Consumer complaint received 2019-07-24
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. (GA)

This is both an issue related to a dispute that was transformed into fraud by Citi. I will begin by outlining the dispute and then document how Citi transformed it into a fraudulent transaction to benefit their company. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX, a company I was doing business with was notified in writing that my subscription should be cancelled. XXXX XXXX has documented numerous times that they can be contacted at XXXX to cancel your product and services as documented here and elsewhere https : XXXXXXXX. 

Subsequently, XXXX XXXX  billed my card on file ( Citi Bank credit card ) and ignored my email. Upon reviewing my statement in XXXX of XXXX, I noticed a charge for {$370.00} from XXXX XXXX which was obviously an infringement of the instructions I had given the company and is contrary to Federal Law under ROSCA. At  that time I planned on submitting a dispute and later did on the phone with a Citi Bank CSR who assured me I would receive documentation in the mail which I specifically requested, rather than email or online because I prefer to do business that way. On XX/XX/XXXX I noted that Citi had credited my account for the amount billed by XXXX XXXX   when I received my statement but had not received documentation for the dispute information required of me. 

In my XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX statement I noted that Citi Bank had reversed the dispute without notification, much less following up with me to request my information on the dispute. Subsequently I contacted Citi to inquire as to the status of the dispute and on XX/XX/XXXX I was informed by the disputes department that dispute XXXX was REOPENED to allow me time to submit documentation for review. I submitted the required documentation on XX/XX/XXXX to Citi at the requested fax number ( XXXX ) and received a confirmation that it had been received. 

Upon receiving my XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX statement I noted that Citi had not placed the transaction back into dispute as promised. YET, they had refunded my late fee for the transaction, and also had given me a {$10.00} valued customer credit for the confusion on Citi 's part and the frustration on my part. I had obviously followed the process, worked in good faith with Citi and yet they could not make their process work according to policy. However, since Citi had credited my account as per the above and I was still awaiting the dispute documentation I submitted to be confirmed, I waited to see my next statement for the resolution of the dispute. Any reasonable person would have concluded that the credits to my account, confirmed that Citi was taking next steps to get this resolved ( finally ).
When I received my XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX statement I was disappointed to see that the original amount from XXXX XXXX was still not in dispute and that Citi had added a late fee! On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Citi and was told by their CSR that the transaction had never been put back into dispute and they explained to me that according to their policy that I had not submitted documentation according to the timelines that governed the process. I was outraged and explained all of the above to the CSR and asked to speak with a supervisor. At that time, I was transferred to a supervisor and told my story again at which time she confirmed the receipt of my email to XXXX XXXX cancelling my service in advance of the next billing cycle ( back in XXXX of XXXX XXXX and counselled me that since XXXX XXXX had billed my card when I had instructed them not to that yes indeed, this could be fraud and would I like to proceed with placing the transaction into fraud. My response was of course if that is my only option that Citi can provide to get this resolved and considering how they couldn't even follow their own policies and process. 

So on XX/XX/XXXX the transaction was placed in fraud and I was assured the transaction would drop off of my account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX EST I messaged with an agent on the Citi app which I had recently downloaded to see if it would speed up communications. An agent explained that the charges to " drop off '' ( their words ) when the statement got generated on XX/XX/XXXX. Finally - we are making progress right? Wrong. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I opened the Citi app and saw that the transaction was no longer in a fraud status.I then messaged Citi on their app at XXXX and chatted with " XXXX '' ( ID XXXX ) and I stated that I saw that the transaction was no longer in fraud status and that I had not been notified by Citi XXXX I also said I saw that Citi had placed me in a past due status. XXXX noted he could not help me because fraud was not in the messaging app. I asked him to make a note of my contact and that I would be calling. He assured me he would. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX EST I spoke with a Citi fraud representative and requested an update. The rep could not confirm that the transaction had been taken out of fraud. I asked for an operator ID at that time and the rep refused me! She then transferred me to the " security department ''. The security department informed me there was nothing they could do, that I should try to call the merchant to reverse the charges, and that the transaction was not in fraud status and would I like to speak with the disputes department? This was not the 1st time I noted I was being treated as a " hot potato '' by Citi - tossed from department to department, each telling me there was nothing they could do to help me. In disgust, I got off the phone after almost 120 minutes as I have a day job. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called Citi again and spoke with XXXX in Fraud and was transferred to XXXX in security. I was told that the transaction had indeed been taken out of fraud status. They said there was nothing they could do although at least these two people were sympathetic and stated they had seen this before. I left feeling like a hot potato with no resolution. 

