FOR THE RECORD: I submitted the following to Wired Magazine in an effort to give a heads-up to Citibank Mastercard credit card users to watch for an unsolicited $89.95 charge on their credit card from Citibank's "vendor", "Essentials". I am naming Citibank's Nevada address because that is the statement origin in my particular case, but clearly, Citicorp needs the hand-slapping (worse than a hand-slapping would actually be more to my taste).
I am speculating, but it would not surprise me if the "vendor", "Essentials", is no more than a name the bank's marketing department gave to an idea to get more money from the consumers, and then opened a shop for business and slapped an 800 number on the package. ("Essentials" reports its address as # West Dodge Road, Omaha, Nebraska 68114, phone 800-411-#). It's very clearly horrible business practice on Citibank's part; I expected better behavior from them.
Here is the letter I submitted to Wired:
"I guess it's predictable: Banks' associations with vendors leading to credit card scams. And making it easy to make easy money is the internet, of course. But the internet was my friend in protecting me this time.
Here's my story:
I go online to pay a credit card, Citibank Mastercharge. I find a charge for $89.95 from a company called "Essentials"; never heard of 'em. I do a search on the Internet. "usacomplaints.com" shows that (apparently) quite of number of Citibank credit card customers (hundreds? Am I being conservative here?) have been victimized with the same fraudulent charge of $89.95. It says Essentials is a vendor with Citibank. Hmm. I call Citibank. Yes, Essentials is a Citibank vendor.
That charge was for your membership with Essentials, she says. Really? I say, but I never applied for a membership, I don't even know what Essentials is. Oh, she says, well, I can connect you with Essentials and you can cancel your membership. Uh, wait, I say, I would like to cancel my Citibank credit card. Now I have her attention...
To cut to the chase, my whining elicits a promise of a refund of my $89.95 for a membership in something I never solicited nor know anything about, but, natch, I had to make the same speech with The Vendor. I'll let you know if they don't both come clean, (you're dying to know, I'm sure) but meantime, what is Citibank doing??? Check out "usacomplaints.com". And, uh, readers who have Citibank cards, I'd check your statements for a charge of $89.95 if I were you.
Respectfully,
A Typically Aghast And Appalled Consumer At The Ethics Of Companies-Who-Should-Know-Better.
Nancy
Sao Paulo
Brazil
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