Citibank credit card pulling a fast one, maybe fraud

smiler03

Hi Everybody,

I have a Citibank card in the form of an easyJet Mastercard. I use this card solely for the interest free repayments 3% and 9 months I think it is. I opened my statement today and spotted a warning about my repayments being allocated in a specific order. I have only ever used this card for the one off balance transfer. On checking the statement I have a transaction listed as "CARD PROTECTION 08448 482908 GB" for £70.00. As I knew nothing of this I phoned Citibank on an 0870 number and not surprisingly was answered by somebody on another continent. When I said I never sanctioned this transaction I was told it was to protect me and if I wanted to cancel I should phone the number listed against the transaction. How did they know there was a number? I was very annoyed and told them I wanted to close my account and have this money refunded and why should I make another call at my expense. They were no help, I asked for a supervisor but after a prolonged wait I hung up.

I then emailed Citibank (a useful facility) and have asked for the transaction to be removed, removal of any accrued interest and payment of £5 towards phone costs and my time in dealing with this fraud. I've also told them I will report them to the banking ombudsman and the police if they don't.

I certainly don't remember being advised by them or reading anything that I authorised Citibank or any of it's agents to be able to debit my card without warning for any amount whenever they like for whatever they want. But they have! Are there any "legal eagles" reading this who agree with me that this is fraud? It certainly stinks and I am now so glad I didn't pursue their current account. Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

Ian

benf90

When you apply for credit cards most companies will offer various types of insurance/protection to you.

It would appear that you've selected yes to one of these.

On this* page which details the Easyjet Mastercard you'll see the 'Optional Card Protection Plan Plus' listed near the end. This cover is actually provided by CPP (www.cpp.co.uk).

* http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/cards/easyjet/cards_easy_fb.htm

It's £29 per year or £70 for 3 years. This will now have been set up as a subscription / continuous payment authority. You will have to contact CPP and make sure they cancel it. Otherwise you'll get charged the same again in 3 years, even if you close the card it can still be charged.

This page details what type of cover it gives:

http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/cards/easyjet/insurance.htm?merchant=citi

You have to scroll past half way as the first bit relates to the repayment protection they offer.

In terms of what to do I'd first phone CPP. Citi will have passed your details to them, if they ask for a reference it'll probably be your Easyjet card number. Make sure they cancel it, you could also ask them for a refund.

If that's not successful, and you're sure you never selected yes to this cover or there's no way you could have overlooked it etc, then ask to raise an official complaint with Citi. Point out to them you'd like a refund etc.

If they don't refund it then you'll have to go to the Financial Ombudsman.

In terms of the police etc. It's not fraud. If you applied online it's maybe one of 2 things that could have caused this:

1. You overlooked it during the application and did select yes.
2. A computer error changed your answer from no to yes.

Or, a human error, perhaps selecting the wrong option (only likely if the application wasn't done online).

smiler03

Dear Benf,

That is an incredibly useful and comprehensive reply! Thanks so much for all the effort you must have gone to.

To fill in the gaps:

1) I did indeed apply online
2) I don't remember ticking anything like that, it's not the sort of thing I would
ever opt into.
3) I applied for and was accepted in July, so that's three months elapsed

Without applying again and seeing the page again I'm unsure of whether this is implied consent, ie it's ticked by default. Now that you've opened my eyes, I have experienced this sort of selling before.. Norton Antivirus automatically renewed after a year without warning. I thought the law was changed about implied consent but maybe not. I've certainly noticed on various USA websites that they seem NOT to default to things in their favour.

I'm concerned now that Citibank will surprise me with other little bills from who knows. It's one to close once I've paid it off I think.

Once again thanks so much for your time and effort on my behalf.

Ian

normanmark

You should call that card protection number to see if they have any information about you on their system. If they have then way back when there was an option that you've either missed (or even agreed to) to have card protection.

This wouldn't be treated as a fraudulent transaction, it'd be more a dispute.

For future reference for when you're calling your credit card company...

http://www.saynoto0870.com

Mrs_Ryan

I've got the Citi EasyJet Mastercard, and check my statements religiously every month... I've had nothing like that appear on mine. I'm covered by my mum's family plan so I definitely wouldnt agree to anything like that either, but I dont think its a default thing - unless they have just started doing it as I have had my card since February.

