Consumer complaint received 2017-05-12
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
The reason I am writing is concerns with the deceptive debt protection process I was enrolled in. A practice that appears to have effected many of people in regards to Citibank lawsuits. It is my understanding that in  XXXX , Citibank was ordered to refund customers {$700.00}  XXXX  due to fraudulent activity including the practice of adding on debt protection without customer acknowledgment.     On   XXXX   XXXX   I enrolled for a Best Buy Credit Card in store to purchase a TV with 6 months no interest. I made payments for years but never looked at the breakdown in the monthly statements. This is especially easy to overlook given that the Best Buy online payment screen displays only the amount you owe. Its an easy option to pay your bill but it does n't provide much of a breakdown. I still paid every month without concern- if you pay your bill there should be no issue. However, I noticed the balance wasnt lowering. I figured it was due to high interest. Again, I had been making payments every month since  XXXX  and continue to this day  (    XXXX   XXXX   ). Surely after 10 years of paying a {$1500.00} balance should have been paid off if not at least lowered significantly. The balance never lowered. In fact, it has gotten higher. Something didnt smell right.     I finally broke down my bill statements when I noticed I was paying something called " debt protection. '' I requested every statement from Best Buy. This debt protection service would amount between $  XXXX  {$17.00} dollars a month. I had apparently been paying this fee since I signed up for a Best Buy card in  XXXX . I had no idea what debt protection was or why it was on my statements. In    XXXX   XXXX   , I called Citibank  (  although it was  XXXX  when I signed up for the card ) and told them my concern. They submitted a claim to refund the money I paid into the debt protection program which amounted to about {$1200.00}. They also canceled the service. A couple weeks later I received a letter from Best Buy stating " Because your account was protected by the program benefits through the end of the billing cycle in the month in which you canceled, any previous billed fees are valid and non-refundable. ''  Citibank  has also submitted the application copy on which I signed up for the debt protection. I was never shown or given a physical copy of this document. I even have the original receipt from  XXXX  but no record of this debt protection. Best Buy was not fully transparent or clear in what they were selling. This is even more curious based on the year of signature-  XXXX . These suspicious activities become more clear when you take a closer look into the numerous complaints and settlements  XXXX  has been involved with in regards to discreet add-ons.     I have since called Citibank and Best Buy hoping to get clarification on the matter. They have not given a straight answer- rather sending me in circles, transferring calls to anybody available, or simply hanging up on me. Nobody can answer why the refund was rejected since my enrollment in the debt protection program was not blatant during the initial transaction. After doing more research into Citibank and  XXXX , it appears I was not the only victim. There were numerous fraudulent activities occurring as  Citibank  and Best Buy were participating in unfair dishonest credit card practices- latching add-ons to your bill without making the consumer aware. I was one of those victims. When I signed up for the Best Buy Credit card, I was never informed by a Best Buy representative of the debt protection inclusion. They never acknowledged what it was, how to cancel it, or even what it offered. I was left in the dark until I discovered it in  XXXX   XXXX .     Citibank has re-submitted another claim to the  Processing Center  in regards of a refund. Please take this letter into consideration on helping the situation. The concern is not whether I received benefits or not- I was not even aware I was in this program. The concern is about the transparency of the program enrollment. It appears the debt protection materials were purposely made unclear when I applied for the Best Buy credit card in order to enroll more customers into the plan. If this is the case what is the practice of signing people up for Best Buy debt protection and why was it discontinued in  XXXX ? And why are there so many complaints on the transparency? Citi bank refuses to mention any of the settlements.

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