Consumer complaint received 2015-10-22
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Closing/Cancelling account

Complaint:
My husband passed away on XX/XX/XXXX ; as you know there 's a lot of paperwork that has to be completed. I had to have my husband 's name removed from all of our joint acts, & did n't have any problems doing so until I called Macy 's. We had a Macy 's American Express acct that could be used at all Macy 's stores & everywhere XXXX was accepted. On XX/XX/XXXX I called Macy 's customer svc, was told by the rep it was too late in the day to reach their Probate Dept ( I had to speak to this dept to have my husband 's name removed ), told to call back the next day. I had to use my XXXX card that evening, it was denied. I called customer svc to first find out why my card was denied, next to speak to Probate to have my husband 's name removed. I was told that my acct was closed, the cardholder was deceased ; over the next XXXX hours ( several long holds & XXXX hang up on me ), I asked, how a customer svc rep could arbitrarily close my acct without going through the Probate Dept. I was told the only thing I could do was to open a new acct, &, " No, you ca n't speak to the Probate Dept '' I said I do n't want to open a new acct, I have been with Macy 's over 45 years ; I would lose my status of better coupons & my credit limit. After getting angry I finally got Probate, she reinstated my acct., it should n't have been closed. Since all of this began : I had XXXX fraudulent charges on my XXXX bill, had to get a new card, now told that I ca n't remove my husband 's name because of this ; my XXXX payment was applied to the old acct #, my card was denied at Macy 's, stated I had n't paid my bill ; {$6600.00} was taken out of my bank acct by Macy 's on XXXX XXXX, never got credited ; during all my calls to get this credit, on XXXX I was told someone called said card was lost, had to get a new card ( I said I did not call in a lost card, why was I able to charge until XXXX if card lost, no answer ) ; spoke to fraud dept. was told nothing in notes about a lost card call ; I called the corporate ofc, spoke to the asst. to Pres., told her all that happened, she stated that the payment was being processed call in XXXX hrs to make sure it was posted, also said nobody called about a lost card ; she connected me to Probate, the process of removing my husband 's name started ; called XXXX hrs later to see if payment posted, it was n't ; told to call in XXXX hrs again, did, still not posted ; wrote letter to XXXX XXXX, Pres Of Macy 's Corp on XXXX, never got a response ; payment finally posted XXXX ; I received XXXX credit cards in the mail XXXX, XXXX XXXX cards ( same acct # ), XXXX Macy 's card ( different acct # ) ; called customer svc, was told I opened a new Macy 's acct, NOT TRUE, I never opened any new acct ; was on the phone over XXXX hrs, spoke to manager, I told him all I want is my Macy 's XXXX card that I could use in Macy 's & everywhere else ; after a long hold, he told me to cut up the Macy 's card, he activated my new XXXX card, all was straightened out ; couple of days later I tried to use my card in Macy 's, it was denied, I was told by the manager ( after XXXX hr wait to see why denied ) my acct was closed ; called customer svc was told nothing could be done, my acct was closed ( I DID NOT CLOSE MY ACCT ) ; called corp ofc, after XXXX calls was told because of the removal of my husband 's name, nothing could be done for 2 - 3wks ; I paid {$25.00} for a 10 % back on all purchases XXXX - XXXX ( receive that credit in XX/XX/XXXX ), already have numerous purchases, I 'll lose total amt earned ; there 's an incentive program I have {$130.00} accumulated in, I 'll lose ; if my original account is n't reinstated ; most likely it wo n't be reinstated after being closed for 3 - 4 wks. Please help!!!

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief