Consumer complaint received 2020-10-12
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NC
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I was making a large purchase with Home Depot for several XXXX tools. At the time ( and still currently ) Home Depot was having a sale on XXXX tools offering a certain amount off when you spend so much, which I qualified for. When viewing the cart for my purchase it showed my subtotal then the amount of savings ( for the XXXX sale ) and then my Total. Right below that there was an additional offer to apply for the Home Depot credit card for my purchase. The promotional offer was if in a single purchase {$300.00} was spent you would receive a {$50.00} credit ( if approved ). Directly in the cart page it shows the math for the benefit of applying. It took the Total mentioned above ( after the savings ) and then showed an additional {$50.00} off ( because the purchase was greater than {$300.00} ) with a New Total leading me as the consumer to believe that the transaction it was basing its math on was eligible for the  promotion and my New Total would be {$50.00} less. Im attaching an example screenshot from their website today to show how it displays to consumers showing the savings in the transaction as well as the additional savings for the credit card. Based on this display I applied for the credit card with the sole purpose of getting the additional {$50.00} savings. I was approved for the credit card. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I contacted XXXX ( for Home Depot Card ) through their online message tool to inquire when the {$50.00} credit  would be applied. On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I received and what appeared to be an automated response that my account was being reviewed by a specialist and they would contact me back to notify me of the findings ( which they never did ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX I still had not received a response so I messaged them again to follow up on the request. The following day XX/XX/XXXX I received a response that said they could not respond and I needed to call. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called Citibank to inquire. I explained to the first representative I spoke with that I was looking for the missing promo credit. She acknowledged right away that she was aware of the promo and offered to review my account. After reviewing the transaction she explained that because of the promo I received for the XXXX sale that I was not eligible for the {$50.00} for opening the credit card ( you apparently cant receive both credits ). I explained that I did not recall seeing anything that indicates that and in fact recalled it actually showing on the screen the additional {$50.00}. I also explained that was the sole reason I even applied for the card and that the reason she saw multiple debits /credits prior to the qualifying purchase was because I was ordering online and even though it indicates on multiple items that the items were available and allowed me to purchase, when the store went to fulfill the orders they didnt actually have the items. This caused the purchase to go below the {$300.00}, which caused me to cancel the rest and reorder a couple of times because I was trying to meet the requirements of the promo which had to be {$300.00} in a single transaction. The  {$500.00} transaction on XX/XX/XXXX was the ultimate qualifying purchase. I was basically told there was nothing that could be done. I requested to close the account as the promo was the only reason I opened it. 

The conversation didnt sit well as I specifically recall playing close attention in making the decision to apply in order to get the {$50.00} credit. I felt duped, mislead, and angry that they werent honoring what they advertised, especially since it took multiple tries to get it all to fulfill over {$300.00} and attempts to get Citibank to respond. After the call I pulled up the Home Depot site again to see what I had missed. I created a mock order similar to my original and sure enough it was showing both the savings in the transaction AND an additional {$50.00} for applying for the card. I took a screenshot ( attached ) and called back Citibank. I spoke with another representative, again explained the whole situation plus the additional double check on the website. She stated the same as the first representative so I asked to escalate the call and spoke with an escalation team member. I explained that it was very misleading to the consumer showing the math, including both discounts showing a new total. I offered to send the screenshot to show how the website was misleading. She indicated they do not have email. When I explained how the math showed she said it shouldnt say that and didnt seem to believe me. Since she couldnt get my screenshot I asked her to create her own mock order which she did and first said she didnt see where it was showing that. I explained I wasnt sure what to say, it was showing on my end. She then asked exactly what I put in to get it to show and she recreated the same transaction as me so we could go line by line. She then referenced terms in the Apply Now, which now that she points out the fine print I recognize it indicates the offer is not eligible with other discounts. To be honest I didnt consider this sale a discount and the cart page references it as savings, not a discount. She now acknowledged that the page was showing the additional {$50.00} to apply then saying but when you apply in the terms it says you cant have two discounts. She offered no resolution. I asked how do I escalate further and she provided a PO Box for an Executive Response team

. After speaking with 3 people after 2 unsuccessful contact through the online help I decided to escalate on this complaint instead of another contact to Citibank. This is extremely misleading and appears quite unethical. The
website specifically shows the consumer the math for both the savings in the purchase from the sale as well as the additional {$50.00} to apply for their credit card ( reference screenshot attached ). I personally have been in the financial industry for 20+ years so consider myself quite savvy on financial matters and can imagine the consumer without a financial background could often be mislead based on the deceptive practices being employed on the website to generate new credit card accounts.

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 monetary relief