Credit card complaints!

[muname]

What branch of government handles cases concerning complaints against credit card companies?

I got the shock of my life last Wednesday when I received my billing statement from Citibank. I noticed an entry amounting to 109,990 pesos from Abenson Appliances!

I called up Citibank to report the error. I was told that they will check but I still have to pay the amount come my due date!!! WHAT!!! I asked her if she was stupid. I mean my credit limit was only up to 100,000 pesos, how in the world would I be able to purchase the said items costing more that 100,000 pesos. She insisted that until this is cleared, I will have to pay or be charged interest.

I would like to warn existing Citibank card holders & those planning to get credit cards, to stay away from CITIBANK. Try other companies or better yet stick to checks or cash transactions. You'll sleep better at night.

[gumacanian]

What did Abenson Appliances have to say? Did someone purchase the said items with your credit card on their records? Who was the sales man/lady? Do they remember the transaction?Do they recognise you?
Has there been any opportunity for someone to clone your card?Did it go missing at any stage in the recent past? How did you receive the card when new?In the post?
Was your pin no sent seperatley? Have you used the card for internet transactions?
Did Citibank cancel the card? Are they investigating on your behalf?
Or.....Does your Mrs have a card with the same number

[KuyaDanny]

I wish we would all avoid making inflammatory statements. Just because this happened to you, a Citibank cardholder, does not mean it will happen to most, or many other Citibank cardholders. There should be more and better reasons to stay away from Citibank.

1) This type of incident can happen to non-Citibank cardholders, too.

2) There is a process for rectifying this. It might be good for you to find out what it is and follow it.

3) My wife left her card with a department store cashier after making a purchase and by the time she realized her card was missing the card had been used to make P20,000 in fraudulent purchases. By calling the support center and reporting the incident, the card company agreed to cancel her card and issue her another one. She did not have to pay the P20,000 while the company was investigating. The card issuer was also Citibank.

4) I don't see why this is a national issue.

[brownpau]

4) I don't see why this is a national issue.

Moving this to your board, KD.

[c0ngster]

im a bit surprised since citibank puts premium on customer service. either the citibank rep is new or old. what the bank shouldve done was close your account because of the amount in dispute, open up a new one, send you some type of affidivadit stating that you didnt make the charge, and process whats called a dispute.

cardmember shouldnt be liable for fraudulent charge(s).

[muname]

Originally posted by gumacanian
What did Abenson Appliances have to say? Did someone purchase the said items with your credit card on their records? Who was the sales man/lady? Do they remember the transaction?Do they recognise you?
Has there been any opportunity for someone to clone your card?Did it go missing at any stage in the recent past? How did you receive the card when new?In the post?
Was your pin no sent seperatley? Have you used the card for internet transactions?
Did Citibank cancel the card? Are they investigating on your behalf?
Or.....Does your Mrs have a card with the same number

Abenson said they'll have to check.

I'm single and my credit card stays with me all the time. Never has it been used in transactions via the internet nor has it been lost.

I currently asking for the signed credit card transaction slip from Citibank as proof that I made the transaction.

Meanwhile, I still have to worry about the impending due date.

[Ice Burn]

You know you should talk to the supervisor of customer service regarding this matter. Sometimes the customer reps are plain idiots and don't know how to deal with this type of situation.

[muname]

Originally posted by Ice Burn
You know you should talk to the supervisor of customer service regarding this matter. Sometimes the customer reps are plain idiots and don't know how to deal with this type of situation.

I asked to talk to their head/supervisor or whatever but he refused to talk to me. The name I got from the girl I talked was Carlos Fausto.

I was expecting upper management attention for something this blatant but it seems that Citibank cardholders aren't on the top of their "IMPORTANT LIST"

[muname]

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
I wish we would all avoid making inflammatory statements. Just because this happened to you, a Citibank cardholder, does not mean it will happen to most, or many other Citibank cardholders. There should be more and better reasons to stay away from Citibank

Why shouldn't I make inflammatory statements? Wouldn't you be pissed if someone handled your problem with such indifference? What if you were asked to pay for something you did not purchase, would you be shouting with glee?

