Beware Long-Term Cardholders With Perfect Payment Histories, Your Credit Lines May Be Slashed
Oliver paid off his Citibank platinum card on time, in full, every single month since 1989, but that didn't stop Citibank from slashing his credit limit when a minor mistake popped up on his credit report.
Oliver writes:
I’ve been a Citibank Platinum cardholder since 1989 – that’s longer than some bloggers have been alive now that I think about it – anyway, in all that time I have never (and I seriously mean never as in NOT A SINGLE TIME) had so much as a late payment. In fact I typically pay thousands of dollars a month in Citibank payments because I get mileage from the card so I use it for everything I possibly can.
So today I go to pay for a rental car and I get declined which is pretty weird but because Citibank has a ridiculous and excessive security policy I figure that renting a car in my own neighborhood is triggering a risk profile. So I call and when I inquire they tell me that I am over my credit limit. Huh? “ I’m nowhere near my credit limit “I say, “I just sent you guys a couple thousand dollars not three days ago.”
“I’m sorry sir, it says here you’ve exceeded your credit limit of xxxxxx”.
“
“Umm, excuse me,” I say, “my credit limit is not xxxxxx, it’s yyyyy.”(yyyy being a couple thousand more than she is telling me it is)She says that I should hold and as I’m holding I realize that there’s a vein starting to bulge in my forehead and that little pieces of my porcelain crown are starting to chip as I grind my teeth in irritation.
After two minutes of listening to their loony-happy Citibank hell-evator muzak she comes back and seemingly gleefully informs me that: “Sir, due to some recent negative information on your credit report we’ve determined that you are a credit risk and have lowered your spending limit accordingly. If you’d like to make a payment over the phone to restore your account to a non-over-the-limit status I’d be happy to help you with that.”
About now the crown gives it up completely reminding me that I have a dentist appointment in an hour.
I ask for the credit risk management department and after another five minutes of their delightful muzak director’s shit taste I get some bimbo named Carolyn or Charlotte or something like that.
I explain to her that this must be some sort of mistake and besides, how can they lower the available credit for someone that has never missed a freaking single payment in nearly twenty years? Never even been late one time in that whole time? Never even paid just the minimum due in that whole time?
Apparently she thinks this is humorous because she takes on this condescending tone with me and suggests that if I paid all my bills on time perhaps I wouldn’t be having this problem.
It’s a miracle I’m not stroking our right there or doing an imitation of that eighties movie Scanners where the guys make each other explode from some sort of telekinetic/pyrokinetic attack. Before their heads actually explode they start to bleed out through bulging veins and that’s about how I feel listing to Miss C... $6.50 an hour tell me about paying my bills on time.
I ask just what it is that is on the credit report that is reflecting so poorly on my but she can’t (or won’t) share this information with me. As she says this last I swear she’s laughing. I wonder to myself where they find these people and realize that she’s lucky she lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota – it should give you some idea of how annoyed I am that anyone would be lucky to live in Sioux Falls. If she were much closer I could see myself paying her a visit...
At any rate, feeling far from satisfied at this turn of events and the delightful treatment I’ve had at the hands of a bank that’s been the recipient of large sums of my money for two decades I head home and get a copy of my credit report.
As I review it a second vein, this one in my neck starts to turn an ominous shade of purple and I realize that I’m punching the keys on my computer so hard I am actually bruising my own fingers.
Looking at the report I see what the problem is – or rather what they are. Two companies that I do business with are both indicating that I’ve been thirty days late making payments once in the last ninety days.
Only both of these issues are not exactly correct. In both cases the vendors, Sony and Volkswagen respectively failed to mail me billing statements to the correct address in spite of both of them being updated as to the change.
I contact both Sony and VW and in both cases they agree that their own system errors were to blame and that they’ll notify the credit bureaus that the derogatory information will be removed from my report the next time they update their files.
Hearing this I feel somewhat better and the vein in my neck throttles back to a more garden variety bluish tint- still not normal but at least not “you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” purple.
Silly me. I figure that armed with this information I can contact Citibank and get things straightened out.
Au contraire Mr idiot. Citibank decides that you’re a deadbeat and no amount of perfect history will reconcile the fact that you’re not. Isn’t this wonderful I think to myself – through no fault of my own by credit bureau report gets hosed and in spite of both companies committing to fixing their mistakes, a company with whom I’ve done business for ages, and with whom I not only have credit but also funds on deposit (a factor which you’d think alone was sufficient to mitigate their concerns) they won’t even talk to me about it.
