Citibank Credit Department
Balance Transfer Partly Done After Limit Moved From Another Card

Good afternoon,

I am trying to obtain some information on behalf of my husband, and I am not sure if you would be able to help me or not. Here is the problem.

My husband received a balance transfer offer from Citi Cards in the mail. He has two accounts that he wanted to put on one, so we went online and did this balance transfer. After completing the application, we were told that Citi needed more information and to call a number that was listed. We called the number and a recording said that it was not a working phone number. We called the number listed on the offer, and no one there could help since we had just completed the application. They said that if we did not hear anything in 10 days, we could call back.

We received an email that said they transferred only one balance because he received a limit of only $2200 and the other balance exceeds that amount. We received another email that congratulated my husband on receiving this new card and said that he has a limit of $2200. He received this limit by them decreasing one of his other Citi cards by $1700 and adding it to this new card. Their reasoning was that he has reached the limit of credit that they extend to a client.

My husband called Citi a couple of times to talk about the issue and asked them to cancel the balance transfer, and they refused. The last time we called, last week, we talked to an account manager. My husband and I told her that if someone does not qualify for the amount requested, why do they not call the customer, inform them of that, and let the customer decide which balance they want to transfer over or whether they want to cancel the balance transfer? She had no answer. I asked why they have the right to decrease an existing account without his knowledge and consent and add to another account. Again, she had no answer.

She put me on hold so she could find the number for the new accounts department. Conveniently, she only had an internal number, and there were no external numbers for customers to call. The department had just closed 30 seconds earlier, and there was no way that they could get hold of anyone there.

Our questions and concerns are: is this legal? Can they just decrease an existing, long-standing account and add to a different account without customer knowledge and consent? I told Citi that they should have called and informed my husband that he has the credit limit that they extend to an individual, and asked if there was some other way they could work out this balance transfer. To me, that is customer service.

I am sorry for the length of my email, but I hope you can help me or point me in the right direction. Thank you for your time and assistance. It is greatly appreciated.

Company: Citibank Credit Department
Country: USA
State: New York
City: New York
ZIP: 10022
Address: 399 Park Avenue
Phone: 2125591000
Site: citibank.com

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