Hello all, and I apologize if this is not the correct sub to post this in, feel free to re-direct me if need be. I'm in a bit of a bind. I live abroad, and a few years back I took out a Credit Card with Citibank, as I had a big purchase to make, and wanted to take advantage of an airline miles deal upon signup. I got the card, made the purchase, paid it off, and never closed the account, keeping the balance at 0.

Well, it seems a few months back, some sort purchase was charged to the account (likely an annual fee?), and the emails advising me that I now had a balance on the card frustratingly went into the 'promotions' folder in my email. I was only made aware of the balance once I got an email from Experian saying my credit had taken a hit. I tried to log in to pay it off, but alas, I have forgotten my password. And to re-set my password, I need the credit card number.

The card itself is long gone (slighly irresponsible, I know). I went through a recent move and suspect it got thrown out in a random box somewhere, as it is not in any of my files, and I remember chucking it in the back of my closet thinking 'don't need this handy any time soon.'

I've tried calling Citibank, every 1-800 number listed on their website, but it seems due to some error with calling from an overseas network, their customer service doesn't recognize the touch tones when I try to key into their directory (or maybe it's simply an iPhone issue?). I've tried repeating 'operator' 100 times, I've tried smashing 0 over and over again, but I keep getting the repeated 'sorry, we didn't recognize your response, please try again.' So currently, I have no idea what the card number is, I don't remember my password online, and I can't get ahold of anyone at Citibank to find out my Credit Card number or pay the bill over the phone, and I'm ripping my hair out because surely it can't be this complicated to pay a credit card bill. Anyone have any idea how to get this resolved?

NAME AND ADDRESS REDACTED

May 7, 2024

Elizabeth Barnett
Senior Vice President, Global Customer Solutions
399 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10043
[email protected]

Dear Ms. Barnett:

I am writing to express my concern for the well-being of your Consumer Banking Customer Service team.

Over the past six weeks, I have engaged in more than twenty phone contacts and two rounds of mail correspondence with your team in an attempt to obtain the 2021 and 2022 1099-INT forms for my closed Citi account.

Let me start by applauding your team's extraordinary, almost maniacal devotion to obtaining either the customer's account number or card number before assisting them in any way. Their commitment to information security is to be commended.

However, there is a grave communication problem. Your team does not seem to be capable of handling requests where the customer is not asking for information to be given out over the phone. Asking your reps to send 1099-INT forms to an address you already have on file seemed to confuse and terrify them.

I lost count of the number of times I told your offshore personnel that my account was closed two years ago and I no longer had the account number, card number or password. Despite all of these attempts to patiently explain to your reps that they just needed to send the forms to the address you already had on file, I would always obsessively and ritualistically be asked for information I did not have and should not need.

At first I thought this might be due to English comprehension issues. But after having the same conversation with your reps over and over, it became clear to me that they understood the literal meaning of my requests but were incapable of processing and sequencing appropriately to address them. Eventually I came to realize that everyone on your offshore team must suffer from severe functional deficits.

I applaud the progressivism of employing members of the Differently Abled community of Hyderabad or wherever your team is based. However I am deeply concerned that you are doing a grave disservice to those with Special Needs by placing them in positions with cognition requirements which exceed their inherent capacities. Doing so is insulting and demeaning to the Mentally Challenged and I hope that you will reassign your reps to tasks more suited to their deeply impaired cognitive abilities.

Thanks,

NAME REDACTED

Tried to close my citi checking account over the phone and had the most awful experience. I was put on hold for 40 minutes and when I finally got someone, the customer service representative spoke terrible English. I gave them all my information, but after 20 minutes she asked if I had another phone number because she was unable to send verification codes to the phone I was calling from. I got frustrated and asked for their supervisor and got someone else after 10 minutes who spoke even worse English who tried telling me that if I closed my citi checking account it would also invalidate my login credentials so I would be unable to login to my account, despite the fact that I have 2 Citi credit cards. I finally hung up because that was the last straw.

This is insane. I just want a US rep who knows what they’re doing. Closing a checking account at other reputable banks usually takes me 10 minutes. Citi is horrible.