On XX/XX/XXXX in sheer desperation, I contacted XXXX XXXX to speak with them regarding the matter. They asked me to send them my documentation for review which I did to the email address requested. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX XXXXt and they did not have an update. 

I subsequently received my XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX statement and noted that the transaction remained on my account, was not " dropped off '' nor placed in fraud. And in fact Citi had added a {$35.00} late fee! 

On XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with XXXX XXXXXXXX and they informed me that since Citi had placed the transaction into fraud, per their legal department they would not be able to reverse the transaction. I was told in fact, that if the item has simply come out of dispute and they had been notified with my documentation that I had given to Citi ( my original email canceling the subscription ) they would have reversed the charges. At this point I became very frustrated with Citi. It was their negligence in not providing XXXX XXXX the documentation when the item was placed back into dispute and even more their fault when they advised to put the transaction into fraud status. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from XXXX XXXX confirming my account was closed and that they could not reverse the charges. 

On XX/XX/XXXX after reviewing ALL of my notes and documentation on this problem with Citi ( this was now becoming a full time job! ) I decided to call Citi to go over the decision as to why the transaction had been placed into fraud by Citi and then reversed. I had the goal of making it clear to them it was their policies and process that put me in this position. I was determined to get to the bottom of this mystery and the hot potato effect. 
So after I had compiled all of my notes, I called Citi on XX/XX/XXXX and I was prepared. But to my surprise, I was told by Operator ID XXXX that my transaction HAD NEVER BEEN PLACED IN FRAUD STATUS. I was astounded. The operator then told me I would have to prove that the transaction was placed in a fraud status! What??? Knowing not else what to do, I got the instructions on where to submit my documentation to prove to Citi, that had stated over and over again they had placed my transaction in fraud status, that they did indeed! I was informed to send my information to " XXXX '' which I did on that same day. 

In this documentation I included screen prints of the messaging app where there CSRs had informed me I had been referred to fraud and that my transaction would " drop off '' by XX/XX/XXXX. I also researched that very same day ( so I could include in this documentation ) that their very own fraud department confirmed it was placed in fraud. I had spoken with " XXXX '', a supervisor out of their Florida office, that the transaction had been placed in fraud and spoke with her at number XXXX, which is their online and mobile fraud protection unit phone number. Also in this communication dated XX/XX/XXXX, I demanded Citi reverse the charges, late fees and fix my credit since they had been reporting me as past due. 

By XX/XX/XXXX I had received no response. I called Citi to make one final attempt to resolve this in good faith with the company. I spoke with the dispute department and offered to meet half way and pay half the bill even though I had all the documentation showing how their process and policies were broken and led to putting me in this position. They said there was nothing they could do and even said they could understand why I am so frustrated. They transferred me to customer service and once again I shared all of this information and told me they could do nothing. The CSR even said he sees this happen " all the time '' as if the process leads to the same outcome every time. I called it the hot potato process that leaves the customer with no advocate. 

The CSR told me to speak with collections and so I did and was transferred to a supervisor in collections. I again shared my whole story and while she said she understood, she stated there was nothing she could do except suggest that I move the amount to settlement. I noted she was very careful with her words. When I would state that this is the only option I can see because Citi has no customer advocate to help the customer solve these kinds of problems, she would be very careful in stating the policy. 

I picked up on this and when she asked me if I wanted to attempt to settle the account, she did so using policy language and redirecting the conversation to " only so many accounts are accepted into settlement '' and " I can help you attempt a settlement if you agree YOU want to place it into settlement ''. The reality is that as a result of their process and policies across numerous siloed, but orchestrated departments, there is no other choice for a customer. I believe this is by design and that Citi has masterfully concocted the process so that fewer customers win their disputes, are saddled with late fees and past due notices to the credit bureaus so that the customer will ultimately give up. This appears to be a blatant violation of fair business practices in my opinion, similar in some ways to how XXXX XXXX saddled so many customers with so many unwanted accounts and fees via unethical business processes. 

Ultimately I refused to go to settlement on principle. I can easily pay the {$480.00} dollars on the account. It's not a money issue, its a concern about the lack of ethics and concern for their retail customers in their business practices. While I can not conclusively say that Citi is willfully orchestrating policy and process for the outcome I came to, I can say as a consultant with 30 years of business process analysis in the financial industry, I want it looked into. I have always had excellent credit, can prove it, and until now have been able to work with my bank when there was problem. This situation seems too conveniently " siloed '' and fraught with mis-directions for the customer intended to cause delays which lead to a violation of their policies, which is then used to justify their position, decision, and outcomes. I urge the CFPB to look at this closely as I also determine how I will escalate and take a different course of action.