Consumer complaint received 2020-02-21
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Account opened as a result of fraud

Complaint:
Citibank deceptively and fraudulently sent me multiple offers for the same promotion to open up a new checking account. I previously had zero checking accounts but have 2 credit card accounts ( Citi Prestige and Citi Premier ). Over the last 6 months I have spent about {$200000.00} on those accounts. The offer was the following : 1 ) Open up a new Citi checking account 2 ) Make debit card purchase ( s ) of at least {$750.00} in the first 60 days 3 ) Use online bill pay to the same merchant at least two consecutive months in the first 60 days I used the Citibank email ( that I attached a screen shot of ) that had a " GET STARTED '' link to then open up the page to open the Citibank Priority account that had the promotion connected to that link. I completed all the information requested and my account was opened on XX/XX/XXXX ( email attached showing confirmation opening the account ). I then proceeded to fulfill all the requirements to satisfy the promotion. Here are the dates and amounts of the transactions ( Account snapshot ) attached : 1 ) XX/XX/XXXX : Funded account with {$2000.00} 2 ) XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX online bill payment for {$35.00} 3 ) XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX bill payment for {$750.00} 4 ) XX/XX/XXXX : XXXX XXXX online bill payment for {$35.00} I even call Citi at the end of XXXX to confirm that my account was setup and confirm I had fulfilled all the requirements except needing one more online bill payment ( which I fulled on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I then patiently waited for my XXXX bonus points to be transferred to my account which did not get transferred. I called Citi on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with a supervisor named XXXX ( her team # is XXXX ). She said she would escalate the review. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Citi ( attached ) stating " You've earned your Thank You Points! You've successfully completed the required activities for your special Citi Offer. We'll credit your ThankYou Points to your account within 30 days ''. 

After receiving this email, I believed that everything was fine and would be credited the points to my account. However, I received a follow up letter today XX/XX/XXXX stating, " Unfortunately, there was not a ThankYou promotion offered in conjunction with the opening of your account. While Citi does offer ThankYou promotions at times, those offers are only available to the individual to whom the offer was addressed ''. 

After receiving this letter today, I called back and requested to speak to a supervisor and spoke with XXXX ( Team # XXXX ). She was completely unhelpful and would only read what was in the letter. I also filed a written complaint with Citibank today as well to further document what happened. 

Here is a recap : 1 ) I used the Citibank promotional email and link to open the checking account. 
2 ) I satisfied all the requirements to receive the promotional reward 3 ) I received confirmation from Citibank in XXXX that there was only one last step needed to complete the reward. 
4 ) I received confirmation from Citibank that I had satisfied all the requirements of the reward 5 ) Citibank today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) sent me a letter stating I do not qualify for the reward. 

This is clearly deceptive and fraudulent business practices that remind me of the practices of XXXX XXXX in order to profit unscrupulously from their customers. This fraud should not be tolerated by the government and ask that the government to intervene to ensure that Citibank resolve this issue and prevent it from this further fraud. 

Here is a recap of the documents submitted in conjunction with this complaint : 1 ) Citibank emailed me at XXXX and addressed to me personally dated XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX  with the offer referenced in this complaint 2 ) Pictures of the mailed offer Citibank addressed and sent me for this same promotional offer 3 ) Screenshot of the account activity that I satisfied all three requirements of the promotion which again were : 1 ) open an account by XX/XX/XXXX, 2 ) Spend {$750.00} on my Citi debit card, and 3 ) make 1 qualifying bill payment for 2 consecutive months within the same 60 day window 4 ) Email from Citibank on XX/XX/XXXX confirming I had invite completed all the requirements of the Citibank Offer 5 ) Copy of the Citibank letter dated XX/XX/XXXX stating I was denied now the XXXX ThankYou Points because Citi claims I never received an offer for this promotion 6 ) Copy of formal complaint with Citibank about this issue

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