Cat Jahnke letter to the BBB RE: CITI Financial

Sometime between April & June of 2008
I call 1-888-638-2274 to get account due date. I am on the road constantly as a touring musician and rely on the customer service of CITIFinancial to keep up to date on my account. I was told my due date was August 8, 2008. I did not keep track of the employee name as I did not believe it would become such an issue.

August 7, 2008
Call 1-888-638-2274 to get account balance in order to pay it off a day early. Entered my account #, spoke my postal code and was told the following: “Acount balance as of August 7, 2008 is $****.**��

I immediately go to 7 �� 1650 Kenaston to pay the balance. I ask for a statement print-out saying that it is paid in full and am advised to wait until I receive my statement in the mail.

August 13, 2008
I receive a statement in the mail claiming I owe $***.** in interest. Sure enough my statement says that the due date was August 5, 2008.

I call to contest and have my husband speak with Jona since I am too frustrated to talk myself. She claims there is no record that I called on August 7 to check my balance. This is alarming but we assume she has made an error and ask to speak to her supervisor.

Darren speaks with Romeo who also claims that there is no record of my phone call on August 7. In fact, there is no record that I have ever called customer service since my account opened on February 4. This is not the case because I had called previously to inquire about my due date.

Romeo tells Darren that they can remove 50% of the interest. Darren asks why the customer should be held responsible for an error that the company made. Romeo says that we can take it up with the dispute department and I take the phone.

Romeo tells me that I can contact the dispute department and show documentation that I had previously called the customer service line. I ask what kind of documentation and he says I need to provide names. I tell him that I didn’t get a name on Thursday because I was using their automated service.

He says that they have no liability because we were sent statements. I tell him that I am never home to receive those statements and instead rely on their customer service to keep me informed. He says once again that I may contact the dispute department.

I ask him how contacting the dispute department will help me considering the fact that they hold the information in their computers and can obviously manipulate it at will. I KNOW that I called on Thursday and yet they’re telling me that I did not. How could I trust them in the case of a dispute? I feel like he’s talking in a circle and I ask to be transferred to someone else.

I speak with Deanna and let her know that there seems to be an issue with their monitoring since a call I made on Thursday August 7 was not documented. She apologizes profusely but maintains that there is no record that anyone has ever contacted CITIfinancial except on February 4, 2008 when Advance Electronics called on my behalf to ask for a credit limit increase.

I told her about my reliance on their customer service for information and that I am concerned now that none of those phone calls were documented. How could I go to the dispute department when the proof I need is in their hands? I asked her what I could honestly do to correct this issue and she said she could take off 60% of the interest.

Again I asked her why I should be made to pay for their error. I had called in the spring to ask about my due date and was told it was August 8, 2008. Why would I not trust that information? Obviously removing 60% would be a good deal if you were in error, but having to pay 40% for something you did not do is not a reasonable solution.

I also asked Deanna why my statement dated August 4, 2008 would show the interest accrued on an account that doesn’t expire until August 5, 2008. She said the plan expiration date was 6 months after the account was opened (February 4, 2008). I asked why my statement said the due date was August 5, 2008. She said it would already be late by August 5, 2008.

Perhaps I misunderstood but it seems dangerously deceptive to say a due date is the 5th but expect people to pay it on the 4th. I just don’t understand why there would be interest applied BEFORE the expiration date.

I told her I would keep contacting her until this was resolved and let her know that I would be sending this information on to the BBB. She seemed unconcerned.