Consumer complaint received 2016-06-28
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: DC
Product: Credit card
Issue: Customer service / Customer relations

Complaint:
On XXXX XXXX, I called Citibank Customer Service regarding my AAdvantage Gold World Elite Mastercard account. I spoke with the representative who offered to renew the card with a {$50.00} statement credit to cover the {$50.00} annual fee. To get the credit, I would need to spend {$50.00} on the credit card by XXXX XXXX in addition to paying the {$50.00} annual fee. In XXXX, I realized that the card had expired and thus I was unable to spend {$50.00} using the credit card. On XXXX XXXX, 8 days before the XXXX XXXX spend deadline, I requested a new card because of this expiration. Upon submitting a new card request, I received an confirmation email that stated, " We 'll provide your replacement card ( s ) within 7 days. '' which would be XXXX XXXX. 

On the day of the spend deadline, XXXX XXXX, I still had not received the card. On XXXX XXXX, I called Citibank customer service to see if the spend period could be extended until I received the card. I initially talked to XXXX who said that he could not extend the offer and gave me the option to close the account or convert to a different credit card. He also mentioned that I would not receive the full {$50.00} annual fee that I had already paid. I then asked to speak with a supervisor in order to learn more about the situation. 

I subsequently spoke with XXXX, a supervisor in the Florida office and reiterated the situation about the missing card and spend deadline to him. I felt insulted by the way he handled my inquiry as he consistently placed the blame on me for " not reaching out '' directly to Citibank about getting a replacement card before the spend deadline. I said that I had requested a replacement card on XXXX XXXX via the Citibank website out of convenience and that I should I have received the card within 7 days according to my confirmation email. He replied by saying that ordering the replacement card online was not considered reaching out -- several times. 

As a result of this frustrating exchange in which the blame was placed on me several times for " not reaching out, '' I asked XXXX to close my account. He said that I would not receive the full {$50.00} statement credit for the annual fee I had paid, since it was prorated for the time that I held the card. I would like to restate that I did not have a valid credit card during the spend period between XXXX and XXXX XXXX and was thus unable to use it. I finally received the replacement card on XXXX XXXX. As I had requested a card on XXXX XXXX and was quoted a 7 day delivery period, XXXX XXXX was 4 days after the expected delivery. I did not activate this card since the account has been closed. I received a statement credit of {$41.00} and I would like to request that instead of statement credit, I receive a check for the full {$50.00} annual fee amount that I spent in XXXX. 

I was perfectly happy to spend the threshold amount of {$50.00} to keep the credit card for another year. However, I was incredibly disappointed by the lack of customer service or care by XXXX. He never once apologized that the card was late and placed the entire blame for the missing card on me and stated several times that I " did not reach out '' even though I had clearly requested a replacement card the week before.

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