Consumer complaint received 2015-09-29
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Advertising and marketing

Complaint:
I 've been trying to contact Citibank about a dozen times to resolve a " misunderstanding '' about the XXXX bonus points when I opened the Citibank XXXX Credit Card account. 
Firstly, I was so excited to jump on the offer of " receiving XXXX bonus points when you spend {$3000.00} within the first 3 months '' thru the link online for XXXX XXXX because the offer had significantly changed from XXXX pts for first year & XXXX pts for XXXX year after spending requirement. I went through the application process very smoothly and was instantly approved, could n't be happier. There were no sign of rejection or disqualification on the bonus offer which was the only reason I decided to apply for the card at that time. I was aware that I had the card a long time ago and I was just thinking there 're nothing indicated that I was not qualified, so I was good to go. If there 's something, Citibank would have informed me already or send it along with the card. 
Receiving the card with the Congratulations sign, I was so eager & really tried to meet the spending requirement. Nobody said anything ; everything went great until the day I wanted to use the points to book for my travel and nothing 's there. I 'd been trying chatting & calling customer services, opened the investigation and every time a different representative gave a different answer. I still remember XXXX, the one who I was chatting with on XXXX/XXXX/2015, rest assure me that the request had been processed : XXXX : at XXXX I would like to inform you that I can see there is a reward programme on your account, and I see that our representative has transferred the details of the reward points to the marketing team, and it will be updated on your account. 
XXXX : at XXXX One thing I must assure you, that as the reward points has already been processed, it will be reflecting on your account soon. 
I always trusted Citibank and I 've been a customer for a long time, but things had gotten ugly after that. Then they said I was not qualified for the bonus offer because of the 18 months timeframe, and the decision was made by XXXX Department, I asked for a chance to speak with XXXX and they said XXXX would n't talk to anyone!! It turned out there was no appropriate explanation up front, no consistency, transparency, no understanding and appreciation. Suddenly you 've been thrown under the bus, you felt that was unfair and shady and you could n't do anything out of frustration, all reps/supervisors said they could n't do anything either. 
I just wished if Citibank had said something at first when I applied that I was approved for the card and was not qualified for the offer, or along with the card before I tried really hard to spend all of that for the offer that I 'd never get. The really frustrating thing is there are nothing in online banking showing the history just to let me know how long it 's been, and if I had waited just XXXX more month longer, 18 months frame would have passed then I would have been officially eligible. How could I know & all of this should n't have happened. As of now, Citibank are still offering the XXXX bonus points to customers, even matching the bonus with the XXXX first year and XXXX second year ( which only people who raise their voice may get and it 's still not fair ), there 's nothing to describe the disappointment to me. 
I believe just like the bank has to provide notices for any significant change, it should provide appropriate notices for the promotion/ offer status upfront so customers know beforehand before they tried hard to fulfill their part to meet the requirement for nothing, and this is the only reason they apply for the credit card. The bank should honor the offer when it failed to notify the customers after causing so much confusion and frustration dealing with no appreciation from customer services. 
Thank you,

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