Consumer complaint received 2023-07-24
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NJ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
In the beginning of this year ( XXXX ), I noticed a {$55.00} charge on my Macys card. I only use my Macys card for Macys purchases because of the rewards for Macys dollars. I had not used this consistently for a while. I knew this charge was not made by me. My wallet was stolen in XXXXbut I had reported this card stolen the day it was stolen in XXXX of XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ). This made no sense to me. I called immediately and reported fraudulent charge. I did not know what transcentra payment meant and was not familiar with the charge. I was assured in 1-2 billing cycles the charge would come off, I would not be responsible for anything, and no fees would incur. Weeks later I notice the {$55.00} is increasing and theres late payments. I assume to just wait it out. It increases more and more. I receive something in the mail saying I owe money. I call Macys. Im on the phone for 2 hours, repeating my story to 3 people. One lady tells me to call back in an hour. She doesnt want to deal with it. The next lady says to email Macys fraud department proof of fraud. She asked why it took me a year to report this. I said the charge is showing up for XXXX, what do you mean it took a year? She says the charge was made at XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I said XXXX is where the thief lives ( she was caught by the detective last year ) ; in addition, I dont go to XXXX because it is not a safe town, and I had reported this card stolen on that date. Also, why didnt this charge show up then? Why is it showing up a year later? And why didnt I receive anything in the mail until I had reported this? I email the fraud department emails between me and the detective. It has a photo of the girl who stole my wallet and dialogue between me and the detective, saying she was from XXXX and it had the dates as well. I asked to close the account ASAP because this company was treating this like a joke. Assuming this would suffice, I waited. Some time later, the money owed is increased to {$170.00}. My credit score dropped from XXXX something to XXXX. I am looking to get a mortgage this year so I became very nervous. I received a letter in the mail saying that this was not fraudulent and that I owed money. I paid the fees because I didnt want my score affected further. Macys was dragging their feet and I couldnt rely on them. I would figure this out later. I call 2 weeks or so later when I had time, knowing this would take forever. I was on the phone another 2 hours. They refused to give me a manager. He said he had multiple tabs open trying to figure this out. I said I needed to be refunded and I needed this reported as fraudulent to fix my credit score. He gave me wrong dates and numbers. I asked specific questions about the date of the charge, place of the chargeetc. I was told XXXX XXXX XXXX  in XXXX XXXX. I repeated this was the date I reported my card stolen and was where the thief lived. No one could answer why I got nothing in the mail for a year and why nothing showed up on the account for a year. He said I reported the card stolen two days after the girl got caught.I gave him the exact dates and said thats not possible. He said he could refund me the {$31.00} late fees {$41.00} late {$2.00}. I said I paid {$170.00}. I want this refunded. He said he would refund the fees for now and I could speak to a credit specialist. He has not refunded these fees. I have his employee number. He gave me the wrong number to the credit specialist after assuring me 3 times it was correct. I knew it would not be, so I kept saying are you sure. The credit specialist tries to help me ; she says her computer is freezing from all of the notes. I had to repeat my story again. She says I will conference you in, please hold. Im on hold for a while. Then, it says Macys survey and it hangs up. I wait an hour for them to call back because they have my number. No one calls back. I call again and she says they close in 30 min and the manager is away for 2 days. I said I need this reviewed and this is not okay. Her name is XXXX. She says manager will call back in 10 days. It has been 10 days and Ive gotten no call. In addition, yesterday I received a letter from Macys digitally stating they havent received my payment, please send proof of payment via fax.Is this a joke? I am very frustrated with the incompetency and can not believe this is how Macys AMEX is handling everythingI am uploading as much as I can but most things were handled verbally for HOURS, wasting so much of my time and energy and creating so much unnecessary stress.

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