I opened my Citibank AAdvantage account in 1990 so I could get American Airlines miles. I had made the previous month's payment (May) of $6,500.00. Around June 2nd or 3rd I made an initial $100.00 minimum payment and followed up with a $2,500.00 online payment from my checking account (virtually all my others were also online) on June 6th. They did not submit the payment until June 11.
Due to a medical crisis I was having, I was not checking my online checking account daily. On Saturday, June 19th, I noticed I was being charged NSF fees for small checks when I still had plenty of funds. Long story short, I went to the bank on Monday, because my online statement had never shown that the Citibank payment had been presented and bounced. If I had been totally on the ball, or if I had made the payment for around $100 less, I would have been fine. They did refund one of the fees, as they said the online thing was weird.
I called Citibank to make my payment, and they informed me that according to their computer I had bounced two checks and therefore my 14-year account was closed! I asked them when the other check had been bounced, but they could only tell me that it was sometime between 1990 and six months ago, as their records don't show anything more recent than six months. Then the supervisor said, "Actually, we can cancel you at any time for no reason." Nice customer service.
The supervisor told me there was nothing I could do about it. I called numerous Citibank numbers and finally found out who the CEO of Citi Cards is (Steven Frieberg). I am sending him a letter to try to appeal to the humanity of an actual decision maker rather than a flunky.
So beware of Citibank. I will follow up with my answer from Mr. Frieberg. I was just getting back on my feet financially, having paid off my car and half of my mortgage! My credit was not so good for the last 6 years due to a business partner's death and financial disaster. Now I will have another black mark, plus the loss on my credit report of my longest existing credit card.
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