Consumer complaint received 2023-12-16
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (TX)

To whom it may concern : I am writing in regards to a complaint I have with Citibanck, N.A. I have been a customer of theirs for over 30 years. I haven't had any major complaints, until now. 

On XX/XX/2023 I was on vacation and used my Citibank card to close a bar tab at a restaurant called " XXXX XXXX '' in XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX. I gave the owner 's son my credit card to close out the {$160.00} bar tab. When he brought me my receipt, he had accidentally charged me {$1600.00} instead. When I brought it to his attention, he apologized and went to correct it. Unfortunately, he was unable to issue me a credit because he could not get the terminal to process a refund. The owner, XXXX, came over and explained to me what had happened and they were having a problem with the terminal. She said she couldn't get a refund to go through either. She asked me to dispute the charge and she would not contest it. I told her I would do that and then I did NOT sign the incorrect receipt. Ten minutes later she ran my card again. This time for the correct {$160.00}. Even though the tip was already on the bill, I included an extra {$8.00} tip on top of it for the good service bringing the total charge to {$170.00}. 

When I returned to the United States, I contacted Citi on XX/XX/XXXX to contest the charges. They opened dispute number XXXX. I had assumed this would be a fairly easy dispute since the receipt was never signed, and another charge issued a few minutes later with the same card, and the merchant was NOT contesting the chargeback. Sometime later, I received a letter dated XX/XX/2023 that said they had turned down my dispute and charged the full {$1600.00} back to my account. I proceeded to contact their dispute department again on XX/XX/XXXX and ask why. The supervisor ( XXXX ) told me that the dispute was filed under an incorrect title. She said she would close this dispute and open a new dispute under the correct title. She opened dispute number XXXX. 

On XX/XX/2023 I received a letter from Citi saying that they previously took the money from the merchant but then said " I cancelled the original dispute. '' The supervisor is the one who closed the dispute, but the letter said that since I closed it, they will not reopen it. Since that time, I have spoken with XXXX customer service agents, XXXX different supervisors and written a letter pleading for help all the way up to the board of directors and the Citibank CEO. All with no help or anything but the same form letter saying that I should not have closed the dispute. I have messaged back and forth with XXXX, the business owner. She shared with me all the emails back and forth with her bank. I have email the representatives from her bank that gave me the dates and tracking numbers of the money sent back to Citibank. She can not send me the money because Citibank currently has it and that would put her small business out {$1600.00} while Citibank does nothing to rectify their error. I have given the dispute department ALL of this information for what would seem to be an open and shut case. I just get the same excuses and responses I've gotten for the last 6 months. Citi disputes tells me that there is no one higher to escalate this case to past the XXXX supervisors I spoke with. 

I am at a complete dead end. As I stated in my letter, I know Citi is a $ XXXX corporation and my business means nothing to them, but this is ridiculous. It is a horrible breakdown in customer service and proves that since they're " too big to fail '', they don't need to be concerned with stealing money from their customers. 

I have included all of the emails, screen shots of messages, receipts and emails from the business owner and bank in the XXXX XXXX XXXX. If there is anything else that you need to address this issue, please reach out to me. 

Respectfully, XXXX XXXX XXXX