Consumer complaint received 2017-06-22
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX XXXX I received an email notice that a Citi/Costco account was past due with a balance of {$300.00}. This was the first notice that I received about the account, the balance, or the account being past due. Within a few days I contacted Citi and was notified that the charge was for a Costco Membership fee. I told them I had not authorized this charge and I disputed it. 
I notified them that I was aware of the change from American Express to Citi credit cards for Costco. I had received the new card but the card had never been activated. I have been out of the country since XXXX of XXXX and had not received any notifications of the debt until I received the XXXX XXXX email. Before leaving the country no arrangements were made with Citi for the account, because I had never activated the card or authorized any charges to the account. I had not authorized Costco to charge my membership fee to this credit card. I was initially notified that the charge would remain because it had not been disputed in a timely manner. I reiterated that I had not been notified of the debt and so there had been nothing to dispute until I received the email. I disputed the balance and any derogatory credit reporting that had occurred. Upon discussing the issue with a Supervisor, the charge was removed from the account. Further, I was informed that the account was closed and no further charges would be made to the account. On XXXX XXXX I received another email/bill from Citi. This one showing a balance of XXXX. The same day, I called Citi to determine why I was receiving a bill. I was informed that the account had only been provisionally credited and the charge had been reapplied. I reviewed my past conversations. The representative put me on hold a couple of times indicating that she would speak with a specialist. She came back on the line and indicated that because of the time that had passed, the balance could no longer be disputed. I complained that I had disputed the debt within days of being notified. She said MasterCard regulations and system limitations did not allow her to make a change and that Supervisors were unwilling to remove the unauthorized charge as well. This is an unauthorized charge that Citi did not notify me of in a timely manner. According to the Citi representative, the disputed charge was originally reversed then added back on the account because I had not disputed it in a timely manner. She understood that I had not been notified of the debt, but there was nothing she could do. This is a Citi/Costco card. The two companies have a relationship and certainly between them they should be able to resolve this erroneous charge without continuing to bill me. Despite previously being told this issue was resolved I am now told that they are unable to remove the balance from the account. Despite significant tenure with the company, the representative communicated a lack of understanding regarding debt notifications and dispute time frames.

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