Consumer complaint received 2016-07-14
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NV
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
I signed up for a Citigold checking account from Citibank on XXXX/XXXX/16 because of the XXXX XXXX miles offer. I saved the terms of the offer for my own record. After I signed up for the account, I did not see the offer notated on my account. I emailed Citibank to make sure, and received a message from XXXX XXXX XXXX stating : " I can confirm our promotion to earn the bonus XXXX XXXX miles is attached to your account ''. She then listed all the things I have to do to get the offer. 
On XXXX/XXXX/16, I messaged Citibank asking if I 've met all the requirements for the offer. On XXXX/XXXX/16, XXXX XXXX from Citibank emailed me back, however the language was unclear. She repeated the requirements ( {$1000.00} debit card purchases and XXXX qualifying bill payment ), and stated that " After reviewing your account, I see you processed XXXX transaction for {$1000.00} and a bill payment for two consecutive months. Please review the terms and Conditions listed on the offer sent for qualification. Please note, all promotions will differ and are targeted to specific account holders during specific time frames ; so if you did not receive this promotion via your Citi credit card statement, personal email, or through U.S mail to your home address you will not qualify for this promotion. We regret if this causes you any inconvenience. '' I was not entirely sure what this all meant. I feel like she listed the things that I 've done but never confirmed that I 've met all the requirements and when my points will post. I was confused so on XXXX/XXXX/16, I chatted with representative XXXX via live chat. I asked her the same question ( if I 've met all the requirements for the offer ), and she confirmed that I " have met the offer requirements '' and " please allow until XXXX/XXXX/16 for the miles to be credited ''. I thought that was a really long wait, but decided to be patient and wait it out. 
On XXXX/XXXX/16, I messaged Citibank again asking the status of my offer, since it has been 5 months since I signed up for the account and I still have n't received the miles yet. XXXX XXXX responded and stated " On my last message dated on XXXX/XXXX/2016, I advised of the requirements, confirm you completed them, explained the monthly service fees and advised the following : Please note, all promotions will differ and are targeted to specific account holders during specific time frames ; so if you did not receive this promotion via your Citi credit card statement, personal email, or through U.S mail to your home address you will not qualify for this promotion. We regret if this causes you any inconvenience. 
With that being said I regret to advise the bonus can not be honored, your understanding and patience regarding this matter is highly appreciated. '' I am very unhappy that I am now told that Citibank wo n't honor the bonus. I 've had this account open for 5 months, during which I was told twice that the offer was attached to my account and that my miles will post by a specific date ( XXXX/XXXX/16 ). How can they just tell me now, after 5 months, that they wo n't honor the bonus, and only after I reached out to them first? I feel like this is deceptive marketing on their part ( promising a bonus that never posted ) to keep me to continue using their checking account and debit card.

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