Let me be honest. I was delinquent on my account. I called Citibank because my interest rate had risen to a whopping 24.99%. I had never really paid much attention to this, but when I noticed it, I immediately called to resolve it.
CALL #1:
I was told that after 6 months of on-time payments, my account would drop to 12.74 or 12.75%. This was all that I was told.
CALL #2:
I called back the month it was to change to make sure the change had been made, and was told that the change would show up on my statement at the end of the month.
CALL #3, 4/14/02 at 1:07 pm:
I received the bill and it still showed an interest rate of 24.99%, so I called and spoke with a young lady (ID# TEL*). I told her that on two or three separate occasions I was told that my interest rate would drop to 12.74 or the original interest rate of the account. She told me I had been misinformed and that my rate would now be 19.99% (instead of the prime rate 4.75 12.99%) because Citibank had decided that 19.99 should be my minimum. I asked her what they based this on and was not given a reason. I was told exactly, "that is what was decided, and it is within the law." I asked who decided, and she said the computer decides this.
She went on to tell me that I was at this point in a "Mid-Tier Pricing of 19.99%" and that with 6 months of consecutive payments my next pricing would be at "Prime 9.4%." (This is verbatim, because I wrote it as she spoke, and I continuously asked her to slow down as I wrote it.) I decided to have her start from the beginning and tell me how the system works, because I was now a skeptic after having been told by other Citibank staff that my account would be back to normal. She did, and I wrote it down in a 20-minute conversation. In the end, I requested that she send me a letter stating the terms of receiving an interest rate of Prime 9.4% as long as no further delinquent payments are made. After this conversation, I decided to call again to verify that this was correct.
CALL #4, 4-14-02 at 1:45 pm:
I spoke with a Ms. Re* and was told that I had been MISINFORMED! After the long conversation with ID# TEL*, I could not believe I was hearing this, but I did. I was now told (VERBATIM) that "Yes, I am in a mid-tier pricing of 19.99%, but even after 6 months of on-time payments, I am not guaranteed (at all) a lower interest rate!" I was told that there were tiers, and that based on the tiers I might drop to prime 15%, maybe even prime 11%, or Citibank might decide that I, a customer of 11 years, may pay 19.99 for the next 30 years. She said that, based on my tier level, I basically had 6 more reviews (that is 36 months). So I went from 6 months to 36 months in a matter of 20 to 40 minutes!
I was confused. After she explained the process to me, which was now different from what the last young lady said, I asked to speak to someone who could give me definitive answers. I want to know why the terms on my end are so cut and dried, yet on Citibank's end they seem to flip-flop based on whatever the customer service reps decide or GUESS! Ms. Re* told me that I had reached my limit and that any further complaints would have to be made by fax to 605-357-2073 (I hope it's a good number).
CALL #5, 4-14-02 at 2:37 pm:
I spoke with a gentleman who told me that there are Business Account Specialists who handle interest rates for Citibank, that they do it on an individual basis, and that there is a Rate Index based on whether the account is Variable or Non-Variable.
You tell me what you get from all of this! As for me, I am getting a heck of a lot of mixed information, and I plan to get to the bottom of it!
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