Misleading BT offers by Citi

[Anonymous]

I opened a Citi DC in Jan this year and the terms specifically said that the 18 month timer starts from the date of your first transfer. Since I didn’t need to BT then, I decided to wait until my 4 months were almost up to initiate one. After confirming my BT request with a rep through live chat, they said my 0% would expire in July 2019 instead of November 2019 which threw me off since it was my first transfer. Needless to say, I got the rep to cancel my BT request. Monday is the last day on the offer.

Is this info correct? Or did I just misinterpret the terms? I’ve read over countless times and essentially all citi cards say that the BT timer starts from the date of your first transfer and not the offer date. 

[Anonymous]

I think the CSR  has no idea what they are talking about. I would call back and speak with someone else. 

No where in their terms does it say what they told you. The 18 months starts on the date of the first transfer.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think the CSR  has no idea what they are talking about. I would call back and speak with someone else. 

No where in their terms does it say what they told you. The 18 months starts on the date of the first transfer.

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That’s what I thought as well. I’m going to just call them directly. I don’t think these representatives on chat have any idea what they are talking about.

[K-in-Boston]

Are you doing the BT through chat?  Why not just do it through the balance transfer screen where everything is clearly stated?  It's possible that your account has multiple 0% offers with different terms as well.  I've seen things like 0% for 12 months with a 3% fee and 0% for 15 months with a 5% fee on our Citi cards.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I opened a Citi DC in Jan this year and the terms specifically said that the 18 month timer starts from the date of your first transfer. Since I didn’t need to BT then, I decided to wait until my 4 months were almost up to initiate one. After confirming my BT request with a rep through live chat, they said my 0% would expire in July 2019 instead of November 2019 which threw me off since it was my first transfer. Needless to say, I got the rep to cancel my BT request. Monday is the last day on the offer.

Is this info correct? Or did I just misinterpret the terms? I’ve read over countless times and essentially all citi cards say that the BT timer starts from the date of your first transfer and not the offer date. 

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OP, congrats on the new card, but you are confusing two distinct, separate, offers. 

When you request a BT on an existing card that has a regular ( non-zero ) APR, they start that BT with the funds you request. 

In your case, however, it is the New Card offer, and the 18 months for that runs from the app date or at the latest it starts with approval. This is because the offer also comes with zero APR on purchases, as a parallel offer. 

After you pass beyond that initial period, at some point the new BT offers will have their own 18 month term. 

The zero APR on purchases keeps the same initial 18 month term, and then expires.

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

Are you doing the BT through chat?  Why not just do it through the balance transfer screen where everything is clearly stated?  It's possible that your account has multiple 0% offers with different terms as well.  I've seen things like 0% for 12 months with a 3% fee and 0% for 15 months with a 5% fee on our Citi cards.

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No, I actually did it online. I was simply verifying through chat when it would expire. It was the new card offer that came when I got the card which specifically saids 0% APR for 18 months from date of 1st transfer, respond by May 14 etc.

I do have another Citi account with multiple offers as you mentioned but it’s not the Double Cash. That card only has the offer I’ve had since I got the card in January.

should I call citi directly and get to the bottom of this or is what the CSR told me correct?

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I opened a Citi DC in Jan this year and the terms specifically said that the 18 month timer starts from the date of your first transfer. Since I didn’t need to BT then, I decided to wait until my 4 months were almost up to initiate one. After confirming my BT request with a rep through live chat, they said my 0% would expire in July 2019 instead of November 2019 which threw me off since it was my first transfer. Needless to say, I got the rep to cancel my BT request. Monday is the last day on the offer.

Is this info correct? Or did I just misinterpret the terms? I’ve read over countless times and essentially all citi cards say that the BT timer starts from the date of your first transfer and not the offer date. 

---

OP, congrats on the new card, but you are confusing two distinct, separate, offers. 

When you request a BT on an existing card that has a regular ( non-zero ) APR, they start that BT with the funds you request. 

In your case, however, it is the New Card offer, and the 18 months for that runs from the app date or at the latest it starts with approval. This is because the offer also comes with zero APR on purchases, as a parallel offer. 

After you pass beyond that initial period, at some point the new BT offers will have their own 18 month term. 

The zero APR on purchases keeps the same initial 18 month term, and then expires.

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But the Double Cash didn’t come with a 0% purchase promo apr so I’m confused. Their terms are misleading if that’s the case. Why say BT start from date of first transfer if it really starts from approval date?

[Anonymous]

Update! I finally talked to a competent rep and it is indeed 18 months from 1st transfer as I thought. I just went ahead n got her to process it over the phone.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Yup if it says from 1st transfer its first transfer. I had the offer on my Disco and my 18 month bt offer would not start until I chose to bt.