Consumer complaint received 2016-08-19
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Rewards

Complaint:
Please see attached Response directly from Citi. For reference see XXXX # XXXX. 
I presume I could respond hard copy via USPS mail directly to Citi ( no email address provided on their response ) - and if that is my only option at this point I will do so - but would prefer to route via CFPB because of your expedited connections, and presuming you are able to communicate and connect electronically. The following is my new request : Thank you CFPB for getting the detail I was unable to get on my own directly via Citi online messaging support. I am respectfully disputing their response and am still requesting your support in obtaining the XXXX bonus to which I should be entitled. 

Please review the excerpts of Citi 's response : " ... .I sent a letter to the customer reinforcing that because she had a previous Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card account ending in XXXX which was opened and closed within the past 18 months from account opening of the account ending in XXXX, we respectfully decline her request to award the bonus miles to the account. '' Nothing received in the online messaging system dialog referenced the acct XXXX. If it had, I would have been alerted to the CORE issue and addressed that originally ( Upon return from my vacation yesterday I did find that I had received referenced letter - dated XXXX/XXXX/XXXX - AFTER my claim via CFPB, submitted XXXX/XXXX/XXXX ). 

Here 's the issue - Please see the other portion of their response : " ... Our records reflect your previous Citi ( R ) / AAdvantage ( R ) Platinum Select ( R ) account ending in XXXX was OPENED on XXXX XXXX, XXXX and CLOSED on XXXX XXXX, XXXX. Therefore, you did not qualify for the bonus miles offer. ... ''. 

Therein lays this issue. This exact same issue ( bonus offered, confirmed, then not awarded ) happened before - with XXXX - however at that time, I was not aware of the CFPB resource available to me, so I simply cancelled the card when Citi did n't honor the award as I. Here 's the summary regarding XXXX : I applied for a card with a similar bonus offer. I was approved and when the card arrived, during the live, over the phone activation process, I FIRST confirmed with the Citi agent that I would receive the bonus - BEFORE I would activate the card. I was told yes so went ahead and activated ( I think it was actually in XXXX but for sake of argument, assume their " open date '' of XXXX/XXXX/XXXX ) ; I followed up further and discovered that I was not awarded the bonus. I thus IMMEDIATELY closed the account on XXXX XXXX. So by their measurement, account was " opened '' for 14 days. By my measurement it was never opened. Had I not been misinformed by Citi agent during activation process that I would receive the bonus, I never would have activated the card, AND - here 's the key part - my previous Citi account activity for this exact card ( Platinum Select ) would have been closure of acct # XXXX, in XXXX, XXXX ... outside of the 18 month window, and thus in compliance with the requirement to participate in current offer bonus ( acct XXXX ). 

I respectfully request that Citi honor their offer and issue the XXXX mile bonus at their first opportunity. Thanks for your assistance.

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