Citibank is the worst

[Anonymous]

I have a thank you premier credit card. It has been put on hold repeatedly and daily for the past 2-3 months by the “fraud early warning” department. Every day, I clear the account and hours later it goes back on hold. I’ve spent 4+ hours each of the past two mornings trying to resolve it once again, and now they’re saying they’ll call me when it’s clear. I’ve been made that promise before and never received the call. On top of that, most of my phone calls to citi end in either them “accidentally” hanging up on me as they’re trying to transfer me, or being told I’d receive a call back, which never comes (as I mentioned). A few weeks ago I spoke with a supervisor who assured me that it wouldn’t happen again, yet it did 3 days later. Note, ive never filed a fraud claim and verified all my charges, and I’ve paid most of my bill every month. I’m a 77 year old physician and this stress is unnecessary, yet I’m dealing with it. I’ve already contacted my attorney friend who told me to post on a finance message board to see if anyone else has this experience so that he can begin the process of a class-action lawsuit. I’ve also filed a complaint with the consumer financial protection bureau.

[K-in-Boston]

Have your spending habits recently changed? Are you trying to make large purchases? Are you making purchases that could somehow be construed as manufactured spending or laundering?

[Anonymous]

Nothing has changed in terms of spending pattern. My largest transaction has been roughly $600, and my monthly bill is around $3000. I have notified them before every transaction, and verified them every time I received a call despite the early notice.

[K-in-Boston]

I would contact the Executive Office to see if they can help. Sounds like you would like to keep using the card. If it were me I would likely not have patience.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for that.

[CreditCuriosity]

Ya that is strange typically when I get a card that I plan on using I want to shock them initially and do a big charge of 1k-2kish just so they get use to my spending habits quickly to not be hassled with the stuff you are gong through now .. Try to throw a rent payment by plastiq or something just to usually help with meeting spend and to let them know I need the credit and have no issues paying it back and never had an issue..  As Boston stated I would call the EO and let them know it is getting old and other options exist if this continues as many other cards will let you spend and approve the transactions.

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t seem to be an issue with the actual charges anymore. But they won’t tell me what the issue is. Sometimes when I call they say they need to call me back but they can’t use my mobile phone number to call back. Yet sometimes it’s acceptable. There’s zero consistency. And some reps also claim they can’t get into the account to read the notations. I ask them to notate after every phone call, though the last time I spoke with them I asked them to “make note of this” and spelled out “F___ CITIBANK”. I also find it curious that this started happening right before I hit my minimum spend for the promo thank you points bonus. I also have not been credited with thank you points from the last two months, though I called thank you and they made an adjustment for points earned two months ago. Still waiting on last month.

[simplynoir]

If it were me after the bonus spend I'd just close the card. I can't imagine jumping hurdles like that just to be able to use the card.

[Anonymous]

Who is the cell phone provider for the line they are sending text verifications to you for?

[stellar]

Check your credit reports.  Make sure someone is not changing your contact information and using your credit or citi card fraudulently.