Consumer complaint received 2018-05-21
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem — Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (CA)

Complaint:
I have an issue with Home Depot Credit Cards. 

It is an unusual one as they gave me a credit card with an incorrect social security number. It took a couple months to figure out just why they could not locate my account. We tried my social and my husbands over and over but they could not locate the account for payment. 

Title : THAT DAY I was shopping at our local Home Depot for XXXX items. I helped fix a couple floor model animatronics. Super simple it made me laugh. At this store nearly everyone knows me by sight and most will ask how my family is doing if they arent with me. A group of us myself and several employees were talking in the midst of the XXXX display. I was excited as I love a good bargain, that day it was all on sale. 

I think they were excited for me. 

I asked if I could get a 10 % discount on a floor model scarecrow since I fixed the others. They were happy to help me out. One the  employees asked me if I wanted an extra {$50.00} dollars off my total. I laughed and the person said no really I asked Huh? I was told to apply for Home Depot Card. I said I couldnt because I had one. I was told people do it all the time. They set me up with an employee an register for a new card and an extra {$50.00} off my order that day. 



I am a nervous Nelly but I got creative I used my Maiden name XXXX XXXX and my cell phone number instead of my house number and I thought my social. Even a bargain hunting fool like myself knows not to use someone elses social security number. Being that I was nervous, I didnt know you could have two credit cards with one business, it took me a moment as it always does to separate the two socials as I use his more than my own for taxes, medical and banking. Once the form was uploaded the credit card company accepted my application and gave me a bigger limit than my 1st card. 



Very excited to get my purchase at a great price so the next day I went to my bank and paid ( get this unbelievable ) in cash the eighty five and some change dollars I owed on the new card at a register. Paperwork is my demon so even if I made an effort to keep the receipt I would have forgotten where I put it the next day. I did not have the NUMBER for CARD # 2 only a small receipt with my Home Depots acceptance of my application. 



It just so happens my first card had a very similar balance as the new card and will turn out that that payment I made in cash actually went to the balance on my first card. Myself or my husband must have popped in without our ATM card. 



Recap : similar social security numbers and similar amount owed on both cards. Payment in cash, who does that? 

Our social security numbers.. There is only 3 different numbers between the two Mine XXXX XXXX >letter instead of numbers Not our real socials Spouse XXXX XXXX   >letters instead of numbers Coded sequence is identical to our actual numbers Home Depot began calling me for a payment on my card. I kept explaining over and over I had made my payment in cash at a register in the store. I spoke to 5 different associates that called me and NONE of them could figure out why my payment wasnt showing up on my card. I would explain and they would tell me they could not find my payment. I finally got frustrated and called in to Home Depot. I was disconnected twice and as they say 3 times a charm The third associate and I spent a good 45 minutes to an hour going over both accounts because she looked up the phone numbers I used. Honestly the hours I spent with the others and got no where. She I figured out that I had transposed a number in my social and thats why NO ONE ELSE at HOME DEPOT could figure it out. She asked me if I wanted to make a payment for the first months charge of the XXXX items. I told her I pay it in full so nothing else could get messed up. I asked her if this would effect my credit and she said to me NO I PAID IN FULL AND MY ACCOUNT HAD BEEN NOTATED THAT IT TOOK TWO MONTHS AND 8 ASSOCIATES TO CORRECT THE FACT THEY GAVE ME A CREDIT CARD WITH AN UNKNOWN SS # ON IT. I told her thank you because it was not my fault it wasnt paid and certainly wasnt my fault they rest of the employees at her company could not find my 2nd account and combine the two for me. ( she did help me with the social security number correction combined my Home Depot log in page so I could see both accounts ) I tried several times to get them to combine both accounts under my name so when I logged in I could figure out what was messing things up. I could not find the second card and neither could the other associates to combine them. 



Nothing hit my credit application for another month or two and then there it was .. They dinged my credit and when I went back to ask them to fix it explaining the whole thing again to 1 nice employee a ( business number ) who gave to another ( my chin hit the hold button on my cell phone while waiting to be transferred and no one could hear me so they hung up. I redialed and the 3rd associate ( business number ) transferred my to a rather snotty associate who took my information with a lot of attitude ( she was like a brick wall but I thought to myself it Home Depots fault how could they not fix it ) I just dont get it .. How could they ding my credit when their system allowed me to get credit even though I messed up my social security number? The application should have been denied. The whole thing is scam if you ask me. Can anyone with anybodys social security number pull a credit card? 

Can you help me?

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief