Consumer complaint received 2024-03-12 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: IL

Complaint narrative:
XXXX XXXX dispute for Citibank DoubleCash Credit Card ending in XXXX. 

While on vacation in Michigan my credit card was stolen. {$420.00} in fraudulent purchases were made. 

XXXX/XXXX/XXXX : I noticed the fraudulent charges were posted, I contested these through Citi 's online portal. Citi closed my credit card at that time making follow-up 's through their portal impossible. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I called to confirm the fraud dispute status. Citi was missing a number of the disputed charges. I reviewed each individual transaction with Citi. Citi confirmed that they had a clear picture of the fraud charges and will open a report. At that time, I informed the representative that I stand ready and able to pay my full balance however I am choosing not to until the fraud dispute is resolved. 

A few weeks later I received notice that payment was past due for the closed card with no update on the fraud dispute status. I called Citi to confirm that all of the charges in the dispute had been resolved. Not all of the charges had been resolved, and Citi chose to again put a hold on my account while the fraudulent charges were disputed. The only notice I would receive that the charges were resolved is Citi 's automated collection notice asking to pay the statement which included fraudulent charges, including interest and late fees. This is a pattern that occurred for roughly the 10-12 times I attempted to resolve the issue Citi over the phone. 

XX/XX/XXXX : After calling Citi regarding the dispute they requested I send details of the dispute to the email XXXX. I follow-up via email from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX with no response. In XX/XX/XXXX, I called citi to yet again review the reported fraudulent charges, Citi yet again said they will open dispute claims for the remaining charges. 

XX/XX/XXXX : I called to confirm the status of my dispute, Citi said the dispute had been resolved for a total of {$390.00} NOT the {$420.00} that was disputed. At this time Citi informed me that they had closed my account. Reviewing my credit history, Citi closed the account with the note " Dispute resolved consumer disagrees ''. Making resolution impossible. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Out of options, I went to the Citi branch location at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, IL XXXX to work with XXXX XXXX. Over an hour and a half we were unable to even reach the proper customer service representative to begin to discuss my account issue. XXXX XXXX advised I should file an IDFPR complaint due to the poor service. 

XX/XX/XXXX : Receive offer from Citi to resolve my account for {$3200.00}. Follow-up with Citi in person and over the phone. I am bounced from department to department for hours at a time. Below is a transcript of my calls with Citi from XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Most importantly they acknowledge that the final fraud dispute was settled on XX/XX/XXXX. Meaning the fraud resolution process spans from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX Communicated by Citi that there are fraud investigations open as of XX/XX/XXXX by XXXX from Fraud protection. Transferred me to an escalation contact. XXXX. 
XXXX showed that portions of the fraud dispute were closed without notes. No way for me to know the outcome of these fraud disputes. Reviewed status with XXXX, satisfied with fraud dispute status, expressed ready to settle for outstanding balance minus fraud and interest/late fees. 
XXXX communicated that they can not address interest or late fees Transferred but bad telephone connection with representative Called general services to be connected with XXXX ( account manager ) who said they were unable to adjust interest or late fees. They stated I was liable for the full interest and late fees which I had accrued during the fraud dispute. 
Promised call back, no callback received on XX/XX/XXXX. 
I was assured multiple times that I would not liable for interest or late fees during fraud dispute process No purchases made on my account during fraud dispute cycle Stated during initial dispute in XXXX that I a stand ready and able to pay the balance minus fraud charges. 
The requested balance minus fraud charges was never reqeusted by Citi. Cardholder only received statements which still contained fraudlant charges on the balance. Card was cancelled and account frozen multiple times during the fraud resolution process making payment process unclear. 

XX/XX/XXXX XXXX Hold XXXX minutes Fraud XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX would like to confirm that there is an open fraud dispute. Transfer to Security Operations. Hold Security Investigation : XXXX XXXX XXXX Escalated to Supervisor. Hold Security Investigation : XXXX. Said there is no open security investigation and Citi is able to reverse interest and late fees once a year.Transferred to customer service. 
XXXX XXXX Account Manager : XXXX. Requested XXXX and XXXX to stay on the line together to get a cohesive and request from Citi. XXXX hung-up. XXXX put me on hold. 
Recommended to speak to collections department. I expressed that I have been through the cycle three times. XXXX is unable to make any adjustments on the account. 
XXXX was able to undue the interest but can not go further back in time. 
Collections : XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX Hold Escalated to XXXX ( female ). She informed me that my file says not to service the account and to forward it to collections. 
Hold XXXX XXXX Collections agent connection was awful and could not have a conversation Collections : XXXX XXXX XXXX Hold and Transfer XXXX : Citi Client Focus Team Desiree unable to reverse interest or late fees since the account is in settlement XXXX XXXX Transferred to customer service. On-hold XXXX XXXX XXXX from Customer Service XXXX from Customer Service informed me that there is still an open security invesigation for the card which is why there are unreveresed interest and late fees. Transferred me without a conversation. 
XXXX XXXX Transferred to an Account Specialist : XXXX XXXX stated that security investigation resolved on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX Transfer again to customer service Customer Service : XXXX. Transferred without explanation. 
XXXX XXXX Customer Service : XXXX XXXX trying to reverse interest and late fees. Call becoming muffled. 
XXXX able to remove interest and late fees since XXXX. 
Account value is XXXX as of today. With adjusted for fees around ~ {$6000.00} Advised me to call Collections : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX suggested to transfer me to an account manager on the customer Service Line and Request Transfer. I chose to give up at the time due to excessive hold and resolution times. 


Prior to this incident, I had an exceptional credit score, XXXX, and had never missed a card payment. Citi has materially negatively impacted my credit score driving it down to a XXXX. To resolve the issue, Citi are demanding I pay interest on the fraudulent payments and late fees associated with the time it has taken them to not resolve the fraud dispute. 

I stand ready and able to pay my XX/XX/XXXX credit statement, which I show as {$5600.00}. 

As a consumer, I am totally out of options. I require a representative from Citi who is authorized to look at my account holistically and provide any support available.

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