Please read the comments section of this review for some additional info.

These days, you can get a "platinum" VISA card or Mastercard for no annual fee. You can get credit cards that will return to you up to 2% of your transactions in the form of cash or other perks, including airline miles. Even though I am a well known thrifty shopper (aka cheapskate), I am willing to pay more to get more in return for any product or service. Good customer service is important to me, and I am willing to pay extra to get it.

Citibank VISA was the first real credit card I was granted after college, after being turned down by Bank of America where I had a checking and savings account. My experience back then with Citibank was positive - they had great 24-hour service and did a good job in protecting my interests in disputes with merchants. I was lured away by a "no annual fee" VISA years later, but I returned to Citibank for their customer service and and the airline miles with a Citibank "Aadvantage" VISA which costs $55 per year. This card gives one frequent flier mile for every dollar spent with the card. I felt that the 24 hour service was far better than my free First USA card service, and with the American frequent flier mileage I was willing to pay the $55 annual fee.

Even as early as last year, Citibank successfully defended my complaints against a furniture merchant for defective merchandise to my benefit. But a few weeks ago it all changed - I am dumping my Citibank VISA card. Here is why:

Last month I spent the night at a Days Inn at a rate of $72 per night. Upon checkout the next day, my bill totaled a mysterious $195. It turns out that this particular Days Inn decided that a special rate applies to local phone calls if a computer is used to connect to the internet. So instead of two calls at $0.50 each, they charged me 100 times that amount. There was no warning or posted charges in the room - and upon checkout the clerk admitted that it was their problem and did not make me sign my final bill. This is the type of dispute that Citibank would always have resolved for me, so I opted to work it out through them as I always had.

I made the phone call to Citibank customer service and filled out the requisite paperwork they mailed me, and wrote a detailed letter, as always. A week or so after filing my claim, I received two confusing letters from Citibank - one of which that said that had finished reviewing my dispute and decided for the merchant. I called the Citibank dispute department and was treated to a very snooty dispute coordinator named Mr. Halliday. He was so off-putting that I asked to speak to a manager after having been told by this person that Citibank would not help me. But Mr. Halliday told me that HE was a manager and that HIS manager does not return calls to customers, but that he would leave him a voicemail.

Mr. Halliday told me that since I had signed the hotel merchant's blank credit slip, the merchant had the right to fill in any amount. I asked him, "what if the merchant filled in $1,000, would that still be a legitimate charge?". "yes" he replied. "How about $10,000?" Yes, he again smarmily retorted. This Citibank representative was pushing me to resolve this matter directly with the merchant, but without the backing of my credit card company, the merchant holds all the cards in this poker game.

I made another call to Citibank VISA without divulging my account issue to find out their customer service policy for this type of dispute as if I was trying to decide if I wanted to select this card company. I was told by the representative that Citibank is bound by VISA International's policies in this matter, so I contacted VISA International myself. I finally received a letter from VISA International today stating that the policy on these matters completely resides in Citibank's domain. So now on top of poor customer service and a snooty attitude, Citibank are liars also.

Had Citiback informed me up front that they would not be able to help me for this type of claim when I first called, I would have been in a better position to win if it was prior to Citibank's contacting the merchant. So because of the poor customer service, the poor attitude displayed by Mr. Halliday, and the blatant lying about policies, I have given Citibank VISA the boot. This hotel stay was no different than any other problem that Citibank had always resolved for me - the hotel phone policies were defective, I never agreed to pay for unusual telecommunications charges and would not have used my computer if I had been warned, but Citibank still refused to stand by their consumer. So down the tubes to Citibank. I am now using my backup First USA Mastercard. Can anyone recommend a good good card with decent perks and great 24 hour service?

Thanks to Epinions.com, at least I can get some satisfaction in getting the word out about the decline of Citibank VISA's customer service. Thanks for reading and rating!



Recommended: No