I applied for and received an AAdvantage Citibank Mastercard credit card in 1994. This card is issued by Citibank through American Airlines and earns you frequent flier miles for card usage. I had a reasonable interest rate and was very happy with the card. They did not run up the interest rate on me the entire time I had the card.
In 2000 I started receiving applications to upgrade to a Platinum level AAdvantage Citibank Mastercard. After receiving several offers to upgrade, I finally signed their upgrade agreement and sent it in, in 2001.
There were several attractive incentives to upgrading. One was advertised as "no spending limit." It also offered an annual percentage rate 2 points lower than my current card.
After calling Citibank to find out how the no spending limit worked, customer service told me that technically I had a limit on my card, but that if I went over, Citibank would approve the charge, I would have to pay the over-limit amount in full by the next statement, and I would be charged a penalty. I told them their ad was certainly misleading.
Two months after getting the new Platinum card, I noticed that my interest rate had jumped to 23.99%! When I called customer service, they told me that my credit report had shown a late payment on another credit card within the last six months, and that was why they were now raising my interest rate. I told them I had never once paid my Citibank card late in seven years, and I asked how one late payment on another card could affect my Citibank interest rate.
They told me that the Platinum application I had signed said they could check credit references and that they had the right to raise my interest rate if I had a record of late payments. I told them I didn't have a history of late payments and that the one late payment on another card was the only one in over two years.
The customer service lady was rude as well, and I was so upset that I started crying on the phone. I felt completely betrayed by my favorite credit card issuer. I felt they had purposely sent me upgrade applications in order to get me under a new agreement giving them the right to raise my interest rate on incidentals. Not to mention the application wording was very shady, and it was absolutely not clear what their intent was when they listed the so-called "perks" of a Platinum card.
I have made it my mission in life to tell everyone I know that Citibank will rip you off if you decide to get one of their credit cards. I only deal with American Express now because they are fair and are an absolute pleasure to work with, even if you have a late payment.
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