Reader Jim writes:
Consumerist,
Citicards is losing my business. In the process of buying my house, I was buying many large purchases – window treatments, washer and dryer, and other things you never think of. As I expected, Citi got a little suspicious of this activity. Instead of calling me and asking about them, they just started rejecting charges outright. That’s embarrassing to say the least. I called and asked them if they would put all the charges through, and to expect more because I was buying a house. They told me that all my charges would go through.
Cut to this past weekend while I’m waiting at home for my washer and dryer to be delivered. After waiting all morning I call Best Buy to get an update, and they tell me that the credit card company canceled my order. I call Citi back, and they have no record of that order or of canceling it. I assure them that I did order it, I have the receipt, and they did cancel it, and they proceed to argue with me. Then, of course, I get the obligatory sales pitch when I’m trying to get rid of them.
Needless to say, I’ll be canceling my Citicard as soon as my balance is paid off. This is the second time this has happened to me or my wife, and it is two times too many.
Thanks,
Jim
Jim just sent us an update. He still doesn’t have his appliances.
I’m still trying to get this sorted out. I’ve talked to them numerous times, and they still have canceled numerous transactions. Supposedly, there’s a note on my account saying that I authorized high priced purchases (like a washer and dryer), but every time I talk to someone, it’s like they haven’t spoken to me ever. “Fraudulent activity” had no idea that I had talked to customer service twice already the same day. What a bunch of crap.
It’s nice to know your credit card company is watching out for fraud, but if this is how disorganized they are when nothing is wrong—imagine how much fun they’ll be to deal with if something “bad” does happen. We’d get another card if we were you. There are some lovely deals to be had when transferring balances.
(Photo:cmorran123)
More From Consumerist
-
Citibank Locks Man Out Of Bank Account Until He Repays The $84K Worth Of Gas He Didn’t Buy
-
Expedia Gives Error Message, Puts Order Through After You Buy Elsewhere
-
Best Buy Screws Up, Now I Can’t Get A T-Mobile Account
-
Citibank Doesn’t Understand The Word ‘Minimum,’ Cancels Deployed Soldier’s Student Loan Forbearance
-
These Best Buy Customer Service E-Mails Would Be Hilarious If They Weren’t Real
Chase has done to me four times in the last year. My personal favorite is when they flagged a large electronics purchase from Amazon as “potentially fraudulent”. Amusing as this card is an Amazon rewards card. They also called a transaction through my company’s employee store “potentially fraudulent”.
@mantari: Yeah but you still have to go through the PROCESS of getting it all fixed. I recently had my card stolen and didn’t report it until it’d already had been used. Despite the fact that I wasn’t on the hook for any of it, it was a month’s worth of paperwork, ordering a replacement card, waiting for the card to arrive, changing the account number with all the vendors I do business with who automatically debit from it, etc. Sure, $50 isn’t a lot, but it’s a major pain in the ass to reverse the damage once it’s been done.
Don’t forget that if you buy your tickets with the same credit card, you are less likely to get dinged since the card company has a record of your travel.
@AnnC: Did you ever see the movie “Reality Bites”? In one scene, Winona Rider’s character makes some extra money by taking cash from drivers at the gas pump and uses the gas credit card that her dad gave her (and was going to pay) to charge the purchases, so she basically got to walk away with a ton of “free” cash to make her rent that month.
I have had similar issues, but not with citibank, as I don’t have a card from them.
One time I used my card like a half dozen times in one day for many different purchases at widely different business … something I generally don’t do.
On one of the last transactions, the retailers said they were supposed to contact the card issuer (so I guess that was a type of declined charge). They called the number for me, and I talked to the issuer and after identifying myself I didn’t have any further problems that day.
I have also gotten “after the purchase” calls to my home for uncommonly large purchases … while those calls are annoying, I guess it’s just par for the course.
One particularly annoying was when my wife called me and asked: So, what did you buy for $X,XXX amount? She had been home when the issuer called to confirm the “unusual” activity.
Yea … good times!
I think I’d have to buy it, deliver it myself, and then let them cancel it…free washer and dryer hahaha
Jim, Citi (Citibank, Citicards) has every right to block your card. Let me correct that, their card. The card may have your name on it and your personal info attached to the account, you are however borrowing their money. If you don’t like their procedures, move on to another bank or use cash.
In regards to having multiple issues using the card in the same day..wouldn’t you think calling them may resolve the issue? I’ve dealt with customers in the past (VIP escalated calls) in regard to this issue and I’ve always wanted to ask a customer, “What makes you think the card is going to be approved instantly at a 3rd store when the previous two stores declined it? Wouldn’t common sense tell you to call us?”. Apparently not.
It’s always hilarious to hear a customer say,”I’m paying you off, closing my account and getting a credit card with another bank.” I’ll then proceed to tell them I’ve worked for the two largest banks in the industry and know quite a few people from other banks and they all generally have the same anti-fraud systems in place. “Go ahead and move your business to another bank, you won’t escape the fraud monitoring.”
Also, most people don’t realize, there are banks who handle and monitor credit cards technically from multiple banks. In many cases, we are not allowed to tell you for example “Yes, we handle your card from “BankA” and “BankB”. That’s what we call transparency and we aren’t going to break that no matter what questions you ask. So next time you threaten to move your credit card business to “BankB”, if you’re laughed at, you’ll know why.
Bottom line, if you don’t like the monitoring of your credit cards, use cash.