Consumer complaint received 2025-05-12 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account — Company closed your account
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to explain a deeply disturbing experience I had at Best Buy that I believe involved discrimination, humiliation, and a violation of both my consumer and human rights. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I entered a Best Buy store to purchase camera equipment using my valid Citibank credit card. Just minutes earlier, the same card worked without issue at another location. However, when I arrived at this store, the associate claimed the card required verification. 

At first, I understood the concern my partner had helped initiate the order but I fully stepped in, showed my ID, and provided multiple pieces of information to prove my identity, including details I didnt even have to give. Still, the associate insisted part of the transaction wouldnt go through unless I was verified. I knew he was lying, but I allowed the process to continue anyway because I had nothing to hide. 

What followed was a fake and humiliating verification process. He refused to let me speak to Citibank, which is standard procedure during a real verification. He couldnt tell me my last transaction something any real bank rep could confirm. Instead, he began reading my full credit card number, name, address, and other sensitive information out loud, in front of 5 to 7 employees and customers, as if I were a criminal. 

I dont know if he was on the phone with the police or someone in the back, but I know it wasnt Citibank XXXX He told me Id be able to speak with them, but when I stepped away for a moment to grab a drink, he hung up the phone. That was my breaking point. I stayed calm, told him I was a good person who didnt deserve that, and walked away but the damage was done. 

Shortly after, my card was shut off. I went to XXXX down the street to check and it was declined. I had done nothing fraudulent. The day before, I had lost all my camera equipment in a fire caused by water damage in my apartment. That card was the only way I could replace what I needed to work. Instead, it was blocked because of a fake and racially charged interaction. 

Initially, I didnt blame Citibank but I have since changed my mind. I called their support line twice, passed every security check, and then was told they couldnt discuss my account because I was not verified. After asking I asked them a simple question : Did you Citibank ever request a verification or not? They wouldnt answer. Instead, they told me someone would follow up. That never happened. The second call was the same more silence and excuses. I know they don't want to get Best Buy deeper cause they know that they didn't ask for verification Ive since filed reports with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the police. The police told me there was no criminal intent, which is not surprising but I still believe the associate may have been on the phone with them. What he did was not a verification it was deceptive, discriminatory, and an abuse of power. 

Desperate for the camera, I opened a new Best Buy account and used a different credit card. I placed another order for XXXX items. XXXX  was canceled. XXXX were released to me. But the third item has been sitting as ready for pickup since XX/XX/XXXX, and theyve now denied me access to it three times over three separate days, claiming I still need to be verified. They already took the money. What else do they need? This isnt about fraud prevention anymore its systemic obstruction. 

To make matters worse, I recently discovered that my original Best Buy account has been altered. A laptop I previously purchased which now wont power on no longer appears in my account history. I can not return or exchange it, despite paying for warranty coverage and XXXX membership. Thats not just customer negligence its digital theft. I've been trying to get a refund and exchange so I can continue my work and literally I'm I'm still on hold and no one can help me about picking about being able to pick up my product I paid for and exchanging gimbals and a refund for my laptop hindering me from doing my work. 

The emotional and psychological toll of this situation is very real. I already avoid places like this because of how often Im profiled. I try to stay calm, do the right thing, and avoid drama. But this time, I was targeted, lied to, humiliated, denied service, blocked from my purchases, and stripped of the protections I paid for all because of how I look. I am though proud that I didn't do anything negative because I would've been justified. I feel.

I hate when people say this when I'm about to say, but would this happen if I was white? 

I have video evidence of the fake verification, the reading of my personal information out loud, and the behavior of the employees around me. I have transcripts from Citibank calls and pending reports with legal and financial agencies. And those that know me know that I can care less about a lawsuit or anything like that that's not what I'm trying. I'm trying to make a change because this is not just one. Best Buy is every Best Buy. 


I should not have to fight this hard to fix something that never should have happened. I want resolution, accountability, and to be treated with the dignity every human being deserves. The last person I talk to they said they were gon na put me on hold of their supervisor. I'm still waiting and it's been 30 minutes on hold for a showing to talk to me about my account not the situation.

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