Consumer complaint received 2015-04-07
Product: Credit card — 
Issue: Rewards — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (PA)

I called to cancel my card on XX/XX/XXXX but was talked into keeping it open with an offer of a {$50.00} statement credit and XXXX bonus miles for charging {$1000.00} each month for three months. When I stated that I did not want to pay a membership fee, I was assured that three month period ended before my first year was up which was XX/XX/XXXX. This agreed with the valid from date on the card which was also XX/XX/XXXX. Since I signed up in the middle of a statement period, I called back to clarify whether the months were calendar months from date of offer or dates that coincided with statement dates. I was told the three months were XXXX day periods starting on XX/XX/XXXX. When my next XX/XX/XXXX statement showed the membership fee, I called on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX CT to ask about the fee, explaining that my XXXX year did not end until XX/XX/XXXX according to my card and the last representative I spoke with. I stated that I had planned to cancel the card before the fee went into effect and that I had questions about the promotional offer. The representative then said that she credited the member fee and cancelled the account while we were talking. I stated that I had not asked her to do that. She stated that she could re-open the account and, if she did, I would continue to be eligible for the promotion. I expressed a sense of urgency in that the deadline for making purchases within the promotional period was ending soon. She allegedly made a note on the account and assured me they would notify me by phone when the account was open so I would not have to wait for a letter. I never got a phone call. However, I determined that the account was re-opened and called customer service on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX CT to ensure I was still on track to receive the rewards according to the promotional offer. I did so because that was the only reason I would charge any additional purchases to that card. I was told that I was still eligible and proceeded to charge another {$1000.00} before the end date of the offer. However, I did not see the credit when my XX/XX/XXXX statement was posted so I called customer service again on XXXX at about XXXX pm to ask why. I was then told that I did not meet the terms of the offer. I asked to speak to a supervisor. " XXXX '' claimed to be a manager but would n't provide a last name. XXXX told me that despite my being told during XXXX previous conversations that I was on track to receive the bonus miles and statement credit, he would not honor the promotion. XXXX stated that I became ineligible when I closed the account. I explained that I did not ask for the account to be closed, that the closing was a misunderstanding by the representative, and that I was assured on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX that I would still be eligible for the offer when the account was re-opened. Somehow, it did n't seem to matter to XXXX that his information contradicted what I was told by at least XXXX other representatives or that the account was closed in error. Bottom line from XXXX is that Citibank 's error was now my problem. Citibank did not honor their agreement and penalized me for the errors of their representative.