Consumer complaint received 2021-08-15
Company: CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
State: GA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
Dear To Whom It May Concern : Around XXXX of last year, I ordered a XXXX  XXXX XXXX  from a vendor. There was an option to finance the XXXX. I selected the option to finance the treadmill, which was the biggest mistake of life. It took approximately seven or eight weeks for the XXXX  to ship to my home. I never received any correspondence from the entity that was financing the XXXX. I revisited the email sent to me by the company that I bought the XXXX  from, and it did not contain any financing information. 
On Friday, XX/XX/2021, I checked my email and saw that I had an email from CITIZENS ONE BANK indicating that my account was past due. I was shocked, especially since I had never received any correspondence from the company! I went to their website in the email and discovered that I needed an account number to login to it. On XX/XX/XXXX, to my surprise, I learned that CITIZENS ONE BANK had reported my account as 30 days past due to XXXX  and XXXX. That following Monday ( XXXX XXXX ), I called the company and told them that I had never received any correspondence from them, not even an account number or statement. The customer service representative opined that perhaps it went to my junk mail and was deleted after thirty days. I told him that I would go ahead and pay the treadmill off at that time. He gave me my account number, and I logged into CITIZENS ONE BANK website and set up my account.

I asked about my credit score and wanted to have the delinquent account removed from my credit report. The representative said another department handled that issue, but he would go ahead and submit a ticket for someone to call me about that process later. The customer service representative indicated someone from that department would call me in five to seven business days. I said okay, and stated that I needed to have that late payment removed from my credit report because I had not received any account information from CITIZENS ONE BANK. After completing the call, I paid the treadmill balance in full. On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged back into the companys website to see if my payments had been posted to the account. At that time, I discovered that I had made a math error and still owed the company {$5.00}, which I paid off on this date. 
After waiting for about three weeks and never receiving a call from CITIZENS ONE, I called the company on XX/XX/2021. I informed the customer service representative, XXXX, about my issue and what the representative told me the last time I called CITIZEN ONE. XXXX indicated that she did not know how to remove the delinquent account from my credit report. I asked to speak to a supervisor. About 10 minutes later, the supervisor, XXXX ( ID # XXXX ) came on the phone and stated that CITIZENS ONE had made a mistake and did not correctly notify me. I said that it is great that the company is willing to take responsibility for not notifying me, but I need to know when the company can remove that late payment from my credit report. She stated that someone would be in touch with me within three to five business days. I pressed her on this timeframe because this promise had been made during my first call and was not honored. She asked me to hold for a moment. When she came back on the line, she stated that, yes, CITIZENS ONE had made a mistake by failing to notify me. However, she lied and said that someone would contact me in XXXX to XXXX business days. CITIZENS ONE lied again! As of this writing, no one from CITIZENS ONE has contacted me to rectify this matter that this unethical company caused. 
Later that day, I googled CITIZENS ONE and discovered the company has a horrible reputation and is being sued by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, a government agency. The Agency accuses CITIZEN ONE of failing to " investigate and appropriately resolve billing error notices ... '' and a host of other unsavory business practices. The list of accusations sounds very similar to my case. The government filed the lawsuit last year. I wish that I had this information before getting involved with this nefarious company. It appears that CITIZENS ONE 's customer service strategy is to lie to its customers and never make good on any promises provided by its customer service representatives. 
On XX/XX/2021, CITIZENONE falsely reported that I was 30 days late to the credit bureaus. Once again, on XX/XX/2021, this unethical company, CITIZENONE, falsely reported that I was 30 days late with a payment. Recall, that I paid the full balance by XX/XX/2021. So, CITIZENONE is spitefully ruining my credit with its lies that I am late on an account that I have a balance of XXXX. 
I seek your help in hold this nefarious and unethical company accountable for attempting to ruin my credit even after I have paid the balance off. I have attached the relevant documents to substantiate the facts that I have presented. 
The consuming American public needs to know about this unethical company 's despicable business practices. Shame on CITIZENS ONE for being a terrible corporate citizen! 
If you require additional information, please contact me via phone or email.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation