Consumer complaint received 2016-03-15
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Identity theft / Fraud / Embezzlement

Complaint:
Last year, Citicard put my life at risk, shutting off my credit card due to " fraud '' as I was driving on a winter night, on a XXXX highway. I was in XXXX briefly, with no cell service. I could n't charge gas or a hotel. Almost back to the U.S., I had no XXXX money left. My car ran out of gas in freezing weather. I could 've been killed alone on the highway at night. Then on XXXX XXXX, Citi declined a {$130.00} charge " due to fraud. '' I tried the charge 4 times, humiliated, not knowing Citi had arbitrarily decided the purchase, which I 'd made before, was n't within my " normal spending pattern. '' Another time, Citi declined my concert ticket purchase. I 'd gotten a front row seat. By the time Citi " allowed '' me to buy, I had a last-row seat. Today, I again received a robo-call from Citi, telling me they 'd shut off my card. It questioned my XXXX XXXX {$130.00} charge, which they 'd previously resolved. No option to speak to a human, only " yes '' or " no '' buttons. I called back. A different version of the XXXX XXXX {$130.00} " fraud '' recording. Finally, I got to a human, apparently in XXXX. Could n't understand the accent, asked for a U.S. representative, put on hold, cell died, called from landline, again the {$130.00} recording, then another agent I could n't understand ( I spent 36 years as an international pilot, so my understanding of foreign accents is reasonably good. ) Finally transferred to the U.S., eventually reached a U.S. supervisor. Over the nearly XXXX hours I 'd been trying to communicate, I 'd come to understand that their robo call was in error. They 'd intended to call me about a charge made today, from a XXXX gas station. Home all day near XXXX, I had n't made that charge. I was angry with Citi after they 'd put my life at risk in XXXX, still I persisted in trying to explain the situation to the U.S. supervisor. From the start, he refused to let me talk, but it was clear that he had no idea what had happened. He would n't listen, though, and told me to choose : either I stop speaking or the call would be over. After two hours, I chose " over. '' I called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( it 's a XXXX card ) and suggested they get a new card company. They listened, understood my concern, and sent my complaint to their management -- genuine customer service. I pay {$95.00} for my card, but Citi keeps shutting it off due to " fraud '' when nearly always, I 'm the one who 's made the charges. Citi is paid to run a credit card business, but I believe they are n't competent enough to provide that service on a dependable basis. Today, someone did make a fraudulent charge, but I 'm an XXXX ; I know security. I had n't lost my card or let anyone overhear my number. Citi clearly does n't have a system capable of protecting my card. That is n't my fault, but I have to spend days changing my card number with auto-paid merchants, on travel reservations, etc., and being without a card. In short, I pay for a service that causes me to be humiliated, to lose front-row concert seats, even to have my life put at risk. I 'm a long-time Citicard customer. Even their managers do nothing but parrot " rules. '' Their business seems out of control. If I have n't lost or misused my card or number, then it 's not enough that they do n't charge me for purchases I do n't make. Anyone late paying, they fine, but when, continually, their system does n't work, they inconvenience me, even put my life at risk, and do n't compensate me. Citicard, I believe, is n't competent to run a credit card business but should be put out of business. I 'm sure they wo n't be, but due to incompetence, their paranoia has gotten out of hand, putting customers at risk. I think people, not robots, should make/answer Citi fraud calls, Citi agents should take customer service training -- maybe from XXXX -- and each time Citi shuts off a card and/or declines a purchase for what is NOT fraud, they should compensate the card holder

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