Consumer complaint received 2024-05-30
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation — Attempted to collect wrong amount
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (CA)

XXXX days ago I checked your portal to see what Citibank 's response to my first complaint was. Their response said that they were not going to provide me anything in the portal for privacy reasons and that they would send me a letter in the mail. That response was several weeks ago. As of yesterday, I still have not received any letter from them regarding my complaint or why on XX/XX/XXXX they negotiated a settlement with me for {$2500.00} due by the end of the XXXX, but when I try to pay them on XX/XX/XXXX, they say that on XX/XX/XXXX the account was " past the statute of limitations '' and they are no longer taking any payments. I want it to be noted that this is not the same or a duplicate complaint. This is a new complaint for new actions or behavior by Citibank and it's employee XXXX. 

After reading their response to me several times, I do see that they wrote in the response to call them at XXXX for additional assistance. Yesterday I decided to give them a call since I still have not received any letter or actual response to my complaint other than something along the lines of " we'll send you something in the mail and call us for help if you have any questions '', and I reach someone named XXXX. The conversation with him was in XXXX. XXXX said he was from the internal recovery department and in the conversation gave us his ID # of XXXX. That conversation made me even more upset with Citibank and now I am strongly considering talking to an attorney to sue Citibank. 

In that phone call with Citibank which took about half an hour or so, XXXX was asking me to verify my identity. He asked for my name, my social, and my date of birth. He also asked what kind of card I was calling about. I gave him everything he asked for, and he then said that he found the account in question but that he could not continue the call with me because the name I gave him didn't match the name on the card. He then asked me for any other names which I could have used, so I gave him my middle name. XXXX then said he still couldn't continue the call because he couldn't verify me simply because the name I gave him didn't match the name on the card exactly as it was on the card. As we were speaking with XXXX, I informed him that this was crazy and the reason I was calling him specifically is because I was given his number directly by Citibank from the complaint I filed against them for their other recent bad behavior. XXXX repeated he was sorry, but he could not proceed with the call because he couldn't verify my identity due to the name on the card not matching so I asked him what about the rest of the information I gave him. He had my full name, my social, and my date of birth. he was clearly able to find my account with the info I had given him so why couldn't he verify me? 

XXXX asked if I had the card in hand to which I told him no. XXXX then asked if I had a statement from Citibank for this card to which I also told him no. I explained to XXXX that this account was lost or stolen about 4 years ago when my purse was stolen and I was a victim of fraud. I no longer had a physical copy of the card, and I wouldn't have received a statement from them for years now. Later I explained how I had already spoken with them on several instances in the recent past when we had negotiated a settlement in XXXX of this year, so why are they now suddenly not able to verify me? It was around this point that I told XXXX I was going to give the phone to my son XXXX as he was better at speaking than I was. XXXX said that was ok so he and my son began to speak. 

The conversation with XXXX and XXXX went pretty much the same way. XXXX did ask for XXXX 's ID # and repeated that it was crazy that Citibank 's response to my first complaint was that I should call this number for more help, but then they refuse to help me. Forget about how they didn't even respond to my allegation of why they reneged on a settlement for a silly excuse such as the account is " past the statute of limitations, '' and they are no longer collecting on the debt. Which is a lie by the way. Forget about how I've never received the letter they claimed they were going to send me almost a month ago. They are actively mistreating me and retaliating against me for filing my first complaint. Is this how XXXX conducts its business? Give a vague and non-response to a legitimate complaint to the government and then lie as to what they are going to do or give me a number to call for assistance which they have no intention of honoring? What is the point of a complaint, and what is the point of the C.F.P.B. if this is not going to resolve anything or even generate a reasonable response? 

To make Citibank 's behavior even worse than it already is, my son asked XXXX to let us speak to a supervisor as this was just crazy that he wouldn't speak to me knowing he found out who I was and found the account using my personal data, but then claiming he can't verify me. XXXX refused. He stated at least 5 times and possibly even more that he could not continue the call and that transferring me to a supervisor was not possible. We asked him multiple times and each time he kept repeating himself saying because he couldn't verify me, he couldn't continue the call, but transferring me to a supervisor was not possible. XXXX told him he knew it was absolutely possible, but that XXXX was simply refusing to do so. XXXX again repeated the same thing over and over. XXXX finally told XXXX that we were going to be filing additional complaints and this time we were going to name XXXX personally as well for his complicit behavior in not allowing us to speak to someone and preventing us from getting a response from the complaint I filed when I was asked to call that number I was calling him on. XXXX said I could do whatever I wanted and still did not transfer us to anybody. Again, is that common behavior from Citibank? Based on everything I've experienced so far I would say that it is, and that is why this second complaint is warranted. 

The complaint is even more warranted when you start to think about the conversations I've had with them and realize that Citibank 's and XXXX 's words are either a lie or don't make sense. For example, if this account was really past the statute of limitations as Citibank claimed on XX/XX/XXXX when I tried to pay them the settlement amount we agreed to on XX/XX/XXXX, then why are they still reporting this account? Accounts past the statute of limitations can't be reported on my credit report. If they are talking about a different statute of limitations such as the one for suing me in California which is 4 years, then that statute of limitations does not prevent them from collecting this debt, but simply from suing me in court. That statement would also be a lie, however, as according to all credit reports I have seen, my last payment to them was in XXXX of XXXX, and the account charged-off in XXXX of XXXX which would mean that the statute of limitations for suing me would expire either in XXXX of XXXX or XXXX of XXXX. To which statute of limitations are they referring to? If they are simply saying they aren't collecting this debt anymore, then I say again, why are they credit reporting a {$7300.00} account on my credit report? The very purpose of reporting a {$7300.00} charge-off on my credit report is an attempt to collect a debt as it is letting the financial world know that they are owed money from me. Finally, if my info truly does not match theirs, and the name on the card is not my name, and they have been informed that I was the victim of fraud back in XXXX, then why are they still trying to collect this account instead of closing it out due to fraud? What in XXXX 's name is Citibank talking about or trying to say with their bold-faced lies and their bait and switch tactics? 

Please assist me. Please do not allow Citibank to simply ignore this complaint or state they will " send me something later. '' I also will not call any more numbers " for help '' since Citibank also won't honor that statement either. I want a real response with actual facts and details as to what they are going to do about the settlement offer we made on XX/XX/XXXX and that they reneged on. I want to know why they are continuing to report an account they are " no longer collecting on '' or that is " past the statute of limitations. '' Honestly, at this point if they really don't want any money and they continue to claim that they aren't collecting and this account is no longer within the statute of limitations, and they won't speak to me because my information does not match theirs, then they need to cancel this and remove it from my credit report immediately.