topic Re: Citi DC Application Nightmare: Terrible customer service in Credit Card Applications

Citi DC Application Nightmare: Terrible customer service

Thorin809 — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 06:32:11 GMT

I wanted to upgrade to a 2% general spend card. I heard good things about the Citi Double Cash (especially if I end up getting the Custom Cash as well). It's been nothing but a headache.

Issue 1

I first tried to apply online yesterday. I filled everything out, then get "Email validation failed" on the form. For whatever reason it wouldn't accept any email address, even from domains in their dropdown menu (gmail, aol, cox, etc).

Issue 2

So I called to see if I could do it over the phone. The poor rep I talked to had to manually recite every part of the terms and conditions. And she had to restart parts multiple times because when you're reading/talking for that long, you're bound to misspeak.

I don't blame her. It's obviously some really terrible policy on their end. But I'd think just to cover their own ass (what if a term is missed?) they would have it be a recording.

Issue 3

The rep's form also wouldn't take my main email address (it's a valid .com and I've never had an issue with it elsewhere), so I had to use my old edu account. Not a major issue, but still an annoyance.

Issues 4 and 5

40 minutes later (yes, 40) she was ready to submit my form. There was an error in submitting it that she couldn't resolve. To resubmit, she would have to do the whole 40 minute spiel over again. I felt bad for her and gave up, saying I would try again online.

Issue 6

I tried with that working email and it did actually submit. But it didn't approve, it just said they needed more information. So I called back and spoke to a different rep. This rep had to call me back on my number for security purposes. But the call didn't come through.

Issue 7

When I called back to the same number, I now couldn't get past the screening menu (asking for the last 4 of my social) to talk to a person. I'm guessing me calling triggered something.

Issue 8

I called the recon line and was actually able to talk to a person. All he would tell me is that the application was denied (the original rep said it was pending, so maybe they autodeclined when she was supposed to call me back). He said there would be a reason and a phone number to call, but wouldn't give me that information so I could get the process moving.

If this is how it goes for people trying to sign up for their products, it makes me shudder to think how it is actually being a customer and needing to do something like a dispute.

At this point, I'm just going to get a WF Active or Fidelity card. And I'm going to skip the Custom Cash I was going to get in a few weeks. It's not worth the headache.

PS: They did ding my credit report with a hard inquiry, so I lost 3 points

Re: Citi DC Application Nightmare: Terrible customer service

youngandcreditwrthy — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 17:34:47 GMT

Yeah.. sounds like when I applied.

youd think applying with a person would be better, but nope it's worse cause there's more room for errors.

furthermore, when I called bout my "pending" application, they told me I had to wait until the letter came with the reference number to discuss it.

these cards can be good if you need to BT ime and you can set it and forget it and dont have any issues, but if you have issues, prepare to have issues on top of issues LOL

You dodged a bullet my friend. GL with the other apps!

Re: Citi DC Application Nightmare: Terrible customer service

CorpCrMgr1 — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 01:10:19 GMT

You may want to open a new email under a different domain.
Wait to see if you receive a denial notice.

Re: Citi DC Application Nightmare: Terrible customer service

Thorin809 — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 23:56:00 GMT

@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Yeah.. sounds like when I applied.

youd think applying with a person would be better, but nope it's worse cause there's more room for errors.

furthermore, when I called bout my "pending" application, they told me I had to wait until the letter came with the reference number to discuss it.
these cards can be good if you need to BT ime and you can set it and forget it and dont have any issues, but if you have issues, prepare to have issues on top of issues LOL

You dodged a bullet my friend. GL with the other apps!

Yeah, from googling around I found a bunch of horror stories that seemed like more than the standard disgruntled customer. Given my new personal experience, I'm running far away!

@CorpCrMgr1 wrote:
You may want to open a new email under a different domain.
Wait to see if you receive a denial notice.

I'm pretty sure it's their system, not my domain. I have my custom domain on a .com. I have another domain I use for spam signups. I have my old gmail and an old edu account from university. None of them would work on their online application. And only the edu would work over the phone. I've never had a problem with the email address across dozens of websites. Until Citi, that is.

I'm expecting the denial but after the customer service, I'm not going to bother trying to recon.

Re: Citi DC Application Nightmare: Terrible customer service

youngandcreditwrthy — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 16:33:05 GMT

IF you do recon, do it through the executive office. I had great luck with the EO. but they did do a second hard pull. got a CDP for the 18 mos no interest with a 688 FICO and 5k cl. this was in 2012 though lol. after I paid the card (with no interest btw hahha), I closed it. they were terrible.

Re: Citi DC Application Nightmare: Terrible customer service

Thorin809 — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 17:45:08 GMT

I got my letter over the weekend. I was denied because they couldn't verify my information, but offered to have me call and finish the process.

I just threw it in the shredder.