The new credit manager – Sue is her name – informs me that “once I get the credit bureau’s corrected report I can write them and they will evaluate the account to determine if I am eligible for an increase at that time.” Can you believe it? “Eligible for an increase” Not, “sorry we fucked up and we’ll fix this right away.” Not “thank you for your loyal business we appreciate you taking the time to straighten this out. “ Not even ”I apologize for the inconvenience and will see what I can do to rectify the situation.” Nope. “Just screw you mister deadbeat you’re just another suspect loser and we could care less about your history with us, your funds on deposit or any other factor which should indicate your continuing credit worthiness. “ Nope. She won’t even give me the name of an executive to whom I can write a letter.
In fact, “Sue” tells me that they always play it this way. She says if they’re going to lower someone’s available credit they always do it first thing in the morning and they never tell people in advance so that folks can’t preemptively charge their cards up to whatever limit they might happen to have before the decrease takes effect.
That’s messed up. All of it. The fact that people would play that charge up the card game is pretty lame but the way Citibank treats its customers is even lamer. The simple fact is that two providers of services screwed up and made an erroneous report to the credit bureaus regarding my credit. This in turn impacted my score which caused Citibank to take action that impacted my score further.
So even though I could prove that the problems that started this whole chain of events were definitely not my fault and that further there is nothing wrong with my credit worthiness or even any negative change in my financial standing, Citibank has chosen to treat me as if I’m a complete loser who doesn’t pay his bills.
By this time I’m so burnt out on trying to fix things that I’ve no longer got the energy to grind my teeth and my blood pressure has apparently plateaued at some unacceptably high level leaving me a bit bug eyed and with a pounding headache and the desire to — write something and stick it up Citibank executive’s asses. Maybe, I think to myself... Maybe consumerist will write something about this and those fucktards at Citibank will learn to treat people a little nicer... And not to fuck with bloggers.
Though Oliver may be Citibank's ideal customer, the bank's actions are no surprise. Banks are furiously slashing credit lines to limit their exposure to the ongoing subprime meltdown, often relying on credit reports to justify their actions.
Sony and Volkswagen may be willing to take responsibility for the erroneous blot, but Citibank won't restore the full credit line until the mistake falls from the credit report. Neither company can be trusted to unilaterally inform the credit reporting agencies of their mistake. When you spot an error on your credit report, dispute the negative item yourself.
Banks aren't eager to tell customers that they're slashing limits, so they stay quiet and hope nobody notices. Keep an eye on your monthly credit card statement to see if your limit suddenly falls, and take advantage of your free annual credit report to spot errors before they harm your credit line and your credit score.
RELATED: Contact Citibank CEO William Rhodes
(Photo: Getty)
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Comments:
Kind of a nuisance, granted, but missing two payments in the last 90 days after years of perfect payment history is probably just the sort of thing that people who are starting to hit financial problems tend to do, and that's exactly the case where someone like Citi wants to cut exposure.
Citibank employees will commence blaming the customer in 5....4....3....
Missing payments to two creditors does not equal "perfect payment history."
I hate for anyone to think I'm blaming the OP here, but dude, you write like a douche.
Get to the point, the lame mellodrama isn't needed.
Since you had a payment from VW, I am assuming its a car payment. Did you wait 90 days before you realized that you had not paid a bill? You should be more careful tracking your payments and anticipate bills that are coming in. Be more in control.
@OminousG: Agreed. He lost me at "bimbo". Just because a woman is saying something that you don't like and not bowing to your wishes doesn't make her a bimbo.
"Though Oliver may be Citibank's ideal customer..."
Customers like Oliver are very far from Citibank's ideal customer, and I'm not referring to his writing style. Credit card companies prefer customers who make minimum-only payments and therefore end up paying a lot of money in interest.
I thought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act they had to tell you what information on your credit report led to them lowering your limit?
From Wikipedia:
[en.wikipedia.org] Users of the information for credit, insurance, or employment purposes (including background checks) have the following responsibilities under the FCRA:
(1) They must notify the consumer when an adverse action is taken on the basis of such reports.
(2) Users must identify the company that provided the report, so that the accuracy and completeness of the report may be verified or contested by the consumer.
i'm sure the attitude didn't help him any.
And I see it as his fault. He should have known he had his car payment and checked online when he didn't get his satement... why in 2008 was he relying on paper statements anyway? Maybe an email notice if you can't remember a payment you make the same time every single month?! sheesh, I don't need anyone to remind me I have a mortgage payment each month.
@thelushie: Ditto. I stopped reading after he called a female employee a bimbo for no other apparent reason than she was telling him something he didn't like hearing. Sounds like the guy is a complete ass.
