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 Citibank Nickels and Dimes You to Death
Posted Fri June 27, 2008 12:00 pm, by Jennifer H. written to Citibank N A
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I am frustrated at the way Citi charges their customers and handles their billing. My fianc and I recently went through a foreclosure on our home due to a job loss for both him and I. Currently we are both working right now and trying are hardest to play catch up to try to make right with all of our past bills and accounts that got behind while we were trying to keep our home. Since we've let go of the house through the foreclosure process, we've set out a budget to try to get each creditor paid monthly and a set amount, but the way Citibank is handling things it's impossible for us to do so.
It started last Nov, when we were behind and arranged to pay $72 a month for I think it was like 5 or 6 months to get us from being over limit. All of those payments were made on time through out bank account as a pay by phone payment. After it was completed, I went online to start making my regular monthly payments. I entered my information for my new bank account and authorized the payment. It never came out of my account so I call of course to find out what happened. Well, it turns out that they took it out of my old bank account which is closed and the payment was returned. Sorry, but that is not my fault. I checked and double checked to make sure it came out of the correct account before submitting the payment. Because of the error the phone rep took my payment then over the phone and refunded the late fee.
I went online the next month to make another monthly payment, but because of the return payment the system would not allow me to make the payment online. I called to make the payment and was told they could not take a payment over the phone because of the returned payment (which again was not my fault and was obviously acknowledged by Citibank as they refunded the late fee) and that I had to send a check. I then went to my online to my bank and set a payment up to pay them by the due date. I guess it went out 1 day late because the payment posted to Citi exactly 1 day after the due date. I figured it was paid on time, but decided to check online with Citi just in case. It's a good thing I did because they ended up charging me 4 days after my posted payment a late charge of 39 dollars, now making my next monthly payment for almost 70 dollars. I budgeted after the 72 dollar payment plan to pay then 30 dollars a month and more on months my paycheck is larger or if I had a little bit extra cash, but I cannot afford an additional 40 bucks! I was informed by customer service that they cannot refund the late fee for me because of the last late fee that was refunded. Wait a minute, that last one was not refunded as a courteously to me it was because of Citibank error. I understand that since the bank paid them late I get charged that late fee, as ridiculous and excessive as it is, its policy, so I asked if there was any way of making a payment arrangement since I cannot afford the increased amount next time. I was then informed that collection is not willing to make any kind of arrangements with me. Now, if I defaulted and didn't pay next month and possibly the next, I guarantee they will be calling me willing to make some kind of payment arrangement with me then, but won't when I've been paying every single month and trying to make an honest effort and contact them early enough before the due date to try to get them paid something at least, but no, they just want to keep charging and charging new fees.
The way it's going, they just keep trying to nickel and dime you to death so you end up never paying them off, but you keep paying them. It's shocking that they make arrangements if you don't pay, like what happened previously when we were having worst financial issues, but they won't when I'm paying on time and trying to fix my past mistakes and make it right. How do you get away with that!?!
I need to speak with someone to make some kind of arrangement. I personally think I should get the last $39 late fee refunded, but understand if that truly cannot be done, but have a feeling it can be. I just want to be able to make steady fixed payments so I can get above water enough to eventually pay more and eventually pay this dare thing off!
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by Birman Posted Mon June 30, 2008 @ 5:58 PM
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I, too, have had problems with the timeliness and accuracy of Citibank
records.
Citimortgage bought my mortgage several years ago and how I wish they
hadn't! I rarely get my statement before the 24th or 25th of the month
before it is due on the 1st. The statement instructs you, if you mail
a payment, to send it between 7 and 10 days before it is due, which is
obviously impossible since I don't get the statement early enough!
I've learned not to trust Citi when it comes to online payments
because several friends have made online payments. Somehow something
always goes wrong and the payment is recorded as late or it gets lost
or whatever, even if you pay two weeks before it is due!
I've started calling Citi every month, asking for my statement.
