Consumer complaint received 2021-07-11
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Opening an account
Sub-issue: Didn't receive terms that were advertised

Complaint:
In the fall of XXXX I received a mailer promotion from Citi bank, offering a promotional bonus for opening a new Citi Checking Account. There were different levels to the promotion, but I chose to take advantage of the Citibank level where you deposit at least {$15000.00} and receive a {$400.00} bonus. I carefully read the terms and learned that the money had to remain in the account for 60 days to complete the required activity, and then the money would be paid within 90 days of the activitys completion. Also, the account had to be open when the money was paid out in order to receive the bonus. 

I visited the website on the mailer, input my personal invitation code XXXX, and opened a new checking account. I deposited {$15000.00} to the account and it posted on XX/XX/XXXX. To this day XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX there have been no other deposits or withdrawals from the account, and the balance remains at {$15000.00}. I have not received my {$400.00} bonus. I should have received it within 60 + 90 = 150 days of the deposit, which would been the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Citi over internet chat to inquire why the cash bonus had not been distributed. The representative assured me that the bonus would be distributed by my next statement on XX/XX/XXXX. Even though this would be a violation of the deadline set in their terms, I accepted this answer and waited a few more weeks. The funds were not deposited with my next statement. 

I later realized they werent deposited, and preparing to set aside multiple hours of my day, I called Citi phone support. This was sometime between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. After going through many layers of automated prompts and reaching a human, I described my issue of the missing bonus. The rep informed me that the department that handles these issues only works certain hours M-F. 

Later when I had more free time, I called this department on or about XX/XX/XXXX. I described the issue. The rep recognized the problem readily, telling me I should have been eligible for the bonus since they could see I fulfilled the required activities. To my memory, I did not provide them with my personal invitation code from the original mailer, because they didnt ask, and because they looked up the promotion and said they were able to find it on their end. They submitted a service request for me, Request # XXXX, saying I would receive a response in the next several days. I received a letter in the mail dated XX/XX/XXXX, saying XXXX XXXX XXXX was not offered to my account so my request was rejected as I was ineligible. It said I could provide a Promotion Disclosure as proof the offer was provided to me, with no details on how to do so, other than listing the general Citi phone number. 

I assumed the Promotion Disclosure was the mailer I received, so I called again, on or about XX/XX/XXXX. I re-explained my entire issue, this time explicitly providing the personal invitation code and making it clear that I had the original mailer in-hand and could provide any information needed from it. Again the rep submitted a service request for me, XXXX XXXX. I later received an essentially identical letter, dated XX/XX/XXXX. It again said I was ineligible for promotion code XXXX. I have no idea where this code came from. 

I dont know where to go from here. I read all the terms and conditions, and I even kept all the original documents I could, which is not a required step in the terms and shouldnt be required. My money has been held hostage for months. I havent been able to take it out because Im afraid that will disqualify me. I cant close the account because that would make me ineligible for the {$400.00} bonus I earned. Further, the terms state that if you keep less than {$10000.00} in the account, there is a monthly fee, so I dont want to take any of the money out and risk that. 

Citi is cheating consumers out of bonuses that they earned. I thought carefully reading the terms and conditions would ensure I wasnt tricked out of my money, but even that isnt enough. I have no doubt that other consumers have been forced to give up on the bonuses they rightfully earned because they didnt have the time or knowledge to navigate Citis dense phone trees and esoteric terms and conditions, not to mention their one-sided research, the result of which naturally favor the company rather than the consumer. 

All the information, dates, and reference numbers are accurate to the best of my knowledge ; I apologize for any errors. Its tough to keep track of all of this so many months later.

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 monetary relief