Consumer complaint received 2020-07-16
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: SC
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account information incorrect

Complaint:
I got my Best Buy Citibank credit card seven years ago while I was living in XXXX, SC. I know I was living in XXXX because I was going through a divorce and I have documents showing I lived there during this time. I have never missed a payment in all of those years having this card because I started off with horrible credit after my divorce and I realized the importance of good credit. Life is very difficult with bad credit, therefore, I worked diligently to improve my credit. I had a XXXX credit score seven years ago and I got it up to over 750 by the beginning of XXXX. I used this card through the years, not a lot as I try to limit credit card utilization, until last year. In XXXX, I tried to use my Best Buy card and was told that my account was closed by a Best Buy employee. Since I was told it was closed and my credit had not suffered as a result, I paid by other means and moved on with life, never thinking about that card again. Fast forward to XX/XX/XXXX, I go to buy a car. The car salesmen runs my credit and tells me that I don't qualify for the promotion. I was in shock. I see that my credit has dropped over 180 points as a result of non-payment on the Best Buy Citibank credit card. I immediately call the credit card company and am told that it was for not paying a {$59.00} annual fee. I explained that I had been told that my account was closed by their employee. They then verified all of my account info and I found that they had an address on file that I had not provided to them. It was a PO Box and I didn't have a PO Box . I was transferred to several people and I was finally sent to someone that stated that she would fix this problem. I even agreed to pay the annual fee immediately and she said that was fine and they would work on taking off the two late payments from my credit report. I thought it was all fixed. They got my correct address and they sent me a new card. She said that I should see the correction on my credit report after 30 days. I checked in 30 days, no correction. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited an additional 30 days. That time has passed and I called yesterday to speak to someone at Best Buy Citibank. The first representative told me that I needed to call the Credit Bureaus as they were the ones that indicated there were late payments, not them. So I called the Credit Bureaus and they said, " no, it would need to be done by the credit card company. '' So, I called the credit card company back and spoke to a different representative. He tells me that there is nothing that can be done at this point and I was just stuck with this on my credit. I explained again that I had not provided that address and I was NEVER informed that my credit card was even open. Instead, I was told the exact opposite. I was told by an employee of the store that held this card, that my account was closed. I had no reason to think that I had any kind of annual fee as the card was closed, per the actual employee. The representative again stated that he couldn't help me, so I requested to speak to a supervisor. He told me that there was no one I could talk to. I ask him if he had a supervisor and he said no. I am a supervisor at the SC Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and I know that everyone has a boss. It took me a while before he finally transferred me to someone else. I'm still not sure if she was a supervisor and if she is, and she is the best they have at Citibank, I feel bad for all consumers that have this card. I explained the situation and I asked how this could have happened. How could all my hard work improving my credit be thrown away because of something they did? She explained that the miscommunication occurred at the store level. She told me that my account had been flagged at the end of XXXX when mail came back to them as " unable to be delivered. '' She stated that they do this so that when a customer goes into a store and attempt to use their card, the account is flagged and the employee is instructed to call the credit card company and they are able to make the necessary corrections in the system. She stated that that is the only way they can contact consumers who have incorrect addresses. I told her that obviously didn't happen in my case and instead I was told that my account was closed. I then asked her about the address that they had sent the mail to that was sent back to them. I explained to her that the address wasn't mine and I had never requested that they change my address. I then asked her to please look through my records and let me know the date that I had requested that change. She stated that she couldn't find anything. She then went on to say that she " assumed '' that I opened my account with this address. I assured her that I had not opened it with that address. I asked her what city the PO Box was located in and she said XXXX, SC. I explained that I had lived in XXXX, SC until XXXX, so it made no sense that I would have opened an account in XXXX, SC. I then explained that I have never lived in XXXX so why would I have a PO Box there. I asked her to please look back and see where my purchases had been made seven years ago and she said she couldn't see that. I asked to her to look at my application when I initially applied for the card, and she said she couldn't do that either. Now, as a supervisor, I understand that consumers have rights. How can a company report something to a credit bureau and not be required to maintain proper records? There was no way for her, according to her, to explain how this PO Box was added to my account except to call me a liar and tell me that I had opened this account with that PO Box . This is absolutely unacceptable. I also do not understand how I am being punished by a mistake made on their end. My credit is ruined and I can do nothing about it. If anyone looks at my credit, they will see nothing but on time payments, except for this. This annual fee for a credit card that I was told was closed. An annual fee from a company that could not provide me with any information as it pertained to how an address was added to my account without me adding it. I hope that someone will look into these business practices. For our agency, if it's not documented, then it didn't happen. How can they not be required to maintain my records but they can report things to the credit bureau that will stay there for at least seven years. Is there no time requirement for maintaining consumer records? I hope that someone is able to assist me with this matter. I am available any time for anyone to contact me should they need any additional information. I appreciate your time and effort.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation