Consumer complaint received 2020-04-21
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Fee problem

Complaint:
I am writing because I have recently been involved with Citibank customer service, trying to clear up some problems with Overdraft and NSF fees incurred over the past month or so in my checking account ( XXXX ). From XX/XX/XXXX through XXXX XXXXthe account incurred {$270.00} in fees, some of which have since been reversed. The account is currently overdrawn by - {$86.00} and two more fees are about to be assessed for transactions on the XXXX and the XXXX of XXXX. The problem is that the overdrawn amount is all in fees. In fact, looking at the history of the account, the fees are simply creating more and more fees. 

As of three days ago, for example, my account should have been back in the black. I talked via Online Chat to an agent about two fees on XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX and one fee on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX a total of {$100.00} ). At the end of the chat, the agent told me ( I quote precisely from the conversation ), I have reversed the fees for you and it will be credited to your account in 24-48 hours. That did not happen. Had it happened, the two recent transactions of XX/XX/XXXX and 21, the ones about to generate NSF fees, would have been covered. Yesterday, when I discovered that the three charges my online Chat agent said would be reversed were not reversed, I started another online Chat but was directed to call Customer Service. After waiting for 1 1/2 hours on hold, I was finally connected to a Supervisor. I tried to explain to her the circumstances of my Chat, hoping to correct the fact that the fees were not yet reversed. I also pointed out that it was getting to be a situation I could not handle because of the loss of work due to the Coronavirus shutdown and my thinly stretched resources. I also let her know that I thought my situation was unfair because it seemed that fees were just creating more fees. We got into just one example, a {$34.00} overdraft fee assessed on XX/XX/XXXX, a fee caused by the Monthly Service Fee of {$12.00}. This is a fee that the bank offered to and did waive as part of their effort to be mindful of and helpful with customers at this time when many of us are facing economic hardship. Before I could even get into the total situation or figure out why the fees I was told were going to be reversed were not, the Supervisor said, No, no, we dont have to waive that fee for you even though it was caused by the fee that the bank is waiving. Her tone was appallingly rude, so I asked her for her name, which she said so quickly that I couldnt understand it. Then, just as quickly, she hung up on me. This made me a little suspicious. Why wouldnt she explain why my fees werent reversed as described? And, are banks legally allowed to generate fee charges from fee charges that are later reversed? 

I looked again through my ledger and noted a few things. The first Overdraft Fee in this chain was on XX/XX/XXXX for {$100.00}. The bank reversed these fees on XX/XX/XXXX. This caused the account to become overdrawn by {$33.00}. If that money had been in the account, the next two NSF fees on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX for an XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX payment of {$60.00} would not have been assessed because there would have been enough to cover the payment. ( These fees were paid when I deposited {$290.00} in the account on XX/XX/XXXX ). The next set of fees ( {$34.00} each ) comes on the XXXX and XXXX of XXXX for another XXXX XXXX XXXX paymen of {$60.00}. I had made the deposit of {$290.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, trying to make sure this was all covered, but it ended up not being enough because the {$34.00} NSF fee was assessed retroactively to that day, so I couldnt have known about it when I made the deposit. Then the last Overdraft fee appears XX/XX/XXXX, a fee that was, as stated above, caused by the monthly service charge, which itself was waived. Finally, there are the two charges about to be assessed. 

I must say, I was really hoping to have all these charges reversed because charges that were deemed reversible caused other charges to occur. In real time, I was trying to keep up with these charges by refuting them and having them reversed and even by depositing enough money to cover them. The situation of fees causing other fees has had a domino effect on the account that I simply will not be able to recover from at this time while we are all under lock-down. I still do not know why the charges that were going to be reversed were not. But all this has certainly worked to the banks advantage. In a month, they would be making off of me 22 times the monthly service charge! Besides thinking that there is something wrong with they way they are creating and assessing fees, I also found the Supervisor with whom I spoke uninterested in my issues to the point of being rude and obstructive as well as completely insensitive to anything happening to Americans as a result of the Coronavirus, this despite Citibanks posturing to act as though it is interested in being helpful. 

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

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