And by the way, someone should tell him that his "Citibank Platinum Card" is not particularly impressive - it just means his credit is about about 700.
Not just Visa. Citibank Visa.
LOL remember that commercial from the late 80's? Citibank doesn't like Visa anymore and reissued every Visa card as a MasterCard back when I was still a customer.
If you spend THAT much money and are always trying to charge everything (just like me), then may I suggest The TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express. Impeccable customer service from both institutions, the only caveat is a mandatory Costco membership, which will pay for itself many times over before each year is up anyway. They now even offer 3% rebate on gasoline (3% at restaurants/fast food joints, 2% travel, 1% everywhere else), with no time limits and no maximum cap on the amount you get back! Beat that, Conoco-Phillips credit card (7% up to 6 months, $35 limit).
When Citibank was run by John Reed, perhaps the best retail banker in America, it was a great place to do business.
Citigroup, under Sandy Weill and hs Wall Street ways, has been a disaster from the beginning.
@OminousG: I also agree. I can understand his frustration but yeah, the guy sounds like a complete jerk. Was he trying to earn out sympathy? So we, as a commenter, are suppose to watch what we say but OPs can spew all kinds of ignorant hatred? Whatever.
As for his argument that he's given Citi Bank thousands of dollars a month so they owe him something. Granted, they owe him customer service but he's no different that someone who only has a $500 limit. He said so himself that he pays the card off every month so Citi Bank isn't earning a cent off of him ('cept for the Merchant Fee they collect from the retailer). So, in the eyes of Citi Bank, someone who only charges a few hundred but carries a balance is a better customer than someone who charges thousands and pays it off at the end of the month.
The dude should happy since they at least still want him, I guess. I've been dropped from 2 credit cards for making payment in full and on time. I was told flat out that I'm not a good customer because they make no money off of me when I pay in full.
That is why AOR is genius... Diversification away from the *ittygroup is especially crucial.
@TechnoDestructo: I'd be having those very same symptoms if I were him. Looks like Citibank's problems go all the way to the customer service line.
Yeesh. Take some Xanax, man. I can tell you never ever worked in a service job.
Maybe you should realize that this error isn't your fault OR theirs. Maybe you should lighten up.
Ehh... ehh! Can't help it!
Credit card companies are really nervous right now with the economy. People who are starting to show themselves to be a risk are getting credit lines slashed and cards closed. It is happening frequently. I can't say much without knowing what his credit limit is and how much he is using, though. If he is around $5,000 of $7,000 and paying 'a few thousand a month' that isn't so hot. Why carry the balance at all? But if he is $2,000 of $4,000, paying his balance in full, that should be perfectly fine (though it doesn't reflect well on the ol' credit report).
He failed to make two payments on time -- important payments. That wasn't a glitch on their part, that was probably SOP. Someone who is late on their car payment could be a risk for an unsecured credit line. Sure, OP says he did not receive his statement, but that is irresponsible. If I didn't get my car payment bill one month I would be sorting it out -- not assuming santa decided to pay for my car for the month.
Cut up the Citibank card and get an American Express or other card, there's absolutely no customer loyalty in the credit card business.
@Shmonkmonk: Your first paragraph is an outstanding point. The OPs need to watch what they say too. After all, some of them are posters. And all are readers.
I'm not having these problems at all with Chase, in fact, they keep raising my credit limit, even though I pay off my bill in full each month. I guess cause I'm awesome.
And just for the record, Oliver is far from Citibanks perfect customer - he maxes his card to get as many rewards as possible and never pays interest - in the credit industry, this guy is a deadbeat.
Sometimes lame things do happen to lame people.
You had the money in your account for these payments, and you did make them. So the credit card company has no right to do what they did. We really need to make it so a payment problem with a 3rd party cannot easily effect your other accounts. Maybe a rule of 2-3 consecutive missed payments before reporting them to a credit agency. It's not right that a one month mishap with a bill can screw up all their other accounts.(Especially when you can prove you had the available funds in a bank account to make the payment) A customer should be given at least a one month reprieve to get something fixed before a problem is reported. Otherwise you will see cases like this where the creditor screws up and decided to negatively tag someone's credit report, but once fixed they aren't getting it removed.
I don't really see how the colour of the OP's veins are at all relevant.
Nor do I see how "bimbo Miss.C's" wage has to do with your credit limit.
I stopped reading sometime after that.
Did that really need to be so long?
OP, you really need to calm down. I know that this was frustrating, but your cardiologist will not be happy.
