Consumer complaint received 2025-09-28 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I attempted to book a hotel room through the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. After selecting my preferred room, entering my credit card details, and clicking pay, I repeatedly received an error message stating, An error has occurred, please try again. Reload the page. I tried to complete the booking multiple times, but the error persisted. I assumed it was a technical issue and continued attempting to complete the reservation. However, after several attempts, I realized something was wrong when my credit card was charged for these failed transactions.

I immediately checked my credit card account and found that four charges from the hotel were posted to my account, despite not receiving any booking confirmation or reference number. Alarmed, I contacted Citi Card support to stop the payments. A representative, XXXX XXXX, informed me that the charges were still pending, and promised to file a dispute once the charges were fully posted. He also proactively helped me change my card number to prevent further unauthorized charges, which I greatly appreciated.

On XX/XX/year>, after returning from my trip, I noticed that the charges had been posted to my account. I contacted Citi again and spoke to another representative who incorrectly claimed that I was responsible for the charges since I willingly provided my credit card information. This was inaccurate, as I was attempting to book a room, not completing a legitimate transaction. Citi insisted that I first contact the hotel before they could proceed with my case, despite my explanation that I had not completed any booking and had no confirmation details.

I then filed a complaint with the hotel on their support page, but received no response. On XX/XX/year>, after waiting for two weeks without any acknowledgment, I called Citi again. This time, XXXX XXXX acknowledged the error and credited my account. However, on XX/XX/year>, I received three letters from Citi stating that their investigation was complete, but they could not reverse the charges due to merchant cancellation/return policy not followed issues.

When I followed up with XXXX XXXX at Citi on XX/XX/year>, she told me that no such letters were in their system, and the investigation was still ongoing. Confused by this inconsistency, I was told to wait another 4-7 business days for a resolution. By XX/XX/year>, still no update had been provided. 

On XX/XX/year>, after nearly three weeks of no communication, I escalated the case to XXXX XXXX, a manager at Citis dispute center. He asked me to send him the screenshots of the error messages I encountered while attempting to book. I complied and sent the images to XXXX. However, as of XX/XX/year>, the case was marked as resolved in Citis system, stating that I was responsible for the charges, and that the decision was made on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXXthe same day I sent the evidence.

Moreover, there were no letters or details provided as promised, and it was clear that Citi had not reviewed my evidence before making a decision. The entire process has been frustrating, with inconsistent responses, conflicting information, and no resolution to my case. Despite my efforts to provide proof of the failed transaction attempts, Citi seems to have disregarded my documentation, including the screenshots showing their websites errors.

I never completed a booking, and I received multiple error messages while trying to pay. It was clearly an issue on the hotel 's website, and not my fault. Citi 's mishandling of my case over a 4-month period, along with contradictory information and failure to follow up, has led to months of unnecessary frustration.

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