Consumer complaint received 2019-04-29
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Opening an account — Didn't receive terms that were advertised
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (CA)

Complaint:
I opened a checking and saving account with Citi bank on XX/XX/XXXX. I was trying to fund it with {$15000.00} to be eligible for a {$400.00} bonus as part of a promotion that was running at that time. However, I could not create an online account because I was not mailed a pin number that was required. I called Citi twice regarding this but never received my pin, and during the last call the representative suggested going to the branch to fund my account. Since I am working I could only go to the bank on the following weekend ( more than 30 days past opening ) and the employee at the bank funded my account and told me I would still be eligible for the bonus and he would put in a special note since it was not my fault I could not fund it sooner.

I waited 90 days but never received the bonus. I contacted Citi via a help line and when they were unable to help, I went to my local branch where I was promised I was still eligible for a bonus. They opened a case ( XXXX ) for me and on XX/XX/XXXX I got a letter from Citi stating " We have confirmed that your account has met the necessary requirements to qualify for Promotion XXXX. Please allow 90 days from the date of the qualifying transaction ( s ), which satisfied the terms and conditions, to receive your incentive. '' 90 days from the date of qualifying transactions should mean 90 days from when I funded the account which was XX/XX/XXXX. But when I called Citi again, they told me it would take another 90 days!

So I waited another 90 days, for a total of over 6 months and have still not received my bonus. I have called citi again about not upholding what they stated in the letter, but rather than fixing the issue they opened another case ( # XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX and said it will be resolved and funded within 7-10 business days. So on XX/XX/XXXX I reached out to Citi via chat and they said they will contact their promotions department and I will hear back in 3 days.

Citi has continually failed to resolve this issue and keeps opening cases and routing to various departments with no end in sight. It has been over 180 days from when I met the qualifications for the bonus. I have an official letter from Citi stating that I would get the bonus within 90 days, so I feel this is clearly a breach of contract. Deal with Citi representatives on phone calls, going to the physical branches multiple times, keeping track of various messages/letters/cases has been extremely time consuming and a very frustrating experience. It is also financially difficult having to deal with this and maintain {$15000.00} with Citi for such a long time without access when I was expecting this only to last for 90 days. In short, Citi has failed to follow through what it has promised in their official communications and I feel lied and cheated to, with no avenue for resolution directly with Citi. I am therefore reaching out to CFPB to help resolve this and hopefully prevent other consumers from having to deal with these fraudulent and misleading tactics.

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 explanation