Also, was this really necessary?, "...that's about how I feel listing to Miss C... $6.50 an hour tell me about paying my bills on time..." Makes you sound like a douche, just saying.
Try this on for size. While trying to pay my bills on time, Citibank, with whom my wife has her student loans, refuses to send a monthly statement if we are paid ahead.
Total and complete fucking bullshit.
Out of spite, I send large checks anyway.
These checks, without the attached statement stub, always cash slowly.
Yeah, I think that was necessary. These people who get shit on with low pay and piss-poor benefits should treat the people getting screwed as their brothers/sisters-in-arms. They shouldn't be patronizing them or laughing at them. In fact, they should themselves start refusing to do this bullshit.
Yes, it seems very necessary to me. Oh, and telling someone that their post was too long just means you are an anti-intellectual who can't stand to read something in its entirety. Oh, well. No much different than the rest of the masses.
@Shmonkmonk: He said so himself that he pays the card off every month so Citi Bank isn't earning a cent off of him ('cept for the Merchant Fee they collect from the retailer).
Merchant fee's for a $500 line is different than a $7000. How different? Well...14 times if my calculations are correct. Besides, if there is an annual fee, they are making that off of him as well. Bottom line is that, according to his story, he has been a steady source of income to them for 19 years. Guys like this guy make a very steady base of income for these credit card companies.
Anyway. Do a google search for best credit cards. There are some VERY good cards with high credit lines and great benefits. Citibank doesn't want your business any more. Screw em.
Oh noes! What are they going to do? drop me down from $5,000 to $1,000? I dont see how this could really hurt anyone unless they carry a large balance Or rely on their cards way too much (which they shouldnt be doing in the first place). I put on average a whopping $500 monthy on my usual card.... & pay it off each month. I do this solely for the convenience & the cashback rewards. IMO if you are worrued about your credit card limit dropping, then you have bigger problems than that you should be dealing with.
@SuffolkHouse: No it wasn't needed. And if he actually got to the point, a long post would not be a problem. Going on and on about how he THINKS they are laughing at him and not giving him what he wants makes him out to be a real jerk. And my guess is he was a jerk on the phone, too. And, yeah, making a comment about someone's pay after he stated the below is uncalled for (as is this comment):
"I ask for the credit risk management department and after another five minutes of their delightful muzak director's shit taste I get some bimbo named Carolyn or Charlotte or something like that."
As much as paying someone a substandard wage (which the OP can't prove in this case, anyway) is demeaning, calling a woman a bimbo because she is saying something you don't like or isn't bowing to your every wish is also demeaning.
I've had similar issues with (surprise) Citibank, and the quickest way I have found to get them to correct problems is to tell whoever you are on the phone with "Then please CANCEL my account." Everytime I have pushed it this far they couldn't get my cock in their mouth fast enough. It was amazing just how much problem solving ability these $6.50 an hour morons have when a 20 year+ accountholder (as I am also) offers to become a good customer to some other company.
Wow, I have side with the OP here because I'm a Citi cardmember myself and they treat me like this guy should be treated. When I applied for the card last year I was expecting since I had no credit history whatsoever, they would give me a very small limit. A few weeks later I get my card in the mail and they started me off with a $2,500 limit! Since that time they have actually raised my limit another $1,500 and offered to extend my limit another $1,500. This guy has been a cardmember as long as I have been alive and he gets the shaft. Shocking.
Just wanted to add.... that i realisticly expect to be treated like shit from a credit card company that makes very little off me & considers me a "deadbeat" (using their own industry's term).
I had a simialr problem with CitiBank. Then shortly after that I got hurt at work and went on disability. All of a sudden CitiBank raised my interest rate and it sky rocketed from the minimal rate to 24% and when I called up they told me I had become a credit risk so they raised my interest rate and in the following month, because of that raise, all my other credit cards followed suit. When I called them they said they raised my interest rates also because CitiBank apparently found something and raised my interest rate first.
Have no fear I got even for most of us who have been screwed by these mini gods like Ms. C. I have stopped paying them all, which I can afford to do even though my monies are SUFFICIENT enough to pay them all off. See I am now on permanent disability and my monies are unattachable! EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE MY MOVE I TRANSFERED ALL MY POSSESIONS INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S NAME FOR LEGAL REASONS.
So to Mastercard, Bank of America, CitiBank , Capitol One and the rest of my creditors WHAT INTEREST RATE ARE YOU GETTING NOW YOU CAN KMA GOTCHA!!!!! LMAO!!!!!
