Complaint Review: Citibank - Dallas Internet

Over the past approximately six months, I have had problems receiving my mail. Six or seven credit card statements and my homeowner's insurance bill were not delivered. This resulted in late fees plus interest charges on the credit cards and my homeowner's insurance being cancelled.

I spoke with my local post office twice in person and the Delivery Supervisor there said she would talk to my carrier and correct the situation. I also emailed the USPS about this problem I was having.

I thought the situation was resolved until recently I received another late fee and interest charge on another Citibank credit card statement. This time I called the USPS and filed a formal complaint and was contacted by a Public Affairs specialist who contacted my local post office again which verified they were aware of both me and my situation. The specialist said she got the Delivery Supervisor’s supervisor involved and would run a 10-day test on my mail to verify things were being delivered as they should.

As soon as I learned of the late fee being charged to my Citibank credit card, I called Citibank to tell them what happened. The representative I spoke with first said that it would be no problem to refund the late fee and interest charge so I paid the difference between the statement balance and the late fee plus interest charges on the spot. Only at the end of the call did the representative make it seem like there might have to be someone named an Account Services person to review/approve the late fee/interest charge refund--that it was not going to be done as he had said before.

While waiting the three to five days for Citibank to review my account, I signed up for online statements via email and for text alerts on my cell phone so I would know when new statements were ready (in case my Citibank credit card statement was not delivered again) and so I would know if my statement was overdue.

When I contacted Citibank again, I was told that I would definitely have to pay the late fee plus interest charges, despite my statement not having been delivered to me and actually having had been returned to Citibank (which they verified, despite the address being 100% correct).

Despite my explanations to Heather, a supervisor in the call center in Maryland, the lengths I had gone through to get my mail delivery problems corrected, to pay my bill in full as soon as I was made aware of the bill, and to set up alerts for new statements so that I wouldn’t miss another payment date again in the future. Her response was that Citibank had made a business decision not to waive any more late fees, period, and that was that. So harsh!

I advised her of my 11-year tenure with Citibank, my mortgage with CitiMortgage and my almost perfect credit score, but she was not swayed. And when I went back and looked at the first time this happened a few months ago (first statement not received in mail, late fee charged, Citibank agreed to waive fee), I noticed that while Citibank had said they would waive the late fee, they actually did not do it. I could find nowhere in subsequent statements a credit for the $25 late fee. Of all the dirty tricks - to tell a customer they would credit you with a $25 late fee charge and then not to do it (without informing you). This is despicable!

Also of note, I had six other credit card statements and a homeowner’s insurance bill not delivered, too, resulting in my homeowner’s insurance being cancelled. Other companies were willing to work with me regarding late fees and interest charges, but not Citibank. They were they only ones who were completely inflexible.

With the exception of lying to me, I do not know who is right in this situation because the USPS is the real culprit here, but I would like to complain about Citibank’s dishonesty and inflexibility in this matter. I did what I could on my end to improve the situation, so it seems like they should do the same on their end and work with me a little, too.