They would be able to see the transaction on their screen, and recalling from when I worked at Cap 1, they would be able to see the number on there as well. I just think that its quite strange it's appeared on your account like that - I will be keeping a very close eye on mine now - thank you for the info and I hope you get it sorted!

smiler03

Update 17/10/08

By coincidence, I today received a policy document in the post for this "Card Protection" policy which I never knowingly asked for. I phoned the number given and was told a few facts...

1. "We get a lot of calls from people who don't want this cover, they have missed it, it must be really small"
2. Yes they will cancel my policy, in 2011 when it expires.
3. No they will not cancel it now or refund the £70.00

In other words, they are partners in this Citibank scam. They tell me the policy goes from September this year, not when I applied for the card at all, because "it's takes a while to process after opening your account".

I guess all I can do now is take the issue up with Citibank. I had an email from them today:

"Please be informed that we have forwarded your E-mail to
the relevant department and you will be contacted shortly
on the same."

Surely this sort of policy would have a cooling off period. I never remember being warned of this. It looks like the next stop will be the rather busy Financial Ombudsman.

Another highly annoying thing is that this has messed up the whole point of my interest free balance transfer account. My statement is already showing a projected interest charge of £2.42, adding to their ill gotten gains.

I'm fuming, I'll keep this up to date.

Ian

normanmark

The financial ombudsman won't deal with your inquiry until you've exhausted the complaints procedure of the card company & reached a deadlock status with the company.

Moggles_2

smiler03 wrote: »

I guess all I can do now is take the issue up with Citibank. ... It looks like the next stop will be the rather busy Financial Ombudsman.

If you feel you have grounds for complaint against Citi, I would request a copy of its complaints procedure. This sets out the time limits allowed for dealing with your complaint.

The bank is also obliged to confirm the result of your complaint in writing. You have the right to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if you are not satisfied with the outcome.

Very best
M

Paul_Herring

benf90 wrote: »

In terms of the police etc. It's not fraud. If you applied online it's maybe one of 2 things that could have caused this:

1. You overlooked it during the application and did select yes.
2. A computer error changed your answer from no to yes.

You missed one:

3. You over looked it during the application and didn't select no.

And this is the most likely since it manifests itself as

[./] Please enroll me in your card protection scheme

with the box pre-checked, and usually overlooked.

smiler03

Hi Paul,

Thanks very much for this. This is what I have been calling "implied consent", ie you have to actively change something otherwise you get suckered into paying for something you don't want.

I used to be a freelance analyst/programmer for over 15 years, specialising in the banking and insurance sector (I was trained by Barclays Bank). "Implied Consent" was very much out of favour then as it was said that regulations would eventually stop its use, reason being, the customer was often being lulled into something they wouldn't want. It seems it was never regulated against.

Your comment certainly confirms my suspicions that implied consent is how they got me. I also seem to remember some oldish legislation about "unfair contracts". I personally think I have good grounds here for a refund of the premium and the refund of any associated interest. As of 17th October I have had no reply from Citibank, maybe they'll write to me instead of using email.

All being well I will have the remaining £700 paid off well within the interest free period. If they don't remove it I will ultimately repay everything but this amount + interest and let them sue me for it.

Thanks again Paul.

Regards, Ian

dag_2

Without applying again and seeing the page again I'm unsure of whether this is implied consent, ie it's ticked by default.

They may have changed the forms since you applied; however, I decided to try filling in the forms with totally bogus details until getting as far as the insurance options, just to see what the forms do.

It comes up on the fifth page, and it actually asks you to make two decisions on that particular page. One of those decisions is for payment protection insurance, at 85p per £100; your choice is between yes and no. The other choice is for card protection - you have to choose one of three options: (a) yes for three years at £70, (b) yes for one year at £29, and (c) no.

In both cases, none of the choices are selected by default. If you click the "proceed" button to go past it without selecting an option for both decisions, it comes up with an error message, to tell you that you have to make a choice.

But like I say, it may well be that they have changed the forms, and that when you applied for the card back in July, maybe it did default to one of the "yes" options.

Mind you, that doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have a right to a cooling off period though. I suspect that you have a statutory right to cancel it within 14 days. What was the date of the policy? And when did you receive the document?