Consumer complaint received 2023-07-28
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
Was charged an unexpected annual fee. Was told I had been notified in XXXX and accepted the annual fee. Asked what notification I was given and was told it was on my XXXX statement. It was not. Was told it was in " Notices and Letters '', it was not. Finally found it on my XXXX statement. If it takes them 3 tries to figure out where they slipped it in on a statement that I have no reason to open ( I receive electronic statements and as long as the balance looks reasonable, there's no reason for me to log in and download the pdf since I monitor transactions online ), I don't think it's reasonable to expect me to have seen it. Including it as a paragraph on an e-statement and not as an actual notification seems like insufficient notice for a {$450.00} charge. If I get standalone emails about changes to privacy policy, revised definitions of terms, and important items in my statement ( like an annual reward check ), I'd think I should get a standalone email about a new {$450.00} change in fee. 

The paragraph said that my annual fee was changing to {$450.00} and the authorized user fee would be {$0.00}. They then charged me {$490.00} as an annual fee and {$75.00} per authorized user ( there are 3 ) for a total of {$720.00}, not even following the fee schedule they " notified '' me of and I " agreed '' to of {$450.00}. 

I was out of the country when this happened ( charge posted XX/XX/XXXX ) but then spent an hour online chatting online with an agent on XXXX who suggested I change the card to a no fee card and that if that wasn't agreeable, I should call ( which is when I was told by the agent I had been notified and agreed to the new fees ). Spent 45 minutes with them during which they said there was nothing they could do but that I'd hear back in 48 hours. I did not hear back. 

I spent another hour or so on the phone on XX/XX/XXXX being told they knew nothing about the ongoing inquiry but they'd be happy to start another one. I asked why I hadn't been contacted within 48 hours and she said that there was no reason to expect a response in 48 hours, it can take months for them to sort these things out. I asked what a reasonable estimate would be for her new inquiry and she said there was no time limit, but again, wouldn't be surprised it if took months or more. 

Given that my balance, including this erroneous fee, wasn't due for another week or so ( 2 weeks from my initial complaint ), I asked that they remove the erroneous fees while they investigated it and she said there was no way for them to do that. I asked if there was any confusion over what the correct fee should be, or any reason they should be charging me {$720.00} instead of the {$450.00} that was on the previous " notification '' ( which I would still dispute as proper notification ), and she said no. I explained that I did not want to loan Citi {$270.00} for months or more while they performed their investigation at 0 % interest and she said that I could just underpay my balance by {$270.00} and then dispute the charges each month. I explained that sounded absurd and that they should just adjust the account by {$270.00} now and she reiterated that this was simply impossible. 

So here we are at the end of XXXX, almost 4 months later, with absolutely no progress made. I had filed a complaint with NY Department of Financial Services on XXXX and they just informed me that since they are not the primary regulator, they'd suggest I file with CFPB.

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