Consumer complaint received 2026-06-07 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments — Problem during payment process
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
I have 0 % 12 months and 18 months special financing on jewelry, total balance over $ XXXX. I also have purchases from XXXX that, per customer service, are 3rd party vendors but I pay to Macy directly. That promo is expiring on XX/XX/XXXX - balance close to $ XXXX I was making payments every month, with extra payments to pay off balances in fill and not to incur interest. I was told when I pay online, the payment goes automatically towards Macys 's purchases and not 3rd parties, and if I wanted the payment applied to non Macy 's purchases, I have to call and do it with the representative. I did that, only to find out with the next statement that my extra payments of {$450.00} ( 3 of them ) I paid towards non-Macy 's purchases were applied to jewelry balances that were not due until XXXX of XXXX!!! I spoke with supervisors multiple times, turned out I was lied to : the last sup said until all Macy 's purchases are paid off in full, they won't even apply payments towards non-Macy 's purchases. Thus, I was effectively " robbed off '' the 12 and 18 months time I planned to have to comfortably pay off jewelry 0 % promo balances exp in XXXX of XXXX. I will have to pay off the entire Macy 's AMEX cc balance ( card ending XXXX ) in order not to accrue interest. This is bait and switch tactic. One promotion should not interfere with another, and since I make extra payments, I should have the right to choose what _balance I pay it towards. After " investigation '' by Macy 's back office I just got this news today. They offered {$100.00} as a compensation for the inconvenience as a statement credit, I accepted. I will be paying off the credit card and closing off my both Macy 's credit cards and will never shop at Macy 's again, after being a loyal customer for over 20 yrs. I'm attentive to details, but many people are not. Macy is taking advantage of the credit card customers disallowing them to pay off 3rd party purchases ( it's Amex card and accepted everywhere ) thus luring them into paying interest since they are applying payments to Macy 's purchases first. Go ahead do it with min. required payment, but customer must have an option to allocate extra payments as they deem prudent for their budget and payoff intentions. Amounts/dates that needed to be allocated towards non-Macy 's purchases and were allocated instead towards Macy 's , promo-rate special financing jewelry purchases that are not due until XX/XX/XXXX : XX/XX/XXXX PAYMENT - THANK YOU $ XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX PAYMENT - THANK YOU $ XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX PAYMENT - THANK YOU $ XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX EXPIRATION DESCRIPTION BALANCE XXXX XXXX, XXXX 12 MONTH SPECIAL EVENT {$3.00} - this is current balance, and should be about {$1000.00}, as my payments kept being applied to this balance instead of non-Macy 's purchses Special Event Promotion XX/XX/XXXX 18 MONTH SPECIAL EVENT {$950.00} Special Event Promotion This practice should be illegal. Another point is the so called " non-Macy 's '' purchases are labeled " XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX '' - the merchandise is ordered on XXXX and although these are not Macy 's store brands, I'm shopping at XXXX thus I'm doing business with Macys. Please investigate, this is an example of " bait and switch '' tactic, it should be illegal. They read the fine print on the cardholder agreement justifying that they are correct AFTER all is done. They should then disclose on their marketing, when they send the solicitation emails to take advantage of 0 % financing offer for non-Macy 's purchases, that " until you PAY ALL of your outstanding balances, no payment will be applied towards this promo balance ''. By not disclosing it explicitly on their marketing, they force customers to pay off their 12 and 18 months 0 % special financing balances and forfeit that time we were counting on, and drive ourselves into hardship paying of $ XXXX in my case by XX/XX/XXXX versus $ XXXX I was planning on paying to pay off the XX/XX/XXXX non-Macy 's 0 % promo balance in full. Huge issue is : I bought merchandize from Macy, I don't care who is their supplier labeled as " XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. It's not even obvious from the website when you place your order that this is not Macy 's - you are finding our when you receive a package.

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