I have a long history with Citi, 10 years, multiple accounts and impeccable credit.
In December I received a letter from Citi that the limit on my Citi Flex Line would be reduced in February and that Citi would be no longer be offering the Citi Flex Line and closing all accounts. That was all fine.
In February the Citi Flex Line was reduced and closed like they said but come the end of the month I still didnt have a statement on this said closed account nor do they provide any online access for this account. I called Citi, they apologized for the inconvenience, said they would send a duplicate statement and informed me that my payment was due 2 days ago. I made the payment.
March. Statement reflects a $49.00 late fee and an interest rate increase from 7.24% to 29.99%. I decide this time to provide a written letter for record keeping purposes disputing the oversight. I receive a letter back that I will attach stating that in spite of not getting a statement the late fee is correct and that an interest rate cannot be adjusted on a closed account. I make the payment and pay the late fee and continue to make payments on time as scheduled.
May 17th. I decide to call again about this 29.99%. Here is the conversation:
ME: "Can you please tell me my current interest rate?"
Citi: "Your current rate is 29.99% sir."
ME: "Is my account in default?"
Citi: "No sir, your account is in good standing and your next payment is due on May 28th."
ME: "Can you please tell me why then my interest rate is nearly 30%?"
Citi: "Due to a late payment in Feb sir."
ME: "You closed my account in Feb and failed to send me a statement after doing so. I provided you a written letter with the facts disputing the late fee and rate hike do you show that in the system"
Citi: "No sir, I show no such dispute or letter."
ME: "But I received a written reply from your company so clearly you did in fact get it. Its extremely disappointing that Citi is acting like that with such a long standing, paying client."
Citi: "Im sorry sir, there is nothing I can do about the interest rate and we are like that." And then she hung up.
So let me get this straight. Citi closes all accounts of these types, ironically fails to send a statement the same month they make all of these changes, charges a huge late fee and interest and then claims that they cannot make changes to a closed account? Unfortunately, I feel that these tactics are completely intentional and unlawful.
I have filed a complaint with the Federal Reserve and will do everything else in my power to put a stop to these unlawful tactics.
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