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Citi customer support vs Amex customer support

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bergrides
Regular Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support

Ouch!  Not good customer service


@Anonymous wrote:

In my experience, NO. I currently have a citi card that i cannot use because they have locked it. i have provided all neccessary information to verify that the $5 charge at the gas station was valid. they still locked my card, put me on hold numerous times, and still declined the charge. this was a 30+ minute ordeal while standing in line at Circle K. i provided my alt phone #'s, emploer, salray, address, balance, checking account, etc. then they still elected to keep it locked. They said the only way i can unlock my card is if i return a written letter to them within 5 business days. I am done with Citi


 

Message 31 of 40
EAJuggalo
Established Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support

I was moving, called and told them I was moving, and they flagged the charge for my moving truck as possibly fraudulent.  They would only verify through my home phone number, that was no longer my home phone number because I had moved.  I had to fax in more documents to keep this card than I had to show to get a passport.  Ten phone calls, two trips to fedex to use their fax machines and two snail mail packages later they finally accepted I was me and lifted the hold on the account.


@bergrides wrote:

 

If there was a fraudulent charge, were you able to get it resolved in a timely fashion?  If they flagged a charge, were you able to get it through in a timely fashion?

 

EX700 TU 704 EQ 694 4/03/22
Cap1 QS-$4,500 Chase Freedom Flex- $800 Chase Freedom Unlimited- $1,000 Victoria's Secret- $1,200 Citi DC- $800 Amazon Store Card- $3,500 AMEX Hilton Honors-$1,000 Discover It-$1,000 Wal-Mart MC $290 Chase Sapphire Preferred-$5,000 NFCU Flagship $13,800 AMEX BCE-$1,000 AMEX Gold-$5,000 AMEX Delta Blue $1,000 Lowe's $5,000 Navy Platinum $17,000 AMEX BBP $2,000
Message 32 of 40
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support

"The main things I am looking for is good customer service and alerts with in a few minutes of the card being used, and able to see pending transactions - the cash back is an added bonus."

 

First of all when you say good customer service and alerts are 2 different animals. Automated account/transaction alerts based on your communication preferences that "you've set" via text/email/phone call, have nothing to do with the live human good customer service experience. I have both and for the alerts part they equally par on instant notifications in my exp. If your wireless carrier sucks then don't blame the card co if your notifications are delayed check your coverage area. A lot of these complaints stem from not knowing their carrier sucks sorry this is my forte'! I have not personally dealt with Citi CSR but have with AMEX and always happy to say they've never let me down. 

Message 33 of 40
NRB525
Super Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support


@EAJuggalo wrote:

I was moving, called and told them I was moving, and they flagged the charge for my moving truck as possibly fraudulent.  They would only verify through my home phone number, that was no longer my home phone number because I had moved.  I had to fax in more documents to keep this card than I had to show to get a passport.  Ten phone calls, two trips to fedex to use their fax machines and two snail mail packages later they finally accepted I was me and lifted the hold on the account.


@bergrides wrote:

 

If there was a fraudulent charge, were you able to get it resolved in a timely fashion?  If they flagged a charge, were you able to get it through in a timely fashion?

 


I saw your posts about that earlier. Challenging situation to be sure. I just moved again, a few months ago. Did not call any of my credit card companies. Tried to keep new / replacement cards timed so they would arrive to the old address on time, or not requested.

Then I just changed the mailing address on-line at each of the banks when the move occured. New cards after that are coming to the new address.

 

Unless you have a card in the mail, statements will be forwarded (or better yet paperless) and the move experience seems like it should be painless.

 

FWIW, my motto is to only call customer service when I have a very specific task I cannot solve on-line, and then to only allow the CSR to help me with a single task, even if I have multiple steps I want to accomplish. I have had too many instances of trying to do two or more things at once, and then it gets bolloxed up.

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765
Message 34 of 40
bergrides
Regular Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support


@Anonymous wrote:

"The main things I am looking for is good customer service and alerts with in a few minutes of the card being used, and able to see pending transactions - the cash back is an added bonus."

 

First of all when you say good customer service and alerts are 2 different animals. Automated account/transaction alerts based on your communication preferences that "you've set" via text/email/phone call, have nothing to do with the live human good customer service experience. I have both and for the alerts part they equally par on instant notifications in my exp. If your wireless carrier sucks then don't blame the card co if your notifications are delayed check your coverage area. A lot of these complaints stem from not knowing their carrier sucks sorry this is my forte'! I have not personally dealt with Citi CSR but have with AMEX and always happy to say they've never let me down. 


I realize they are 2 different animals.  Right now with the LL Bean card that is now serviced by Citi, they do not offer alerts for when a transaction hits and you can not see pending transactions until they post, which could be 2 or 3 days after the transaction happens.  I get notifications when I use my PNC debit card 20 seconds  to 5 minutes after the transaction happens, and that is what I am after in a card.  At least when Barclay had the card, I would get a text once the charge posted (still not useful, but something), and I could at least see a charge when it hit, even though when it was ready to post, it would disappear for a day.

