Help Needed: Citi Exec MC account cancelled..."out of the blue"

[Aspireto850]

Help me please.... buckle up it's a long ride.

With all the great info from this site, I opened a Citi AA ExecutiveWorld Elite Mastercard back in 2012 with a 25k CL. Despite 3 late pays, non-consecutive, throughout the last 6 years (autopay was not active and is key) the card has been in good standing. So long story short.....when submitting updated bank account info on the website, a payment was accidentally processed. I took the following steps;

1. immediately contacted customer service at 10 pm and advised of error
2. contacted customer service again the very next morning to advise of error, again, and told them since a significantly large payment ($10K) had already been made & this was an error given i was just trying to update my bank details. Told them I would contact my bank to do a stop payment 
3. contacted my bank to do stop payment
4. contacted citi customer service again to advise of the steps i took. was assured by agent it wasnt a problem, he would waive the fee and document my account and apologized for any inconvenience.

Fast forward two months later. I had a purchased declined so I contacted Citi and can you believe that in the span of 2.5 hours and speaking with abt 5 agents they couldn't why the purchase was declined. then during my chat with the last rep, a manager, she proceeded to tell me that she was cancelling my account WHILE I WAS SPEAKING TO HER!!! Yes you read that correctly. She had the audacity to say, 'hold one second, I need to cancel your account'. Needless to say I had to pull over to the side of the road, mouth hanging open in disabelief. This was the verbal and virtual version of cutting your card before your face.

Well after a couple of days of research I learned my bank returned the payment as NSF rather than the stop payment I requested and paid for. I contacted Citi escalations group and they told me to provide a letter and documentation which I did. I included a letter from the bank SVP indicating it was an error on the banks part and not mine. Two weeks later they confirmed they could not re-open the account. So i then contacted the Citi Exec Offices and submitted another request. Today that group contacted me and said sorry Charlie, we're unable to reopen but this doesn't prevent you from applying for a new account. I ask with all the documentation why this would not be enough documentation to prove it was an accident and I took immediate steps, including trying to have Citi cancel the payment on their end, and she just said it was there policy. I find it hard to believe that an accidental NSF, where there was no history of this on my account, would cause them to close a current.

Please help....do you have any suggestions on a recourse with them? Anyone else to call? Any other methods to try?

Sorry for the long post but the anger and frustration is stil fresh!!

Thanks for your support.

[trant3]

Accident or not, it happened. Citi had every right for AA. Sorry OP

[Anonymous]

Tough break, Aspire. 

After reading your account I'm left wondering if the tone you took with the mgr had a bearing in the decision? I know I can be caustic when provoked. Perhaps their internal HR policies take preference over conflict with a customer? Or some such. 

Best wishes going forward. 

[Anonymous]

I'm at a loss to understand how adding/updating payment information could trigger a payment.  Especially when Citi's website specifically states: "Adding a new payment account doesn't make a payment or transfer any funds. To authorize a payment, you must complete a payment request."

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@Aspireto850 wrote:

Help me please.... buckle up it's a long ride.

With all the great info from this site, I opened a Citi AA ExecutiveWorld Elite Mastercard back in 2012 with a 25k CL. Despite 3 late pays, non-consecutive, throughout the last 6 years (autopay was not active and is key) the card has been in good standing. So long story short.....when submitting updated bank account info on the website, a payment was accidentally processed. I took the following steps;

1. immediately contacted customer service at 10 pm and advised of error
2. contacted customer service again the very next morning to advise of error, again, and told them since a significantly large payment ($10K) had already been made & this was an error given i was just trying to update my bank details. Told them I would contact my bank to do a stop payment 
3. contacted my bank to do stop payment
4. contacted citi customer service again to advise of the steps i took. was assured by agent it wasnt a problem, he would waive the fee and document my account and apologized for any inconvenience.

Fast forward two months later. I had a purchased declined so I contacted Citi and can you believe that in the span of 2.5 hours and speaking with abt 5 agents they couldn't why the purchase was declined. then during my chat with the last rep, a manager, she proceeded to tell me that she was cancelling my account WHILE I WAS SPEAKING TO HER!!! Yes you read that correctly. She had the audacity to say, 'hold one second, I need to cancel your account'. Needless to say I had to pull over to the side of the road, mouth hanging open in disabelief. This was the verbal and virtual version of cutting your card before your face.

Well after a couple of days of research I learned my bank returned the payment as NSF rather than the stop payment I requested and paid for. I contacted Citi escalations group and they told me to provide a letter and documentation which I did. I included a letter from the bank SVP indicating it was an error on the banks part and not mine. Two weeks later they confirmed they could not re-open the account. So i then contacted the Citi Exec Offices and submitted another request. Today that group contacted me and said sorry Charlie, we're unable to reopen but this doesn't prevent you from applying for a new account. I ask with all the documentation why this would not be enough documentation to prove it was an accident and I took immediate steps, including trying to have Citi cancel the payment on their end, and she just said it was there policy. I find it hard to believe that an accidental NSF, where there was no history of this on my account, would cause them to close a current.

Please help....do you have any suggestions on a recourse with them? Anyone else to call? Any other methods to try?

Sorry for the long post but the anger and frustration is stil fresh!!

Thanks for your support.

---

[FinStar]

Tough call on this one OP. Unfortunately, once the EO has researched and relayed the information from their risk/review team not to reopen the account, then there's no other option to reinstate it given the AA.

[ChessChik47]

AA sucks, whether rightfully deserved or not.  There are other credit card providers out there; Citi has spoken, so take your business elsewhere if they will not reinstate your account.  Take this as a teachable moment.  Good luck!

[Aspireto850]

 Thanks everyone for the feedback and comments. I made sure, throughout the entire process, to remain calm & collected when speaking with their agents so this could not have been a factor as I was the definition of Miss Congeniality. While I know they have every right to do this was just wondering if you've seen cases of this before or is my situation an anomaly?

Oh well, I've cried enough over split milk so time to move on.

[Aspireto850]

What is AA?

[FinStar]

AA = Adverse Action.

While it's understandable that it leaves a lot of unanswered questions despite the fact of being proactive, often times some lenders decide (or prefer) an exit strategy so don't take it personal OP.

That being said, it doesn't prevent you from applying again for the same CC (give it time). Plus you can collect the SUB again if it's been longer than 24 months 😁

Have you already paid the AF?

Also, if you want a pick-me-up with AAdvantage miles, there's the Barclays Aviator CC with a decent SUB. Granted, not much in the way of Admirals Club lounge benefits, but you're not technically "banned" by Citi forever if you decide to apply for the Executive CC again.

[Anonymous]

Adverse Action. Abreviations: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/m-p/88458#M23