Citibank may owe you a 1% rebate on January purchases.
Written: May 12 '01
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Pros: The current issuer for the Quicken credit cards.
Cons: Makes misleading or fraudulent promotional offers and provides poor customer service.
The Bottom Line: If you want a Quicken credit card, choose another vendor that provides statement downloads. Apparently, Citibank will not honor their own promotional offers. Other problems? Why take the chance?
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| ned_nowotny's Full Review: Citibank |
On my January, 2001 Quicken Visa statement in the Cardmembers News section, the card issuer, Citibank U.S.A., made the following promotional offer:
GET A 1% REBATE ON ALL YOUR PURCHASES FROM NOW UNTIL JANUARY 31, 2001. POST-HOLIDAY SHOPPING CAN BE SO REWARDING.
If your January statement included this same offer, I recommend you examine your February statement for eligible purchases and whether or not an appropriate rebate is credited to your account. If not, contact the Citibank U.S.A. customer support department and request your rebate. There should be no question that in the phrase, "get a 1% rebate on all your purchases from now until January 31, 2001", the term "now" implies the closing date of the January statement and that January 31 must be a clear, commonly recognized ending date. As such, all purchases on your February statement posted before January 31, 2001 should clearly result in the stated 1% rebate.
However, don't be surprised if your experience is similar to mine:
This promotion was the continuation of a rebate that had first appeared on my December statement. Acting on this offer, I continued to make purchases with my Citibank Visa card that I would normally have made with a different card.
When my February, 2001 statement arrived, all of the transactions listed had both transaction and posting dates prior to January 31, 2001. However, a 1% rebate had not been applied to my account.
I called Citibank customer service, discussed the problem, and hung up with the apparently mistaken understanding that the rebate would be applied. Believing that to be the case, I sent in my payment less the expected rebate amount since I had no idea how long it would be before I next used the card. I did not wish to carry a credit balance in the meantime.
With my March 2001 statement, I found that the rebate had not been applied and a finance charge had been levied. In calling Citibank customer service again to address the dispute, I found them unhelpful at best. In fact, the supervisor I was finally able to get on the phone was so confrontational that I canceled my account on the spot. Immediately after hanging up, I wrote a detailed letter to the Citibank research department as instructed on the back of my statement.
I wrote the letter on March 16, 2001 and paid off the balance of the account except for the rebate in question and the finance charges resulting solely from Citibank's failure to make good on their offer. As of May 12, 2001, Citibank has still not responded to my letter although they appear to have received it because my April, 2001 statement showed a credit for the finance charge from my March, 2001 statement. Despite this, the April, 2001 statement included a new finance charge, the rebate is still outstanding, and Citibank is now assessing late charges along with the finance changes despite my clear indication that I dispute the charges and categorically refuse to pay them. This was communicated to them both in my letter of March 16, 2001 as well as a letter included with the payment receipt from my April 2001, statement.
The matter is now the subject of a formal complaint filed with the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. I am still waiting for a response from Citibank.
Recommended:
No
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ned_nowotny
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