Yes, it won't happen to most & other creditcard holders but that doesn't change the fact that it happened to me, a Citibank cardholder.

The reason why people should stay away from Citibank is the way they treat my 100,000 problem like it's no big deal.

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
3) My wife left her card with a department store cashier after making a purchase and by the time she realized her card was missing the card had been used to make P20,000 in fraudulent purchases. By calling the support center and reporting the incident, the card company agreed to cancel her card and issue her another one. She did not have to pay the P20,000 while the company was investigating. The card issuer was also Citibank.

The difference here is that your wife lost her card and reported it. Mine was not lost, but the erroneous purchase just came with the billing statement.

[KuyaDanny]

Yes, I would be pissed. But I would be more interested in a solution. Getting mad makes it harder for everyone to think about rectifying the situation. Calling for a boycott of Citibank doesn't solve your problem, although it may make you feel better.

What is similar about your case and my wife's is that they both involve charges that were not authorized by the cardholder. The way they are handled should be the same. Since they were handled differently, how can we now determine which is the regular way and which is the mistake?

Now, if I recall correctly, part of the procedure to follow in these cases is to protest the charge in writing. Has this been done?

[black_death]

The best way to avoid this kind of incident is to stay away from credit cards. But then again can you guys, specially the thread starter, afford to have none?

[muname]

I agree that it's very convenient having a credit card. But when you applied for it, nobody warned you that these things happen.

[muname]

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
Yes, I would be pissed. But I would be more interested in a solution. Getting mad makes it harder for everyone to think about rectifying the situation. Calling for a boycott of Citibank doesn't solve your problem, although it may make you feel better.

Boycotting would be the only way ensure that these kinds of things doesn't happen again. A sudden drop in number of their cardholders would signify that they're doing something wrong and force the management to re-evaluate how they do business.

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
What is similar about your case and my wife's is that they both involve charges that were not authorized by the cardholder. The way they are handled should be the same. Since they were handled differently, how can we now determine which is the regular way and which is the mistake?

I assume that your wife immediately reported the lost card as soon as she found out. By reporting it right away, the Citibank people are alerted that purchases made after are unauthorized ones. In my case, I never reported a lost card since I never lost it in the first place. So they still have to check their records while I worry

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
Now, if I recall correctly, part of the procedure to follow in these cases is to protest the charge in writing. Has this been done?

I've already put my protest in writing. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm being forced to pay 100,000+ instead of suspending the transaction in question.

[KuyaDanny]

Boycotting is one way, but not the only way. Suing is another. Reporting to customer service when they send you a survey is another. Cancelling your card is still another way. There are many ways, my friend, and I suggest you do the easier ones first.

The purchases made on my wife's card were made before she reported the loss. Card was lost Friday, purchases made on Saturday, loss reported Sunday. She did not pay and was not asked to pay.

Regarding the P100,000 you are being "forced" to pay, how are they forcing you? If they are not your charges, and you cannot pay, don't pay. At the very least, you will not only get the investigation department on your case, but also the collection department. There will be more people working on this.

I am getting the impression (and I really hope I am wrong) that you have concluded that this was done to you on purpose and Citibank won't help you after one phone call to customer service. I hope you consider giving them time to work on your case. If they said they'll investigate, then by all means give them time (maybe two weeks) to get back to you. For all you know the charge was a mistake (someone else's purchase posted to your statement), or the work of a fraud syndicate. Either way, straightening these things out takes time. And I doubt if that call center operator has the authority to reverse a P100,000 charge anyway. Someone higher up has to approve it, and to do so he will need proof - which takes time to get.

Meanwhile, keep the communication lines open and pay only what you know to be your legitimate charges.

