Consumer complaint received 2018-03-09
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: ID
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:
I am complaining about being given miss information about how to pay my expiring 0 % interest promo rates. My problem is that now my plan to pay off the credit card without paying interest is completely built on incorrect information and I do not have the funds set up at the right times and will pay interest even though I called ahead to verify how to not pay interest. I will have to borrow money to make my XX/XX/XXXX payment as I dont get paid until XX/XX/XXXX.

What happened : Over 6 months ago I took advantage of a special promo 1.99 % rate on an existing credit card. It was my mistake to not ask beforehand if I could pay the balance from my 0 % rates, after the first statement I talked to them and they explained I could not request my payments to go toward the 0 % rates. So I started putting all but the minimum monthly amount into savings. 
I talked to a representative of Citi Bank for my Diamond Preferred card over the phone over a month before the XX/XX/XXXX expiry date. I called specifically so that I would know how to pay off my expiring intro rate ( exp. XX/XX/XXXX ) and balance transfer ( exp. XX/XX/XXXX ) both of which are over 20 % interest when they expire. I was told that if I call within 9 days of the expiration of the interest rate that I could call and ask specifically to pay off the first expiring amount because interest would be immediately charged once it expired because my cycle ends on XX/XX/XXXX. She also said that I would not owe interest on my XX/XX/XXXX expiring 0 % interest ( since it was on the next cycle ) as long as I paid by the due date in XX/XX/XXXX.

So since I am paid today XX/XX/XXXX. I planned to have enough money to pay off the first expiring balance before it would cost me interest and on my next paycheck I could pay off the other expiring intro rate and again not pay interest. 
Well this morning I tried to call their customer service line and every time I was transferred to a customer service rep from their automated line there was some message that was too fast to understand and then the line would disconnect. Feeling very afraid that phone technical difficulties would lead me to not be able to make a payment, I went to their chat service ( attached is the conversation ). I was told on the chat service that I have to pay first on my 1.99 % balance due in 2019 before I can pay on any other account even if I specifically ask them to do so. Needless to say, I was not happy to hear that the information given to me on my verification call of over a month ago appears to be completely untrue. I was able to reach Customer Service on their line after hitting a wall with the chat service. I was transferred to a supervisor as soon as one was available. She reviewed what I had been told and she clarified what the actual rules were. She told me how to proceed. I need to pay my minimum now ( due XX/XX/XXXX ) so that I dont miss that due date. Then on Monday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and I will only be charged one day of interest. She verified that the amount expiring on XX/XX/XXXX will start accruing interest on XX/XX/XXXX, so I will want to make the payment then to avoid more than one day of interest. She also said she has marked this situation as escaladed and for review of the prior recorded phone call and would personally listen to it. She said she would also give me a {$50.00} credit for what this issue has caused ( and the interest I thought I wouldnt have to pay ). She was very helpful and respectful and understanding of my situation. 
She already resolved the problem of me having to pay interest as she is giving me a credit of {$50.00}. But I still felt I should turn this in to insure that Citi is not doing this to other customers and to customers in worse situations than I am in. I can technically afford to pay the interest, but I ( and all customers ) have the right to ask a Customer Service Representative and verify the rules of how to pay off 0 % expiring offers and get accurate information.

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