Consumer complaint received 2022-02-28
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Opening an account — Didn't receive terms that were advertised
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (AL)

I opened a Citi Checking account on XX/XX/XXXX after receiving an email titled " XXXX, earn up to {$1500.00} with this exclusive cardmember bonus ''. Refer to attached email for full terms, but essentially I was told that if I deposited $ XXXX within 30 days of opening and maintained the balance for 60 consecutive days, I would receive a {$400.00} cash bonus for opening the account and completing said requirements. ( Alternatively, you could deposit {$5000.00} and receive a {$200.00} cash bonus. ) -- -- - As mentioned above, I opened the account on XX/XX/XXXX and funded the account on XX/XX/XXXX with {$15000.00}. This was within the 30 days requirement for funding. I then maintained that balance until XX/XX/XXXX when I withdrew {$10000.00}. Note I maintained the required balance for 88 days ... well in excess of the 60 day requirement. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was credited with a {$200.00} cash bonus versus the {$400.00} cash bonus promised per the terms under which I opened the account. -- -- - I thought this might happen given fraudulent debit card activity had occurred on my account. Specifically, on XX/XX/XXXX, a series of fradulent debit card transactions went through in Oregon ( I live in Alabama and haven't ever been to Oregon. ) I called and reported this fraud shortly thereafter and Citi appropriately refunded my account on XXXX. At this time, I also asked the customer service rep if a note needed to be made on my account to ensure I still got the full {$400.00} bonus since my account balance did drop below the XXXX threshold due to the fradulent activity. He assured me that since it was marked as fraud, the system would automatically exclude it when calculating and applying my bonus. Obviously, he was misspoken. I have attached all statements since I opened the account for evidence ; note that I have never authorized ANY debit card transactions on this account. -- -- - Subsequent to seeing only the {$200.00} bonus post, I called into Citi Customer Service where I dealt with wait times and being placed on hold multiple times only for the call to drop after being on the phone for over an hour and had to call back in and start over .... -- -- - The second time I called in I was told repeatedly by a customer service rep that there was nothing she could do and that is wasn't possible to overrride and essentially " tough luck '' even though this error was entirely the bank 's fault. Again it is worth noting that I still to this day haven't used the debit card, so the only way the debit card number was stolen was internally through Citi... I asked for a supervisor who she assured me would just tell me the same answer ... After explaining to the supervisor, she informed me the associate was wrong ( though never apologized it ) and told me she could submit a bonus dispute request for the bonus to be reviewed. However, after waiting on hold for XXXX minutes, was told that in order to submit said ticket, she needed the promotion reference number for the terms I signed up with and since it was not provided on the email link I clicked to sign up, she had to get it from the Personal XXXX XXXX XXXX and they were closed for the day .... so I had to call back again. -- -- - Third time I called, the agent was a champ. He quickly got the reference number and filed the bonus dispute ticket for my bonus to be reviewed. He also seemingly understood the fact pattern around me not getting the bonus and assured me that fraudulent activity shouldn't mess up the bonus amount and it should be retrospectively applied. In fact, a provisional {$200.00} credit ( difference of {$400.00} I was owed and {$200.00} I received initially ) was applied immediately. It was much to my surprise when I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX informing me that I didn't in fact meet the requirements of the XXXX balance and the {$200.00} provisional credit was reversed. -- -- - Now spending close to two hours on the phone wasting time not being able to speak to people who can actually make decisions and explain the situation, and now being told that due to fraud ( likely Citi XXXX fault given I never have used the debit card and thus impossible for anyone to get the number from me ) Citi is cheating me out of {$200.00} despite multiple associates at various points in the process telling me otherwise, I feel I have no other option than to report to CFPB for resolution. -- -- - I have been a longtime Citi credit card holder and am very happy with their credit card products, but the checking account experience has been a nightmare.