Consumer complaint received 2017-10-12
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments — You never received your bill or did not know a payment was due
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (CA)

In XXXX XXXX I took my son shopping at XXXX XXXX before he returned to college. I used my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX card issued by XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX to pay for the purchase. I am signed up for e-billing for my XXXX XXXX bills through XXXX. I lead a busy life and rely on receiving a bill to alert me that I have a payment to make - especially when I purchase something from a place I do n't shop at often, such as XXXX XXXX I only receive e-bills from XXXX for XXXX XXXX and when there is an account balance other than {$0.00}. The last e-bill I received in XXXX was XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 
My husband and I use caller ID and generally only answer the phone if we recognize the caller. We started this practice because we frequently get telemarketing calls and reason that the caller will leave a message if they really want/need to reach us. In XXXX XXXX, my husband was expecting a business call and picked up the phone even though he did n't recognize the number/caller. Upon finding out that I was n't at home, the person on the line informed my husband that there was a problem with my XXXX XXXX bill, that it was past due, and left a number for me to call back. 
I was puzzled because I had forgotten about the shopping done in XXXX and could n't remember the last time I had shopped at XXXX XXXX. I tried the number the next day several times and it would just ring and disconnect. 
In the meantime, I searched through me email, including my junk folder and deleted items folder to see if I had missed an e-bill from XXXX or had accidentally deleted it. I found no e-bill. I tried the phone number again a day or so later and after a few attempts, I got through. The person on the other line did identify herself as being from XXXX XXXX bill collecting, but had a very strong accent and was difficult to understand. I was strongly suspicious that it was a scam. I got the customer service phone number from my card or online - I ca n't remember which, but in either case, the phone number did n't match the one that had been given to my husband. I also had difficulty getting through with that number but I eventually did. 
The person on the line informed me that I did in fact have a past due balance of several hundred ( close to {$500.00} ). I was flabbergasted and told the person that I rarely shop at XXXX XXXX and would remember if I had spent almost {$500.00} and that this was the first I was hearing about it. The woman said that they had been trying to reach me by phone and had sent emails as well. I told her that I receive almost daily emails from XXXX XXXX with ads, but had not received a bill and that we had not had any phone messages from XXXX XXXX or a billing agency. She replied that they do n't leave messages stating that they are n't allowed to. I still did n't remember spending that much money at XXXX XXXX. After much going back and forth, the woman finally told me that the purchases had occurred in XXXX XXXX and told me of some of the items purchased as well as the final bill, which was {$290.00}. The items purchased triggered my memory of shopping with my son, so I realized that the original amount was legitimate. When I asked why the balance was now {$470.00}, she said it was from the accumulation of late fees and interest. I told her that I did n't think that was fair because I had never received a bill and always pay my credit cards off each billing cycle - I was happy to pay the original amount in full that same day over the phone, but not the extra fees. She said that " the system '' showed that emails had been sent to me each month since the purchase and she would not accept that I had n't received them and could not remove the fees. 
I have since had a similar situation where there was an issue between my work 's email system and all employees who had their email through XXXX - the system at work showed that the emails had been sent but were n't getting to the employees whose email accounts were with XXXX. Perhaps that 's what happened here - I do n't know. What I do know is that the emails never made it to my email. 
After a very heated and long discussion with the manager, who I was begrudgingly allowed to speak with and who said the same thing regarding the emails and phone calls, we came to the agreement that if I paid {$340.00} that same day that I would be paid in full and would have a zero balance ; which is what I did. 
I had only been receiving bills from XXXX and no statements from XXXX XXXX. I did not begin receiving statements until XXXX XXXX, XXXX. Using that link today, I downloaded the statements available and saw them for the first time. I now realize that I made another purchase in XXXX of XXXX and that the manager did wave all the fees and interest. I also just realized that my credit limit was lowered after that incident from {$2300.00} to {$500.00} ; which is where it has remained. 
A few days after the above occurred, I received a notice from XXXX XXXX via regular mail asking me to contact them because I was past due in paying my XXXX XXXX bill in the amount of {$470.00}. This was the only notice I received in writing to inform me that I owed money. 
Fast forward to XXXX XXXX. My husband and I wanted to get pre-qualified for a home loan. We were surprised when we found out that my credit score came back in the 3rd from the top tier instead of the top level or the second one down as we had expected. The only blemish in my credit report is the 60 day " delinquency '' reported by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
At the time of the above incident, I obtained the name of the manager and took notes on what transpired. I threw them away ( along with the above mentioned written notice ) after a few months when it appeared that the matter had been resolved. It never occurred to me that it would go on my credit report.