Updated 6-8-1999 To all who read this, I would like to tell the TRUE accounts of what happened in my dealings with Citibank, a division of the Citicorp Corporation. They are rather famous for their credit cards, although I've never really heard their name used elsewhere.

Before I was married in September of 1997, I applied for a Citibank credit card, just in case it might be needed on my honeymoon, out of the country. Unfortunately, it didn't come in time, but arrived a day after I left. Anyway, I kept the card. I had a clean credit report, which means no bad credit, but also no good credit. My credit was very new, and a lot of you probably know what a pain that can be. I kept the card with the intentions of charging small items, then promptly paying them off, to improve my credit report. This is exactly what I did. I made no attempt to charge anything that I could not afford, because I've seen the damages that doing that can cause. The most expensive thing I've ever charged on this card was the down payment for my wife's car, which also was promptly paid off.

Sometime during the Summer of 1998, my credit card number was used by someone else. The card itself has never left my possession, but one day when my statement came in the mail, there were numerous charges on my account that I had not made. There were also 1 or 2 charges that I HAD made, totalling about $25-$35, to the best of my recollection. The fraudulent charges were somewhere around $230-$240, give or take $10 or so. I promptly called Citibank customer service, telling them what happened, and put a block on my card. The representative whom I spoke with instructed me to get copies of my statements which had the fraudulent charges, (After all was said and done, there were two statements which had these charges on them) and circle the fraudulent charges, and mail them back to Citibank, along with an Notarized Affidavit, saying that I wasn't the one who made these charges, etc. etc. I did just that, and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

I finally received a call from Citibank a couple weeks later. I expected this to be in response to my affidavit, but instead, it was a bill collector, asking me to pay on the account. I figured that the forms I sent in were 'still in processing', and explained the whole situation to the agent. The agent then informed me that whether the charges were mine or not, that I still had to pay on the account to keep it from going past due. For fear of a bad credit report, I paid a minimal amount, figuring that it would at least cover the charges that I HAD made with the card.

So I waited a few more days.

Finally I called Citibank back, but this time I talked to someone in their 'Investigations Department', only to find out that there was no affidavit on file from me. I also asked that if I made payments, would I get my money back for the charges that I didn't make. The agent that I was speaking to got noticibly surprised, and (sternly) told me that I should NOT make payments on this. She said that my credit rating would go down, but when this is resolved, they would negate the charges and remove the incident from my credit report. I then asked her to mail out another affidavit, hoping to get the problem solved relatively soon.

Guess what.

They never got the SECOND affidavit either.

I understand that things can get lost in the mail, but I don't think that it could happen so coincidentily. During this time, I've had bill collectors calling me, weekly sometimes, asking for money, telling me that my credit will be damaged if I do not pay, and every time, I tell them that the investigations department OF THEIR OWN COMPANY is telling me not to pay. They find that unacceptable.

This went on for quite a while longer, and a few days ago, I received a letter in the mail from a collections agency. Needless to say that I was outraged, but nonetheless, I was extremely polite to the collections agency. After all, they're just doing their job. The person I talked to was extremely nice and helpful. After reciting the long story to him, he told me that he would request that the collections 'account' be closed, and sent back to Citibank, basically for them to deal with. He also gave me the Citibank customer service number that THEY use, hoping that it might get me a little farther than calling the 'regular' customer service number. I promptly called that number, only to find out that I should talk to someone in the 'Dispute Department'. I dialed that number, and spoke with a man by the name of Jim Edwards. He informed me that I should contact the Fraud Department, and that he couldn't help me. For the mere sake of curiosity, I asked to speak to his supervisor. (Not because of him, but rather because of the entire situation.) I was hoping that a supervisor might give a little more information about the situation. ANY information. So far, I've had to call three different numbers, and each time, the person I talk to says that I need to call someone else.

Well he told me that this matter wasn't of concern to his department. I agreed, and said that I'd still like to talk to a supervisor. He paused. I asked to speak to a supervisor again, and again, no answer. I then said 'Are you saying that I can't speak to a supervisor?' He asked me what my last name was, I told him, and then he said this:

"Mr. [Name omitted], thank you for calling Citibank. Have a nice day."

I paused for a moment, thinking to myself, 'I can't believe this guy just hung up on me. What kind of Customer Service hangs up on their customers, AFTER refusing to let them speak to a supervisor???'
I immediately called back, and got a different person. This time the person was very polite, and very helpful. I told her about what just happened, and that I would like to report him to a supervisor. I then briefed her on what was going on with my account. Ironically enough, she told me that the Fraud Department was NOT who I should call. She said that the Fraud Department would be the correct one if I had never known that I ever had an account. (i.e. Someone else signed up for an account in my name, without my knowledge or consent) I found that particularly interesting.

Unfortunately, she told me that there were no supervisors around at that time, but she would have one call me back, and asked me what a good time for me was. I told her between 6 and 9 pm, and then asked what day I should expect the call. She said that it probably wouldn't be today, but it should be within the next couple days. (By the way, this happened the day before I wrote this, and I still haven't heard anything yet.)

The information that she did give me was that I needed to at least inform them of what charges that I considered to be fraudulent. She instructed me to get copies of the statements, then circle the bad charges, and mail it back. She said that I didn't even need an affidavit at this point. That is where I am now, and I will update this page as soon as more develops.

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