Citi Cards Choice Visa Incompetent, careless CSR/Supervisor. Incorrect computer input/lies. Ripoff Missouri or Ohio
My elderly mother was on a payment plan for several months with Citi Card/Choice Visa. She is a disabled senior citizen on a limited fixed income and had to opt out of the plan in which Citi Cards automatically deducted $50 per month out of her checking account. My mother recently gave my me complete power of attorney to handle all of her affairs since she is overwhelmed with her finances.
Last week in an effort to settle the Citi Cards account, I spoke with a so-called "supervisor" named David, and was advised that they could offer a settlement for 85% of the balance due at this time. He also advised me that the account had to be aged for several more months before they would consider any further reduction. Knowing that Citibank is probably the most uncooperative creditor, I told him I would review his offer and call back next week, which I did call back today in an effort to accept the offer and settle. Of course, I could not speak to the same "supervisor" because one hand does not know what the other is doing there. To make a long story short, I again repeated all of the information to yet another "supervisor" who informed me they did not know who David is, and that there is definitely no settlement to be negotiated at this time. I told them the amount he gave me and repeated almost verbatim our previous conversation. The idiot just kept apologising and said there was nothing she could do, and there was no other Manager/Supervisor available. When I told her that someone should be made responsible for making false statements to me and that I wanted a phone number for corporate, I was advised that they had no such number, and maybe I should call back another time! Talk about inept, inconsiderate and incapable employees! This experience just tells me that they have job security as long as they take telephone calls and appear busy! If anyone out there has an address or phone number for corporate, I would greatly appreciate it. I have been able to settle other accounts without so much as the blink of an eyelash! I would like to get these people fired for their lack of customer service! More importantly I need to settle this account for my mother as quickly as possible. One would think this company would certainly take the money now as opposed to getting nothing at all!
Erna
North Providence, Rhode Island
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
J
Boise,Idaho,
U.S.A.
Helpful Thoughts?
#2UPDATE Employee
Fri, January 05, 2007
First you'll notice I am an employee....but don't switch to defense mode yet. No one has replied and I thought I would just share some thoughts.
Unfortunently with the settlement, it is an OFFER, and one that is rarely seen. If one was offered one week, it could dissapear the next for multiple reasons, most likely the account went through another billing period. Even if the supervisor left notes "offered 85%....etc..." another cannot offer it unless a generated prompt comes up which is out of both reps, and supervisor control. Bigger settlements are sometimes seen as accounts fall further past due, but it surely isn't a guarentee.
As far as a phone number to corporate, just ask a rep for the corespondence address (there IS NO phone number, no kidding, although I'm sure all the big wigs really do want to discuss a settlement on the account! note sarcasm). If you want to write,your concern will be noted to your account and no action will be taken or even considered (I personally know someone who transfered from the correspondence deptpartment). Don't waste your time with sentences like "and David this.....", cause no one knows who he is nor cares. Everything that available is on the computer and out of our control. All business and action is made over the phone.
As far as Citi being uncooporative, I completely agree, but no more than Chase, Capital One, or really many other big call centers/credit cards. Many will say "well I only had trouble with Citi", and at the same time many will say "I only had problems with Chase, Citi worked with me best"
The "lack of customer service" is funny. If you were talking settlements you were speaking with the collections department who have no obligation to provide "customer service" They are trained to collect money, and let me tell you, you don't collect money by being nice. I'm actually surprised the one gal you talked to offered an apology. Last of all, "One would think this company would certainly take the money now as opposed to getting nothing at all!" -- They couldn't care less. By being past due, you fall into a bracket of less than 5% of all Citi cardholders, the other 95% are current on there accounts. Of the 5% we talk to, over 90% are considered satisfied after calling in. So, unfortunently, the dissatisfied customer army isn't as strong as many might think. Not an excuse, just the truth.
PS: keep checking back for settlement offers. If you must pay it all, go to a credit counseling service, it certainly can't hurt.