 

The customer service comes in if there is an issue with fraud or if a transaction is denied or questioned.  When Barclay serviced the Bean card, their alerts were bad, but there customer service was very good the few times I did use it.  I am looking for a card that I will hopefully have for a long time, so eventually I will need to call a CSR.

 

 

Message 35 of 40
bergrides
Regular Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support

I decided to go with the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, and was approved.  Thanks everyone for all of the input.

Message 36 of 40
Save-n-Invest
Established Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support

American Express is tied with Charter Cable for the worst customer service on the planet in my experience. My experience with Amex BCP was so bad that I downgraded to BCP. Still terrible cs. I was so thrilled to see that Discover has groceries for the first quarter of 2019 as the 5% category. It will be nice not to deal with the crazies at American Express. Phone reps lie. Info provided on the phone is valid for the length of the phone call. 

 

I like CIti. No reason to call repeatedly as I have no issues with the Double Cash card. The last time I called Citi was 2015 to PC another card to Double Cash. When I called American Express for the same reason I got a lot of balderdash as to how an MR card cannot be PC'd to a cash back. They acted as if it was in the U S Constitution as opposed to just another thing Amex will not do to accomodate a card holder. I was told to do a new application for the cash back card. New date and Amex reneged on the SUB. 

 

I think I'm going to call Chase for more info on Freedom Ultimate. I don't want to PC Freedom and don't need more credit from Chase. I'll see what they recommend. Security freezes on everything so that will need to be addressed before applying for a new card. 

 

The last time I called Amex customer abuse 10/27/18 some guy with a thick accent was screaming at me that they stopped including remittance envelopes two years ago. That's a lie! I had surgery in July and was recovering at home. I paid Amex by phone and they never included an envelope again after promising to do so. Liar of 10/27/18 finally let me talk ot his "supervisor". Super promised 15 enveleops will be mailed to me. Wonder how long it will take for that mriacle to occur?

 

Amex can do whatever they want with their products. Just stop lying to customers!

 

Really do not like Amex!

Message 37 of 40
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support


@Save-n-Invest wrote:

 

The last time I called Amex customer abuse 10/27/18 some guy with a thick accent was screaming at me that they stopped including remittance envelopes two years ago. That's a lie! I had surgery in July and was recovering at home. I paid Amex by phone and they never included an envelope again after promising to do so. Liar of 10/27/18 finally let me talk ot his "supervisor". Super promised 15 enveleops will be mailed to me. Wonder how long it will take for that mriacle to occur?

 

 

 


Just out of interest:  why do you pay by mail?   I can understand for people that can't use or don't like computers, but since you are posting on a forum, I assume that's not you!

Message 38 of 40
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support


@Save-n-Invest wrote:

I like CIti. No reason to call repeatedly as I have no issues with the Double Cash card. The last time I called Citi was 2015 to PC another card to Double Cash. When I called American Express for the same reason I got a lot of balderdash as to how an MR card cannot be PC'd to a cash back. They acted as if it was in the U S Constitution as opposed to just another thing Amex will not do to accomodate a card holder. I was told to do a new application for the cash back card. New date and Amex reneged on the SUB.


Most major CC issuers have some sort of restrictions on PCs. Amex's rules might be stricter than most, but this is hardly a unique practice.

 

Keep in mind that Amex has a huge number of different products and cobrand relationships. If another bank lets you PC to "anything" but they only offer 3 or 4 cards in the first place, it's hard to really say they're more flexible than Amex.

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
Business use: Amex Bus. Plat., BBP, Lowes Amex AU, CFU AU
Perks: Delta Plat., United Explorer, IHG49, Hyatt, "Old SPG"
Mostly SD: Freedom Flex, Freedom, Arrival
Upgrade/Downgrade games: ED, BCE
SUB chasing: AA Platinum Select
Message 39 of 40
simplynoir
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: Citi customer support vs Amex customer support


@wasCB14 wrote:

@Save-n-Invest wrote:

I like CIti. No reason to call repeatedly as I have no issues with the Double Cash card. The last time I called Citi was 2015 to PC another card to Double Cash. When I called American Express for the same reason I got a lot of balderdash as to how an MR card cannot be PC'd to a cash back. They acted as if it was in the U S Constitution as opposed to just another thing Amex will not do to accomodate a card holder. I was told to do a new application for the cash back card. New date and Amex reneged on the SUB.


Most major CC issuers have some sort of restrictions on PCs. Amex's rules are stricter than most, but this is hardly a unique practice.


Exactly. It's like with Chase how they limit PCs to the "family" of cards i.e. United Explorer to Plus or CSP to CSR. Can't cross families to get the card you want like Southwest to Freedom for example.

Message 40 of 40
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