[Artemis]

Citibank is not the only company who does that. Standard Chartered too. I don't have a citibank, thank god coz i'm already pissed as it is with SC. I lost my card and there have been major charges with it. I called them up and informed them about it unfortunately the person who stole it has used it before they could have done something about it. Then come the billing statement, of course there were charges i didn't incur. They even didn't replace my card right away. They actually have not replaced it till now and that has been months ago because they told me i have exceeded the credit limit. so regardless of the fact that i told them i never purchased those, they said they would not replace it until i've paid for them. but for my other card, AIG, they replaced it within two business days! I have let go of STandard but still maintain good credit record with AIG because they are the best for me. Very educated agents with pleasant voices. But SC agents are just very very hard to deal with, lest talk to. So there, just my experience that i wanted to share.

[gumacanian]

If what you say is entirley accurate then you have every right to be pissed off and I completey understand your anger and worry in regards to your impending bill.
In a case such as this I am amazed frankly at the way you have been treated by their "customer services".
The supervisors head should be swiftly severed and put on a plate! ..He refused to speak with you? Are you sure?

If you didnt actually purchase the item and the card was never lost then your signiture wouldn`t be on the card reciept right?
If the card was cloned before you recieved it in the post,chances are the signiture on it would be completley different to your own...
I wish you luck...You shouldn`t need it.

[fatgrrl_slim]

I don't know if this should count as a credit card complaint... I'm just curious kasi I have some officemates who sometimes forget to pay their Citibank bills on time. Not necessarily intentional, some of them are just plain busy and forgets the due date. Sometimes, Citibank's collecting agents (I'm not sure if this is the proper name for them) calls the office and reminds them to pay. Some are polite, but most of them, ang anghang magsalita. One time, minura pa nung isa yung officemate ko even if my officemate didn't say anything harsh to him. Just a few days ago, merong isang collecting agent na makailang beses tumawag sa opisina demanding my officemate to pay the bill. Ito pa namang officemate ko na to, nagbabayad talaga every month, nakalimutan lang nya talaga yung due date for this month. Eh yung nautusang magbayad sa bangko, hindi nakabalik agad dahil mahaba daw ang pila (it was a Monday, so busy day talaga sa bank). Yung agent na tawag nang tawag every 10 mins or so, parang astang ayaw maniwala na on the way na nga yung payment.

My question is: do collecting agents have to be THAT harsh when demanding payment from delinquent customers? To the point na nagmumura pa yung iba? Alam kaya ng Citibank ito? Yung collecting agents naman ng ibang credit card companies, hindi ganun eh, Citibank lang.

[floreno]

Ang sa akin naman.....Your Signature is the BEST evidence.

Kung wala ka namang pinirmahang Charge Slip...Di ka dapat ma-chacharge...

Kaya ako...I see to it na accurate yung mga slips bago ko Pirmahan...

[Tifosi]

Originally posted by fatgrrl_slim
My question is: do collecting agents have to be THAT harsh when demanding payment from delinquent customers? To the point na nagmumura pa yung iba? Alam kaya ng Citibank ito? Yung collecting agents naman ng ibang credit card companies, hindi ganun eh, Citibank lang.

I think they are trained to be that way, at least from what I have heard. Kumbaga, halang talaga ang kaluluwa ng mga collectors nila. Correct me if I am wrong though. So far, the people who have been calling me at the office to remind me to pay the bill are rather friendly. They also check if I have received the bill.

[muname]

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
Suing is another.

A single individual versus a large corporation? Not really much of an option. The last person I sued took 10 years and the only people who got something are the attorneys.

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
Regarding the P100,000 you are being "forced" to pay, how are they forcing you?

Exact words..."You still have to pay the 100,000 on your due date pending investigation or pay late charges." Not much of a choice.

Originally posted by KuyaDanny
I am getting the impression (and I really hope I am wrong) that you have concluded that this was done to you on purpose and Citibank won't help you after one phone call to customer service.

I don't think that they're singling me out. But I do think that customer service shouldn't be that negligent. Another thing, why is their head so scared of talking to me in person? A problem like this should not be delegated to the numerous drones at the end of the phone line. It should be handled by someone who knowledgable with the company's policies.