Consumer complaint received 2023-12-28
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NV
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Problem making or receiving payments

Complaint:
I have had a payee set up with online banking for more than XXXX years with Citibank. The merchants name was established as XXXX. As of XX/XX/XXXX I received notice from this merchant that their payment information had changed. On XX/XX/XXXX I attempted to update this merchants address and name on Citibank online bill pay to reflect the changes. The online bill pay system did not allow me to successfully update this entry, so I decided to delete it and create a new entry. The entry I created read as such, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX, IL XXXX. I was also instructed by the website that this merchant could only be paid via check method. On XX/XX/XXXX as I was reviewing Citibank online, I noticed that this same merchant had been changed by Citi to the merchants name of XXXX XXXX XXXX without my authorization. The method of payment for this merchant switched from check to the electronic method. I received confirmation from Citi that a payment established on XX/XX/XXXX with reference number XXXX was successfully sent to the merchant and had posted within XXXX via electronic method. Note : When I contacted the merchant about this payment, they indicated that they had received it on XX/XX/XXXX in check form, not electronic form. Also, on XX/XX/XXXX another payment to this merchant with confirmation number XXXX was sent out per the website as a check, but now it reads on online that the only method that is available is electronic. Both of these payments require an investigation to be sure they are successful. 
Somewhere between the dates of XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX this merchant once again was changed back to the check method by Citi without my authorization. Citi also used some of the information I entered on XX/XX/XXXX for this change, but kept the merchants name as XXXX XXXX XXXX Citi also changed the mailing address to XXXX XXXX XXXX with a zip code of XXXX which was incorrect according to the merchants instructions. I contacted Citi XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX about this matter. At first, I was speaking to a rep that I had trouble comprehending due to his accent. He also was having trouble understanding me based on how he was responding to my questions. I did not get his name before he hung the phone up in frustration. I called Citi back on this same day and spoke to a person named ( XXXX XXXX. XXXX indicated that he was a customer service supervisor. XXXX and I discussed my payee/merchant problem as well as the previous phone rep hanging up on me. XXXX indicated that he would address the previous phone reps behavior and was able to successfully update the merchants name back to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ( see attached ). XXXX explained to me that this merchant was not eligible for electronic bill pay, and that a paper check would be sent out. I was okay with that! We also confirmed the address and memo information relating to this merchant. I did confirm the update occurred via Citibank online later in the day on XX/XX/XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I was reviewing my online account and noticed that now this merchants name was changed again by Citibank to the following, XXXX XXXX and the payment method was now electronic ( see attached ). I called Citibank and spoke to another customer service supervisor named XXXX. She indicated that she did not see any notes from XXXX in the system, and that she can only see that I called on XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX also stated that she would escalate the issue and she gave me a confirmation number of XXXX. XXXX indicated that she could not give me a timeframe in which I would hear the outcome of the escalation. She also indicated that she would address the fact that XXXX did not place notes in my account. During our conversation I had a difficult time understanding XXXX due to her accent. She appeared to become frustrated with me because I continued to ask her to repeat herself because I wanted to be clear on what she was saying. At some point she disconnected the call unexpectedly and did not attempt to call me back to follow up.

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