Consumer complaint received 2016-07-07
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NJ
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
I applied and was approved for a CitiGold Checking account on XXXX/XXXX/2016. I opened the account using the promotional offer " XXXX '' which promises the consumer XXXX AAdvantage miles for completing a certain set of requirements. On XXXX/XXXX/2016 I sent a secure message through Citi 's online banking to confirm that the promotional offer was linked to my account at the time of opening ( Message-1 attachment ). I received a response the next day XXXX/XXXX/2016 which confirmed that the promotion was attached to my account and they outlined the requirements needed to get the bonus ( Message-2 attachment ). Over the next 40 days I completed the requirements of {$1000.00} in debit card spend and 2 online bill pays in consecutive calendar months. On XXXX/XXXX/2016 I sent another message to verify that I met all of the requirements correctly in order to be eligible for the promotional offer ( Message-3 attachment ). I received a response on XXXX/XXXX/2016 from XXXX XXXX XXXX stating that I completed all of the requirements and that the XXXX AAdvantage miles would be posted to my account ( Message-4 attachment ). Her messages stated : " I can confirm that you completed the requirements for the promotion XXXX to receive XXXX AA miles as of XXXX/XXXX/16. Per the promotion policy, the AAdvantage bonus miles will be credited by Citibank to your AAdvantage account within 90 calendar days from the date when you completed all offer requirements. '' At this point I was under the impression that everything was good and had no reason to believe that Citi would not hold up their end of the agreement. I waited the 90 days and never received the miles in my XXXX AAdvantage account. I sent another message on XXXX/XXXX/2016 to check on the status of the promotion and referenced past messages confirming that the miles would be posted to my account ( Message-5 attachment ). I got a response on XXXX/XXXX/2016 saying that they were opening a promotion investigation " to determine your eligibility and fulfillment of the requirements to receive the XXXX XXXX miles reward. '' ( Message-6 attachment ). 

I was very surprised by this response because throughout all of the communication I had with Citi, they NEVER once implied that there was a change that I was ineligible for this offer. I had them confirm everything I did multiple times, and each time we spoke, everything was done correctly. I have waited 10 days since the investigation has opened and have not received a response. In this time, I have also been charged monthly account fees. I refuse to let this bank waste any more time with their investigation just so they can continue to charge me monthly fees. 

In the message on XXXX/XXXX/2016 I was congratulated and told that " your trust and satisfaction are very important to us here at Citi. '' - yet they are leaving me no way to trust then since they are backing out of their offer. I am led to believe that Citi is conducting unethical business and they are misleading their customers. If they had any intention to deny me of the offer, they should have done so before confirming I was eligible and completed the requirements - NOT once I 've used their services for 5 months and paid their account fees.

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