Consumer complaint received 2017-01-23
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: GA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Credit card protection / Debt protection

Complaint:
I have a Best Buy / Citibank credit card, and have for over four years. I have stopped using it and have just paid minimum payments for about a year now, so I never really checked my account. I just knew I was faithfully paying what I needed to. Upon paying it off this month, I noticed that my account was never going down ( actually going UP ) because along with my interest charge each month there was a fee for " CREDIT LIFE INSURANCE. '' I called and inquired, because I have no recollection of signing up for this, and they said it was Debt Protection insurance. Again, I do not ever remember signing up for this. I requested immediate cancellation and a full refund for as many months as I 've been charged, and they said it was n't actually through their company and they had to transfer me to Debt Protection ( with no company name and they could still transfer me. ) While that cancellation IS being processed and my request for review IS in process, neither Best Buy NOR Citibank NOR this " mysterious '' " company '' can provide me proof of signing up. If this charge has been happening for four years ( I 'm not sure, I ca n't see statements that far back, ) I am owed around {$2000.00}. I have repeatedly called Best Buy / Citibank credit card services and have been transferred back and forth between departments, hung up on, " lost calls, '' talked to the " highest person available, '' and been told they not only ca n't help me, but did n't cancel my minimum auto payment when they told me they would so my CHECKING account was OVERDRAFTED, which incurred a {$30.00} charge. It has been an absolute nightmare this entire month. They have no record of phone calls or anything. It 's absurd. Since I was having no luck or written proof from phone conversations, I spent time typing up an email to send through their website, and it would n't let me send with any " special characters, '' which meant no punctuation, dollar signs, parenthesis, anything. So I wrote it as an all caps run on sentence, and it still would n't go through. No one is able to help me. No one can tell me where this insurance came from. No one can prove I signed up for it, and they DEFINITELY ca n't prove I signed up for it knowingly. I now have negative money in my bank account, I do n't understand how they are but are not the same company, and I want this to be fixed. Upon telling them I would file this report if they were continually unable to help me, they said " Okay. '' So please, please help me. I 've researched this online and have seen TONS of complaints about the same thing, including " refunds '' being " lost in the mail. '' I need a refund. I need help. If it was n't for the need to keep this account open for my credit score, I would pay the {$300.00} or so balance and CLOSE IMMEDIATELY. They are truly the worst company I 've ever encountered, and I do not trust them with my money at all. I will never purchase another item from Best Buy. It 's just truly awful. P.S. The money lost that is mentioned below is an estimate. If this charge just started recently or a refund would be less, that is totally fair. But I 'm assuming it started at sign up. I just want a full refund, whatever amount that is.

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