Consumer complaint received 2024-03-25
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (NY)

I have been using the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi for about 7 years now since XXXX, and I am very upset with the recent experience I've faced and the exorbitant amount in interest and late fees that I've been charged and have unable to have credited after calling in to customer service and explaining the crisis surrounding the reason that I was late in paying my XXXX billing period statement due on XX/XX/XXXX. I made my payment on XX/XX/XXXX due to having to go to the hospital on XX/XX/XXXX and spending a considerable amount of time in the emergency room and not being discharged until XX/XX/XXXX. While I understand the argument that I could've made a payment online on XX/XX/XXXX from my phone while being in the hospital, I unfortunately did not have any service where I was receiving care in order to make my payment online or by phone call. There was also no Wi-Fi available either. If I am in the hospital emergency room receiving medical care, I do not have the luxury to leave the hospital in order to obtain cellular or Wi-Fi reception in order to handle my affair of making a credit card payment before the cutoff time on XX/XX/XXXX. I always intend and do make my payments on the due date as can be reflected in my account activity if we go back and review all my statements going as far back as the XXXX statement. The only other time I was late on my payment in XXXX was for my XXXX billing period statement due on XX/XX/XXXX. I made a payment on XX/XX/XXXX and I understand that the statement reflects there was no late payment fee charged. There was also no interest charged on the following XXXX statement, or the XXXX statement after that. There wasn't any indication on any of these three statements mentioning that a late fee waiver was already applied for me, and I was not aware through any messaging on the statements that interest charges were being suppressed. I was also not made aware through any messaging on the statements that I had already used up a late fee waiver and that I am only allotted one late fee waiver every 12 months. I was only informed of this when I called into customer service on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX when I spoke to a representative on the phone to ask that the late fee of XXXX charged on XX/XX/XXXX and interest in the amount of XXXX charged on XX/XX/XXXX be waived as a courtesy due to my extenuating medical emergency that took place on XX/XX/XXXX preventing a reasonably functional person from making a payment according to the terms of their credit card agreement. In order to document this medical emergency took place on XX/XX/XXXX, I have attached a screenshot to this complaint of the physician 's notes which indicate the date and the severity of my medical emergency on the date of my visit. The representative denied a credit of XXXX for the late fee citing that I had already requested a late fee waiver back in XXXX of XXXX. As explained, I did not see a late fee charge in XXXX, nor did I request a waiver for one, or receive any communication on the statement itself that I had been granted a late fee waiver against a limited waiver allotment of only 1 per rolling 12 months. The representative on the phone did confirm that the XXXX interest charged on XX/XX/XXXX can be waived and that it would reflect on my account within the next XXXX business days. She did not mention on the call that it required further approval and may be subject to being denied. She also did not mention that any additional interest would be charged on a future statement and clarified that only the XXXX late fee charged would remain. After reviewing my statements yet again, I discovered that not only was the XXXX interest charged on XX/XX/XXXX not credited as the representative confirmed on the call that it would be, I got charged with another interest charge of XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX even though I made the payment on XX/XX/XXXX on time. This first call can be listened to here XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. I called customer service again on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX to bring this issue up with a representative only to be informed that on the call from XX/XX/XXXX, the representative had actually put in a request that got denied. It was further explained on this XX/XX/XXXX call that I had received a letter explaining the denial of the refund of the XX/XX/XXXX interest charge. I did not receive any such letter. It was additionally explained on this call on XX/XX/XXXX that the initial interest charged on XX/XX/XXXX was for being late and the interest charged on XX/XX/XXXX was for the duration of the day on XX/XX/XXXX until the payment was made. This call can be listened to here : https : XXXX. After listening to both calls, you can understand my dilemma here. On the initial call, there was XXXX mention of the way double interest would be charged against me. On the initial call, there was also an affirmative guarantee that the XXXX interest charge would be waived and a timeline provided as to when it would reflect on my account. On the second call, I'm being told completely conflicting information that interest waivers and late fee waivers fall under the same waiver policy and that that was why the interest waiver request made on the XX/XX/XXXX call was denied. If there is conflicting information on two different calls as well as a lack of any communication on the statement themselves that there is a policy of late fee and interest fees being under one singular waiver policy and as such only one of the two fees can be waived in a rolling 12 month period, it makes it very difficult for a consumer like myself to be aware of what's going on. In addition, the situation surrounding my medical emergency on XX/XX/XXXX further highlights an issue of discrimination surrounding the disabling condition I was in that led me to my emergency room visit. When a patient is in a situation of trying to recover their health and unable to exercise mobility in order to receive reception either cellular or Wi-Fi by leaving the setting of care they are in, it is impossible for this individual to be held to the same expectations a normal individual would be held under normal circumstances to be able to abide by the terms of their credit card agreement. It is not an excuse but a real life event supported by documentation attached to this claim. Please reference the solution requested to this matter that would resolve this matter to my satisfaction and encourage me to continue to give the tens of thousands of dollars in business I give to this card every year.