I was very happy to find this site to warn other consumers about Citifinancial Retail Services. I am a very savvy credit card user. I pay all of my bills the month they are due, and I always pay off same-as-cash credit cards at least 2 months in advance of the due date.
I have been paying this way for 12 years and have perfect credit. I had to laugh when I read some comments about being an educated consumer, because I am certain I could memorize and abide by the fine print for this company and still have major issues. I purchased furniture on a 3-year same-as-cash plan from Furniture Express in December. I literally went into labor the day we purchased the furniture, within hours.
The following week, while I was in the hospital, the bill arrived without my having any idea. I had never made a large purchase on a same-as-cash plan and received a billing statement within 7 days, so I was not looking for it. After recuperating from the birth, I started going through a stack of mail and found the bill.
I was very upset because the minimum payment had been due the day before I found it. I immediately made the payment electronically, plus the following month's payment (3 weeks in advance), and called the company to explain what had happened. After I walked them through the situation for 20 minutes, they said they could not speak with me to give a one-time courtesy credit but needed to speak with my husband. So he had to call back and go through all the menus, and they credited us back the late fees, etc.
I then made the next month's payment a whole month in advance, since I try to pay everything 3-4 weeks before it is due. Approximately 2 weeks after that, it became apparent that our furniture was not coming from the store we purchased it from. We had waited since December, and they did not anticipate shipment for another month, so we cancelled the furniture. The furniture company said they would credit Citifinancial, and then we would receive our $261 back that we had already paid on furniture we never received and were no longer going to receive.
I then started calling Citifinancial 2 weeks later to make sure that our account was updated and to find out when we were going to receive our money back. Between my husband and me, we have spoken with "Customer Service" 10 times in the last 3 weeks. We have spent at least 12 hours on the phone with them.
Each time we call, we are given a different story. Then we were applying for a home equity line of credit, and when they pulled the credit report, it said we had paid everything late, even though it was one late payment that was waived and the subsequent payments were 3 weeks to one month early. A couple of days ago, someone in Customer Service told me we were going to get a check for $261 and gave me her ID number to confirm.
The very next day, the furniture company called and said we were getting a credit of approximately $210, and that we were being charged late fees because we never paid on time. I was furious. When I called back and tried to speak to the person I had talked to the day before, she was "unavailable." The person I spoke with that day said nothing was paid off, etc. As of today, they are saying we have a balance of $69.46. It is absolutely unreal. They owe us $261 for furniture we have never received nor will we ever, but we owe them $69.
I have spoken with supervisors and numerous customer service people and cannot get this resolved. Yesterday the supervisor told me that it does not say we are late on any payments to them, even though I said it was on our credit report. She said, "I don't know what to tell you, there is nothing on our end." I pay my bills online, so I have proof of when and how much I paid and when they received payment. Each person I speak with is rude and unhelpful. Unfortunately, we financed 6 months same-as-cash on our new furniture not knowing Citifinancial was the company.
I am going to pay in full ASAP, well before the expiration date. I took the time to post this because I would love to be part of a class action lawsuit against this company for the nightmare we have been put through. I have never sued or thought of suing anyone in my life, but I truly believe this company is crooked. I intend to look into small claims court options and who I can send a letter to high up the chain. I hope this helps someone who reads it!
My advice is to keep good payment records, call frequently, and document names and conversations!
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