Consumer complaint received 2025-12-22 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TN

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to dispute multiple unauthorized authorized user fees charged to my Citi / AAdvantage XXXX XXXX ( account ending in XXXX ). I was charged a {$170.00} fee in XX/XX/XXXX and again in XX/XX/XXXX. It is also possible a similar fee was charged in XX/XX/XXXX. 

This card is used exclusively for my work-related travel and is not a personal or family expense account. Therefore, there would be no reason for me to knowingly add a family member as an authorized user and incur a significant annual fee. 

My wife has never possessed, activated, or used a credit card associated with this account. I am the sole cardholder. I believe my wife was added as an authorized user when I first opened the account via a phone call with a Citi representative. The agent casually asked if I wanted to add my wife, and I agreed, but at no point was a {$170.00} annual fee for this disclosed. This is a classic example of a deceptive and undisclosed fee. 

Because this card already has a high annual fee ( {$590.00} ), I initially assumed the {$170.00} charge was simply part of that fee structure. It never occurred to me that Citibank would charge a separate, additional fee for an authorized user who didn't even have an active credit card. Why would any consumer knowingly pay {$170.00} per year for a user on an account without a functioning credit card? This further illustrates the deceptive nature of the charge. 

I contacted Citibank customer service on XX/XX/XXXX, to resolve this. During the conversation, a supervisor named XXXX admitted that it was likely the user was added at account opening, but that their records do not go back far enough to confirm this or provide any proof of my authorization. Most critically, when I asked if a card was ever activated for my wife, the supervisor stated she was " unable to see these details '' and could not confirm if any card was ever activated. 

This is the crux of the issue : Citibank is charging me {$170.00} annually for a service they can not prove was ever delivered. They can not confirm that a physical credit card was ever activated for the authorized user. They can not provide any records showing I authorized this addition. Yet they continue to charge me year after year for a phantom service. 

The supervisor also confirmed that as far back as their records go ( XX/XX/XXXX ), the authorized user 's card was never used for any purchase on the account. This further supports the fact that no active, functioning card was ever in the hands of the authorized user. 

To compound the issue, the customer service experience was deeply unprofessional. After I stated I would be filing a complaint, the supervisor, XXXX, failed to respond to my direct question about receiving a transcript of our conversation. Instead, she allowed the chat to time out, and I was disconnected and sent back to an automated bot. This lack of response and courtesy further demonstrates Citibank 's unwillingness to address this issue transparently.

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 monetary relief