was the management account - through which rent would be paid, etc. 

- I logged in online shortly thereafter and verified that there were two accounts and both of them had initial deposits. I have an initial statement from the account opening. 

- In XXXX, I realized I only had access to one account and visited Citibank in XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX, trying to restore access to the second account. They searched for the account by my name and social security number but could not find it. 

- On XX/XX/XXXX, I visited the branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX, trying to restore access to the second account. I spoke with a manager who also couldn't find the account. She asked me to call the Fraud department at XXXX. I sat in the branch and called the fraud department, who passed me to XXXX at customer service. 

XXXX told me to call XXXX on Monday to speak to the back office team who should have visibility into how the accounts were merged. We think the account was merged to some other branch when Citibank pulled out of Massachusetts. 

- On XX/XX/XXXX, I called the back office team and got forwarded to XXXX, an account specialist. He opened a case to look for a similar account, created on the same day, with the same people. He gave me a case number and told me that they would contact me in 5-7 business days. He also noted that I didn't have access to the business login, and he would send me instructions on how to get my business login back. 

- XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email saying I had a secure message, but when I logged in online I couldn't see any messages. I tried working with the online help chat, but they couldn't help me. They said the message must have been sent to my business login, which I don't have access to. I was passed to the customer service line at XXXX - speaking to XXXX at XXXX. He suspects that I cant see it because Im logged into the personal customer portal. But I cant login to the business portal because my login has been canceled. XXXX looked up my business case number and told me that someone had updated the case file today - they have performed an investigation and closed the case, they couldnt find anything. He recommended that I call the business team tomorrow to follow up at XXXX. 

- XX/XX/XXXX, I called the business team again. I spoke to XXXX, who forwarded me to an account supervisor, XXXX. After chatting with XXXX about the documentation I have, XXXX said that it is a sub-account associated with the control account ( the account that I have access to ). She says that if the account was opened online, I should be able to see it, but I said I opened it at the branch. She says we can not see things that a branch opens and there is an office at the branch, but I told her the branch is closed, it has been closed for four years. Shes looking for the branch that opened it. 

She told me to contact the branch at : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Connecticut, XXXX I contacted the XXXX branch and spoke to XXXX, who passed me to his supervisor XXXX. XXXX took my name and number and account information and said she would track this down and call me back. 

- XX/XX/XXXX. I called the XXXX branch to check in, but XXXX wasn't working that day - they said something about a temporary situation with rotating managers. I spoke with XXXX, a manager who put in a request with the back office team ( who I'd already spoken to! ) to send her copies of the original account opening statements from XXXX. She said this would take 24 hours, and I said I'd call her back. 

I XXXX  Citibank : @ Citibank @ XXXX I'm looking for an account. I've been in contact with 3 branches, the back office department, the fraud department, and nobody can find what happened to this account - despite my having documentation from Citibank that shows this account existed. Help? 

- XX/XX/XXXX. I called the XXXX branch back, but they were closed ( they close early on Wednesdays ). 
I called the back office team again - I have more documentation now and I'm sure what the account number is. I'm speaking to XXXX at escalations, and I give her my account number and she says it doesn't exist. I say that I have a statement in front of me that shows that it existed, can she track down what happened to it? She takes my name, social security number, and asks for the name of my business, but I don't know what the business name is. She tells me she can not verify me and therefore I need to go to a branch. 

I tell her that I've been to three branches and I am happy to go back to a branch, but what will they be able to do? She says they can verify me. I said they weren't able to find the account last time, why will they be able to find the account this time? 

At this point, I am submitting complaints to the FRB, OCC, and CFPB. I have no response from Citibank on XXXX.

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