Consumer complaint received 2021-11-05
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: PA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with rewards from credit card

Complaint:
Issue with the sign-up bonus ( XXXX ThankYou Points ) on the Citi Premier card : BEFORE I applied online, I called Citi to confirm that I WOULD be eligible for the bonus, as I'd heard that people sometimes run into issues if they've had ThankYou Points cards before. I understood that I wouldn't be eligible for a bonus if I had opened or closed a TYP card in the past 24 months, but the only other TYP card I'd ever opened was the Citi Prestige, opened more than four years ago on XX/XX/XXXX. I " product-changed '' that Prestige to a Preferred ( no-fee ) card in XX/XX/XXXX, when we were all in lockdown due to XXXX and no one could travel, since the high annual fee seemed wasteful when our budget was tight, and changed it back to a Prestige in XX/XX/XXXX as travel was opening up again. At no time in those four years did I open or close a TYP card. 

When I called Citi before applying for the Premier, the woman to whom I spoke confirmed that I would be eligible for the XXXX points bonus. She specifically told me that CHANGING to another TYP card does not count as opening or closing an account. A review of the phone call will confirm this. 

However, after I received and activated the card, I saw a note on the Premier account web page stating that the account was NOT eligible for the sign-up bonus. I immediately tried to use the live-chat function on the web site, as I wanted confirmation in writing that I WAS, in fact, eligible for the bonus, but live chat wasn't working, so I was forced to call. Again, the woman I spoke with assured me that I WAS eligible for the bonus, and that there should be no problem with it. She told me that it was just " a glitch in the system, '' and that when " the system '' sees a cardholder has had a TYP card previously, it automatically adds that note to the page. 

Since then, I've been using the card to earn the bonus ; in fact, one reason I decided to get the card was because I knew I had a fairly large expense coming up ( new fencing ), so I knew there would be no problem with meeting the minimum spending amount of {$4000.00}. But yesterday I received a letter from Citi which seemed to imply ( but didn't actually state ) that I was NOT eligible for the bonus due to having " accounts in the same product approved or closed within the last 24 months. '' I was able to use the live-chat function this time, but the agent ( " XXXX '' ) to whom I spoke said she didn't see the " offer '' on my account and wasn't able to review phone calls, so she advised me to call an " Account Specialist '' at XXXX. The Account Specialist also was unable to see the " offer, '' and asked me to e-mail the screen shots I'd taken of the application, approval, and original Prestige account opening ( XX/XX/XXXX ). 

Again, let me be clear : I have NOT opened or closed any TYP account or earned a bonus on XXXX in the past 24 months -- just changed XXXX type of card to another, which I was assured by Citi agents doesn't count as opening or closing. 

Attached is a screen shot of the beginning of the online application dated XX/XX/XXXX, showing the XXXX points offer as well as my name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Also attached is a screen shot of the approval confirmation that I received immediately after applying, as well as a screen shot of the e-mail I received on XX/XX/XXXX, the opening date of the original XXXX card. A gentleman at Citi to whom I spoke yesterday told me to send these to Citi as " proof '' that I had applied for the card with the XXXX points offer. 

I'm beyond frustrated with this " system '' that seems to arbitrarily decide whether someone is or isn't eligible for a bonus that they've been told they ARE eligible for. I never would have applied for the card if I thought I wasn't eligible -- that's why I called before applying. I was considering other cards as well, but chose the XXXX in part because of the generous bonus offer. As a longtime Citi customer, I'm very unhappy about being put through so much aggravation for something that should not be an issue : - ( And I'm not alone -- there are hundreds of others posting similar stories on social media, protesting that they've been cheated out of thousands of promised bonus points or miles by Citi.

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 non-monetary relief