Consumer complaint received 2017-07-24
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Wrong amount charged or received

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, 2017, I visited the 027 branch of Citibank on XXXX XXXX XXXX in order to authorize a wire transfer of XXXX USD from Citibank to a USD currency account that my wife holds with XXXX XXXX  in XXXX. This is a transaction type which I have completed numerous times through another branch in XXXX, and there was never a problem. Ive told the greeter that I needed to perform an international wire transfer and was directed to a specialist who was to perform that service for me. The specialist was puzzled at the fact that the destination account number in her system required XXXX characters, and the number I provided was XXXX characters long. To this I replied that it is very likely that the first two characters of the XXXX correspond to the country code, which in this case would be PL. I have offered to double-check that information and come back the next day. This led me to think that this isnt something that branch does on a regular basis, as an experienced clerk who has done this before would be familiar with the structure of the XXXX. The following day, I came back and provided the account number as well as the XXXX code for this transaction. The teller who conducted this transfer asked me if I was interested in converting the said $ XXXX into XXXX XXXX. I declined and explained that I 'm trying to transfer the money to a USD currency account, so no conversion is necessary. I have repeated this instruction twice, to ensure that I was understood and the clerk verbally confirmed that. Citibank has charged me {$45.00} for this service. The clerk said that I should expect the money in the other account within 24 hours. I was given 6 pages of paper to review, which I signed under the assumption that they reflected my verbal instructions - that paperwork is attached. I can provide the Citibank reference number for that transaction. Two days later, I asked my son to check the status of the wire transfer and he informed me that XXXX has appeared in the account in question. The next day, I have visited the 027 branch in XXXX to inquire as to the fate of the remaining XXXX which appeared to have evaporated in transit. The same clerk informed me that this is likely due to taxes and/or fees which must have been applied by the receiving bank. Given that I 've completed similar transactions before, via Citibank, to the same receiving bank, I know for a fact that there are no additional feed associated with this operation. This answer demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of how currency accounts and wire transfers work and confirmed to me beyond any doubt that the person in question lacked the necessary knowledge and preparation to correctly draft a banking instruction to execute this transaction. Because of this gap, no successful outcome for this transaction could have ever been possible, regardless of how many times I would have taken to explain my intent. To summarize - I was charged once, {$45.00} for a wire transfer, and lost XXXX due to the inability of the clerk to correctly submit my request for processing. I have contacted Citibank on several occasions to attempt to rectify this error : - With the teller a day after receiving the money, - A Female manager at  the same branch who promised to call me in regards to this incident - a phone call which never materialized, - I received a phone call from " XXXX '', a transfer operations manager, who has been attempting to convince me that the transaction was executed correctly. - I called XXXX seeking help to resolve this situation, on which occasion I spoke with a consultant and received a " confirmation number ''. The key point behind my claim is that the clerk who received verbal instructions from me to initiate this wire transfer did not have the necessary knowledge and training to understand the different ways in which a wire transfer can be executed. This has resulted in selecting XXXX as the wire transfer currency ( and not USD as I requested ), which has left me {$1300.00} in the red.

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