Help with Citibank

simonhackney

Apologies for posting on Christmas Day .. but this has got me sooooo annoyed!

Here is the story.

I have a Citibank Visa card which I do not use and has had a £0 balance for some time.

On my October statement I was suddenly faced with a balance owing of over £5,000! It turns out someone had fraudulently presented one of Citibanks so called 'convenience cheques' i.e one of those they occasionally send through the post. The balance was the cheque plus service charge.

Called the bank ... oh yes they said we assumed it was fraud, don't worry we will refund the amounts.

No problem - so i thought.
November statement comes along. They had indeed refunded all the charges and initial cheque, but not before taking the minimum payment out of my account (thanks guys - remember it was at £0 before all this!) ... AND lo and behold there was yet another cheque passed through the account.

Call again ... oh yes they say ... fraud department is looking into it. What about the money you have taken from my account .. don't worry your account will be in credit when we refund all this - well thats no good - i want the money back.

Then ask how do i ensure they do not take yet another minimum payment from the account (remembering all this is fraud) .. cancel your direct debit they say - so i do.

Also call their fraud department .... they cannot explain why they let another cheque through but assure me it will be sorted.

In the meantime I have my December statement. The second cheque is still not reversed, they have hit me for a late payment charge (as i cancelled my DD), they still have my minimum payment from October ... and i am totallly fed up with this.

What can I do!! This has been ongoing for two months now. I'm also angry because this will go on my credit record as missed payment.

I don't seem to be able to find any specific address to write to for citibank... apart from a generic London PO Box address

Sorry for the Christmas rant!!

jonesMUFCforever

From their website they say that you can send them a secure email. Have you tried this?

Also from their website
Complaints Procedure
CitiFinancial Europe plc is a member of the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). As such, we are committed to setting standards of good practice to ensure all our customers receive good service and products.
If you are not satisfied with any aspect of our products or service, we have an internal procedure in place for handling complaints fairly and speedily. This includes set times to acknowledge and respond as appropriate.
If you want to make a complaint, in the first instance you should contact CitiPhone on 0870 908 6000* or write to us at Citi Cards, CitiFinancial Europe plc, PO Box 49920, London SE5 7ZF. Alternatively, you can address your complaint on this website by secure email. We will appoint staff with the appropriate experience, knowledge and authority to resolve your complaint.
The procedure will then be as follows:
The Customer Response Unit will send you a letter of acknowledgement within 48 hours of receipt of your complaint and will then manage your complaint until it’s resolved.
After 7 days, you will receive a final response or written confirmation of any reason for a further delay. If there is a delay you will also be advised of when the Customer Response Unit will make further contact within the following four weeks.
Only very rarely will complaints not be settled at the end of 8 weeks. However, if this is the situation, we will provide you with a final written response explaining the reasons for the delay or advise when we expect to provide a final response.
Still not satisfied with our response?
If you are still not content with the outcome of your complaint, the final response will also include contact details for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) which is available to settle certain complaints you make if they cannot be settled through our internal complaints procedures. The contact details of the FOS are as follows.

The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR

Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Tel: 0845 080 1800

eira

Any others with recent experience of Citi Classic card-I think that's what I've got but the combination of overseas customer services and general poor communication makes the whole customer experience a bit of a nightmare ? Can't get anyone to tell me what facilities there are/are not on the card-am thinking of giving it up as a bad job but every so often these discount deals on wine etc come through. Also have Egg Money and Card (both owned by Citi) and the whole experience is very different.

Should I hang on to Citi for the deals or get shot of it-have now cleared the balance. I did try and get a Shell card but I would have had to take out another Citi card-which I didn't want to do.The interest rate goes up and down with no warning-and you just never get a straight answer.

Tips would be appreciated

MarkyMarkD

They are frankly rubbish at dealing with complaints. It took them ages to even acknowledge one I sent them, and even longer to actually pay up the compensation due.

I now have ANOTHER case ongoing with them and yet again not even had an acknowledgement yet.

They don't come close to complying with their own complaint timescales.

allsinginganddancing

Hi, i have just received an email from Citibank, who i do not bank with, informing me that my account has been involved with fraudulent activity and that funds from my account have been taken. I know this is a scam as i do not bank with them but for others please remember to always be on the look out for emails like this.

Sorry if this if part of another thread, allsinginganddancing

MarkyMarkD

It's a fair point, ASAD. It happens with every bank but particularly American ones like Citibank.