Consumer complaint received 2024-06-18
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Unexpected or other fees — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (GA)

I was charged a total of {$120.00} in unexpected fees when Citibank rejected the wire transfers I tried to send to pay off my mortgage held by XXXX XXXX. Despite multiple attempts to find out why the wires were rejected and what the fees were for, neither XXXX nor Citibank has provided any reasonable explanation. I believe the wires were rejected due to no fault of my own and were a result of errors or omissions in the wiring instructions XXXX provided. XXXX refused to investigate the cause of the errors so I am seeking an explanation from Citibank detailing specifically what the problem was and a description of the {$40.00} fee that was deducted each time the funds were returned. A definitive explanation from Citibank will allow me to determine who was responsible for the errors and provide me with proof I can use to justify a request for reimbursement of the {$120.00} in fees I incurred. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to pay off my mortgage held by XXXX XXXX via wire transfers to their Citibank account, following the provided instructions. However, all three attempts on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX resulted in the funds being returned with a {$40.00} deduction each time. Despite these deductions, Citibank provided no notification or explanation. 

The payoff funds were wired from my XXXX brokerage account. Upon contacting XXXX, I learned that Citibank was not clearing the funds, citing " XXXX : Account details are invalid '' as the reason for the rejections. Despite attempts to rectify the problem, including changes in details as advised by XXXX Customer Service, the issue persisted. The " Receiving Account Number '' did not change for any of the XXXX attempts so it was believed the account number XXXX provided could be incorrect. With no clarity from Citibank and a {$40.00} deduction for each failure, I discontinued the wire attempts. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent an inquiry to XXXX explaining that there appeared to be a problem with wiring payoff funds per their instructions and requested reimbursement for the {$120.00} I had lost through no apparent fault of my own. In their response letter, dated XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX denied responsibility and refused to reimburse me. Instead, XXXX suggested I reach out to XXXX. I contacted XXXX and requested further investigation into the reason the wires had been rejected. I also requested copies of the wire request forms showing the details to be sent to me for review. XXXX 's investigation found a second reason for the rejections : " Unable to apply : Need valid beneficiary account number. '' XXXX could not find specifically what " beneficiary account number '' referred to and suggested I contact Citibank. 

" XXXX : Account details are invalid '' and " Unable to apply : Need valid beneficiary account number '' - These are the only XXXX reasons I have to explain why Citibank rejected my wires. They don't explain what was wrong in sufficient detail, but they do support the possibility that XXXX 's wiring instructions are incorrect, specifically the account number. If not, what are the invalid account details and/or who is the beneficiary missing a valid account number? 

My attempts to contact Citibank to investigate were hindered by not having a Citibank account myself and therefore, being unable to proceed through their IVR. Eventually, I discovered an option " to access by account number '' and entered the number that XXXX provided for their account. Interestingly, I got a response stating that the account number I entered was not recognized. Once connected to Customer Service, the representative could not answer my questions regarding why my wires were rejected or what any fees charged would have been for. However, when I asked her for clarification about " Unable to apply : Need valid beneficiary account number '' she told me the beneficiary account number would be the account I tried to send to, i.e. XXXX 's account. For an explanation as to what was specifically wrong with the wires I sent and what fees may have applied, she referred me to the " The Wire Department for Personal and Business Wires. '' The phone number provided connected me to XXXX XXXX XXXX and the representative explained that she could not tell me anything about specific problems with the wire transfer because I was not the client. She suggested that I ask XXXX to call and get the information to provide to me. When I asked her what the " beneficiary account number '' refers to, she told me the same as the previous representative ; it refers to XXXX being the beneficiary. 

My attempts at investigating the problem with the wire transfers and associated fees did not result in any concrete answers, but the information I got from XXXX and Citibank provided further support for the possibility that XXXX provided an incorrect account number in their wiring instructions. Whether that is really the case needs to be confirmed by Citibank. 

I mailed a follow-up letter in XXXX and XXXX refused my request for them to contact Citibank and investigate the cause of the rejected wires and get an explanation for the fees. That leaves me stuck trying to figure out what appears to be a problem between XXXX and Citibank with no way to find out what was wrong with the wires I tried to send and nothing to justify the {$120.00} that was taken as a result of the problem. XXXX contends that their instructions are correct ; Citibank apparently can't apply the funds sent using the wiring instructions XXXX provided. 

At this point, only Citibank can explain exactly what was wrong and I would like to get the explanation so I can pursue reimbursement of the {$120.00} XXXX lost trying to wire payoff funds to XXXX. I need the details to determine who was responsible and show proof of the mistake that was made. Was it that XXXX provided faulty wiring instructions? Were the XXXX instructions correct and XXXX made a mistake? Maybe it is even possible that both XXXX and XXXX made mistakes with the instructions?