Consumer complaint received 2018-10-01
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (NY)

On XX/XX/2018 ( Citi Call 1 attachment ), I noted that I had a fraudulent charge pending on my Citi Prestige credit card account. The charge was for {$3700.00} at XXXX XXXX. I immediately contacted the customer service department at Citi and notified them of the fraudulent charge. I spoke to the representative and she took down all the necessary information. I told her it was a fraudulent charge that I did not authorize and that I had the card in my possession. Upon research, the representative noted that the charge was incurred via a manual input. She elaborated that the sales associate did not have a tangible credit card that was swiped, and it's possible that the credit card information was entered in manually. She noted that she would issue me a new credit card immediately, the physical card would be overnighted, and I would have access to the electronic/mobile version of my card immediately. The mailing and issuance of the new credit card occurred without any issues and I applaud Citi and their responsiveness. The Citi representative gave no indication that I would need to follow-up regarding the fraudulent charge, and that everything was sufficiently taken care of by this phone call. 

On XX/XX/2018 ( Citi Call 2 attachment ), I called Citi to  follow-up with the fraudulent charge on my credit card. I told the representative that I noted I had yet to be refunded for the fraudulent charge amount, and I asked her when I should expect a refund. The representative stated it should take approximately two to five business days. There was no discussion that I needed to do  anything further to ensure this fraudulent charge would be handled. I thanked her and ended the call. 

On XX/XX/2018 ( Screenshots 1-12 attachments ), I left for international travel. Throughout my travels, I continued to monitor my credit card to determine if the charge had been refunded. On approximately XX/XX/2018 ( because I was traveling internationally, there may be a slight difference in dates ), because I was abroad and did not want to incur any charges I could receive by using my phone, I signed onto the Citi mobile app, and had a conversation with a representative via the messaging portal. During the discussion with the representative, she noted that she could provide the direct contact number to the Dispute team at Citi, and asked if that would work for me. I stated that it would not, I was told this was already taken care of, and I am on vacation abroad right now and can not call. The Citi representative stated the dispute team will take care of the fraudulent charge and I needed to log into my account at Citi.com from a desktop or mobile browser and chat with them online for assistance. I told them that I was not going to do that because I already called and reported this twice and was told it would be taken care of. I also stated I want to file a formal complaint with the business line, and I want to file a complaint and for this to go through Citi 's compliance department for review. I stated the handling of this fraudulent charge has been poor and that I don't pay {$450.00} a year for this type of customer service. The Citi representative stated she would make a note in my account and in the meanwhile, register a complaint regarding the dispute too. I asked when I should hear a response, and the Citi representative stated 48 to 72 hours. I asked how I would be compensated for the inconvenience this has caused me ( this is the third time I've contacted Citi and I am now contacting them during my scheduled international vacation ), and the Citi representative never answered the question. I further stated I want a formal response in writing that details the results of the fraudulent charge on my account, the response to my formal complaint, and how Citi plans to compensate me for the inconvenience. I stated I had to go and then I thanked the representative for resolving this quickly.

Throughout the rest of my vacation, I monitored my credit card account to see if the fraudulent charge amount was credited back to my account, and to see if I received a response from Citi regarding my formal complaint. As of XX/XX/2018, I had received no response and my account had not been credited back with the amount of the fraudulent charge.

On Monday, XX/XX/2018 ( Citi Call 3 attachment ), I contacted Citi by phone and discussed my grievances with the initial customer service representative. That representative then transferred me to another representative, who I believe is in the Security Investigations department. I told her about the three previous experiences I had with Citi representatives regarding this fraudulent charge. She took down my information again, and stated that she is taking responsibility for the treatment I received. She said that Citi would conduct an investigation regarding the  fraudulent charge, and that I should expect a credit to my account in three to five business days. She described the issues that occurred with this fraudulent charge and why it wasn't handled appropriately. I told her that I wanted responses from Citi regarding this complaint. She said she would escalate my complaints and grievances internally, and that I would like a written response from Citi. I told her I would file a formal complaint with the CFPB because I also want a written response from them. I also said I would like to be compensated for the treatment I have received from Citi because of the multiple inconveniences this has caused me.