Let me re-write the article for you.
"My Citi card was denied when I went to rent a car because my credit limit had been lowered without prior knowledge.
When inquiring, it turned out I was late on my car payments, and they felt that I could be running into some financial issues and therefore, I was a bigger risk."
... not much of a post anymore huh?
As someone who works at a credit union and in customer service, let me tell you - in 10 calls, 9 of those people are yelling at me for something that was entirely their fault. 1 person is justifiably pissed. As we hit a bit of an economic wall, you're going to see creditors tighten up a bit with their lending. That's naturally the cycle.
Missing car payments IS a big deal! Especially since it is a reoccurring monthly thing, you shouldn't have to rely on a monthly statement saying, oh yea "Your car payment is due!"
I never understand the grand fascination with credit cards. If you don't have the money, what makes people believe they're going to have it at the end of the month. I use mine to build up my credit, but other then that - I can't rely on the fact that I have the money to cover it in my account.
that's because you were a potential indebted slave & they thought they could possibly make a ton of money off you.
In the credit card industry.... its better to lose a longtime customer who you make little money off of instead of losing a new customer that you could potentially make a lot of money off of.
I would sue all 3 companies. Anytime a company does anything that negatively impacts my credit score via their own error. I take them to court!
I forgot a part.
Of course Citi isn't just going to change things because you called them back up and said "Oh, problem solved. Give me my credit." Not everyone in this world is honest. And if you were to move, or have an address change, wouldn't you be sure that everything was set up correctly? I understand VW and Sony should have made the necessary changes, but things happen - and I have quite the time believing that two different companies messed up the billing procedure.
"Maybe consumerist will write something about this and those fucktards at Citibank will learn to treat people a little nicer... And not to fuck with bloggers."
This is absolutely unnecessary.
@josephsherry: So wait a second, you're avoiding paying off balances you maintained then transferred all your money to other people to try to hide it?
Given the reception those walking out on their mortgages got ...
At least from my POV, way to be an asshole and make it that much tougher for the rest of us. Pay off your damn balances then cut the cards. They can't get interest or legal recourse from a $0 balance, and you'll have credit to speak of should you need it.
@DjDynasty - unfortunately, you're not going to have a leg to stand on if you didn't make any notice to them of the error beforehand. Credit errors are not difficult to fix. I've gone through it before with my own work.
This is especially true if VW and Sony did have some justification in filing for late payments. It was a mistake, but if you haven't made them aware, the judge is more then likely going to laugh your ass out of court for wasting everyones time.
Creditors aren't out to get you - they just want to make sure that you follow the terms you agreed to and minimizing risks.
Why I like American Express so much. True, I've read some horror stories about a financial review being triggered by them for some people, but I've been with them for 25 years and never had a problem. Have charged insane (for me) amounts like $25k at a time. No problem.
I don't have a credit card. Every time I think about getting one - so I can rent a car, in case of emergency, etc. - I read something like this.
My brother said that he and his wife have a Citibank card and every once in a while, they RAISE their limit (without telling them, of course). He said they call and get it lowered again. He says they don't need the temptation! I think card companies need to be slapped down. They are way too sneaky. Universal default, jacking up interest rates all the time, shifting due dates...
I guess I don't need a card after all.
@OminousG: On the contrary. It gives you a window into the personality of the person behind the complaint.
I'd say he's arrogant, thinks he's better than at least call center employees (who typically make more than 6.50, thanks much), and as others have said, he's a douche. And I'm guessing from that information that he called up making demands and acting like he was entitled to special treatment.
What Citibank did to him wasn't very nice, but I can imagine he wasn't exactly polite to the employees on the other side either. Policy may make some decisions for a call center employee, but they have a lot of leeway where policy doesn't give them a clear route to take. And if you mistreat them, they're unlikely to go out of their way to help you.
Honey gets you more flies than lard, "Oliver."
IMO the credit industry is the real turd in the punchbowl. Its a system that makes it tuff on everyone. Its an industry that considers people who pay their bills on time & dont rack up interest are ...the bad guys ("deadbeats").
How mess up is that? ANd you wonder why people hate them & do things like josephsherry did?
I HATE the credit/usery industry.... from mortgage companies, banks, credit card companies etc. etc.... they are all out to make as much money off you as possible. That's why I no longer plan on getting loans or being in debt to anyone. I plan on paying cash. I'd rather live like a poor college student & be able to afford things when I NEED them than be endebted to a system that just wants to use you.
I hear a bit of exaggeration in the OP's dictation...
did op notice that he didn't made his car payment the month before?