To whom it may concern:
Below is how Citi Bank (via their Citi Card) took advantage of my family.
In March I joined the military. The following November, my wife and I welcomed the arrival of our second child, a daughter. However, within days of her birth we discovered she had a very rare condition which required constant medical attention and equipment. My wife had to quit her job in order to receive the necessary training to take care of her if/when she was able to come home. During this time we used a Citi Card to assist with our normal living expenses and to help with the added expenses associated with our new reality.
At the time I was stationed in Monterey, CA, but our daughter was in Neonatal Intensive Care in San Francisco (2 hours away). Therefore, my wife maintained a residence in downtown San Francisco while I maintained a residence at my duty station (no choice). I would travel quite often to and from San Francisco to ensure my wife could get away and clear her head from the stresses associated with our situation. In May our daughter passed away.
During the 6 months of her life, we accumulated $9,100 of Citi Card debt. In December we asked Citi Card to close our account and stop interest accrual so we could financially recover and get our lives back. NOTE: We also had two other credit cards with separate companies that we used during this time. On my meager $16,000 a year military income, we couldn't dig ourselves out of this debt without some sort of relief.
Our other credit card companies gladly obliged, and we were able to pay them back within two years. However, Citi Card refused to consider anything. We enrolled with a credit counseling company which specialized in negotiating deals. Citi Card ignored them while continuing to jack up our interest rates (29%). By January we were nearing $17,000 in debt.
After selling a home in May, we offered Citi Card $9,000 cash and asked for an option to make payments on the remainder. Denied! In September we offered $4,000 cash and asked for an option to make payments. Denied! Finally, in October, when our debt balance was $20,000, they accepted $4,000 cash and agreed to monthly payments of $350 (at 5% interest).
Please be warned! Citi Bank/Card has no room for relief when life throws an unfortunate or desperate situation at you. My wife and I took our financial obligation to Citi Card seriously and had, and still have, every intention of fulfilling it. However, we do not feel Citi Card dealt with us fairly. Additionally, continuing to charge nearly 30% interest without accepting any offer from us to settle this debt is quite unconscionable. Well done, Citi Card! You sure took me there.
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