Invariably I get told that it isn't late until the 16th of the month.
I then explain, cordially, to the phone rep that that is NOT how my
mortgage is written and my payment is due on the 1st.
Would you believe they argue with me? I've learned to pull out my copy
of my mortgage contract and read them what is written there. Whether
or not Citi charges you a late fee after the 1st, payment is still due
on the 1st and is late after that. Sure, right now Citi isn't
foreclosing on any of us for late payments, but does anyone really
trust that they won't in the future?
Now I simply copy the previous month's statement and send it in with
my check to Citimortgage with a note that their statement was late
again. Since I also include a little extra each month which goes
towards the mortgage principle, it's to my benefit to send it in as
early as possible each month.
The last time I tried to set up an automatic withdrawal with
Citimortgage, the earliest they would make the draw is the 1st of the
month, which means I would lose out on early payment of the mortgage
principle. It's not a lot, but if I keep it up, I will pay off my
mortgage about 10 years early. I think that's why Citimortgage makes
it so difficult for me and others to make headway on our mortgages.
All I can suggest is to keep copies of everything, including online
records and go into a Citi branch and see if they can help you. My
experience with the phone reps is that they're hopelessly
incompetent.
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All I can say is your not the only one. I have my car financed through
Citi Financial ( not by choice, I actually financed through Diamler
Chrysler, who then sold the loan to Citi Financial ) and I hate them.
It seems they purposly try to mess up my loan so they can charge me
ridiculous fees. When my loan was sold to them no one contacted me to
tell me. Either financial company, so I was sending payments to
Diamler Chrysler. So 3 months later when I received a call from Citi
Financial who told me that my loan payments were 3 months behind I was
like what??? They then told me they bought the loan, and would try to
track my payments because they had a lot of accounts like this that
were bought but no one contacted them...blah blah blah. So they still
charged me the late fees...hmmm. I was furious. Then maybe like 6
months later my husband and I switched our auto insurance to USAA
military auto insurance because it was cheaper. I went to their
website to update my insurance information ( which is what they tell
you to do ) and called the insurance line to update. The next
statement I got it had an extra 170 on there saying that I was being
charged for their insurance because I did not have my own..I DID!! So
I called them and they fixed it, but the next month the same thing
with the previous months 170 saying that I had no insurance once
again. So this went on for a couple of months.. I talked to several
different people. It was so confusing. Then one day a really nice lady
had called me to try to set up a payment for the past due amount ( all
the insurance they were trying to charge me that i would not pay..
)and I once again informed her that I had insurance. She said, oh, no
one on this end called to confirm it. THAT ISNT MY FAULT!! Sheesh,
they can really drive a person nuts.. I dont even know anymore, but
eveyone that I know that has ever financed anything with them has had
issues. I just dont think they are very good with customer service.
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Maybe you should gather all of your proof that you did make your
payments on time, such as a confirmation email that you authorized
payment on your new account and contact your bank to see if they can
tell you exactly when Citibank got your money. If you can give
Citibank enough evidence to back up your claim, perhaps you can get
your late fee refunded.
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by Donno Posted Fri June 27, 2008 @ 8:59 PM
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This sucks, doesn't it? You sound like you really are trying your
best, and you got tripped up by this little automatic payment
situation. Sadly, I think the bank technically considers that first
fee your responsibility as far as "looking the other way". Thus, when
the second problem occurred, they said "we already gave you one second
chance, sorry."
The thing that bothers me in your letter is what happened the second
time, and making sure it doesn't happen again. Saying "I guess it
went out a day late" doesn't cut it in the long run (for the future).
You need to know exactly what went wrong, and how to prevent any more
late payments.
You have been through a lot, with a house foreclosure. Yikes. I
applaud your efforts at getting back on track. Keep doing the right
thing, and find out how to make those payments on time! Good luck in
your relationship also. Maybe someday you will look back on this
period and, um, laugh?
ps I think you will have trouble getting the second fee back, but you
gave it a good shot.
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