Problems With My Citi Card, Part One – Dealing With Fraud
Photo by brycej
I have had a rocky month in my relationship with Citibank’s credit card division, driven by two separate issues. Neither was initially their fault — one problem is the result of my own stupid mistake, while the first problem deals with unauthorized charges on my credit card — but both problems were exasperated by frustrating customer service interactions. This may just be a string of bad luck, but the last month has left me rather annoyed with Citibank.
Unauthorized Charges: I don’t remember that…
This all started a few weeks ago when I was reviewing my spending activity on my Citi PremierPass Elite card, something I try to do every few days. While most of the charges looked normal, two charges caught my eye:
- One charge on 3/2 at a department store for $200
- One charge on 3/3 at a baby store online for $30
I have only used this card for one purpose — travel spending — and so these charges immediately stood out. Furthermore, I would certainly remember spending $200 at a department store, and (thankfully) have no reason to be spending money at a baby store. Despite the fact the card was still in my possession, I had been hit with fraud.
Credit Card Fraud Protection
I was not particularly concerned about the unauthorized charges, though, as federal law offers significant protection against credit card fraud. The FTC maintains a comprehensive website that provides a great deal of information on credit card rights, but their page on avoiding credit card fraud keeps it simple: “By law, once you report the loss or theft, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges. In any event, your maximum liability under federal law is $50 per card.”
Citibank even takes it a step beyond federal law, though, promising on my card that I can: ”Shop anywhere and never lose a penny on unauthorized charges. With $0 Liability you won’t pay for any unauthorized charges made on your Citi credit card.”
Citibank Customer Service
So when I noticed the fraudulent charges, despite the fact that it was after midnight on a weekend, my immediate move was to contact the 24-hour service line on the back of my card. I expected this to be a simple call: cancel and reissue the card, dispute the fraudulent charge. Didn’t turn out that simple, though.
First problem — there was a clear language barrier between the customer service agent and myself; English was clearly not his first language. Without discussing the merits of outsourcing and international call centers, I have found that patience can usually work around these problems. This call, though, was particularly challenging.
Pardon Me?
Rather than allow me to begin the process of disputing the charge, he told me that I needed to contact the merchant first. My reaction was essentially, “pardon me?” He wanted me to contact the two companies and ask them why they were charging my card. I can’t for the life of my figure out what calling them was going to accomplish for me. It is not like the department store is going to refund me the money based on my word — there is an established procedure for dealing with this, and that is through the charge dispute process. Furthermore, it is not my job to follow up on fraud charges — that is what Citibank is here for.
The more ridiculous part of the conversation came when I pointed out that there had been two charges at two separate companies on two separate days — that it looked like someone had my credit card information andthat my card was compromised.
“Compromised” must be a buzz word they train on, as he immediately asked me to hold on for a moment, and came back essentially telling me that he had checked the information on his end, and that the card had not been compromised. I have no idea what he checked, but apparently it reassured him that I had nothing to worry about. When I tried rephrasing my request, he kept saying that everything was fine and the “he didn’t understand my concern.”
This went on for a while, and I began to sense this conversation was not going to accomplish what I wanted it to. I was rather annoyed that Citibank seemed to be placing so much of the burden for dealing with this on me.
Customer Service, Take Two
I tried calling customer service again on Monday during normal business hours and got a much more helpful agent, who immediately noted the disputed charges and offered to cancel and reissue me the card without being prompted. She told me that they would mail me the forms necessary to officially dispute the charge, and that I should receive my new card in a few days. Strangely, she also recommended that I try contacting the merchants, for reasons that are still entirely unclear to me.
So I figured what the heck, I’ll try contacting the merchants. The call was about as pointless as I expected it to be — the customer service agent at the department store was confused with what to do with me, and first sent me to the dispute department for their own credit card. Eventually I reached a very nice man who apologized for the inconvenience and promised to block future orders from the card. However, he said I still needed to dispute the charge with my credit card company (duh). I suppose my call helped the department store out (marginally), but it seemed like something my credit card company should have been doing instead of me.
Process Moves Forward
The rest of the process has been pretty straightforward, if not excruciatingly slow:
- Citi got the new card and dispute form to me within a matter of days
- I filled out the form and mailed it back to Citibank
- After about two and a half weeks, I received a temporary credit to my account while they “investigate.”
Hopefully, this is the last I will hear of this matter. Fraud happens — it is an unfortunate reality — and it is an inconvenience in itself, given that I was initially out the money until Citi provided a temporary credit and I also had to deal with changing the credit card number at various merchants.
Customer service can be critical in these experiences, though, and Citibank unfortunately just made the experience more frustrating — the two calls left me feeling like I was running in circles.
I would love to hear about anyone else’s experiences — feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email.
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