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Citicards Complaint - Citi Cards cheating Customers - Citi Cards Shell MA
Citi Cards Shell MA - Complaint
THE LAKES, NEVADA -- Citi Targetting Customers paying in full on time. If there is any Class Action Suit on Citi for this behaviour please contact me I would gladly be part of this to stop a Monster organisation like Citi from messing with Hard working tax-paying folks.
Incident
I have a Citi Card for the last 12 years, I have had a clean history always paid in full. I missed a payment last month ( Due date: Sept 28th). Within 6 days of being late they froze my account. I called them ( Oct 6th ) and told the customer service representative that I had made the payment, she said that moment they received the payment the card will be activated and will not affect my credit history of any kind but they will charge me the finance charge and interest ( which I contested but they did not budge, I guess thats how they make money these days). My payment was posted on Oct 9th and card activated. On Nov 1st ( after 20 days of my payment in full) out of the blue they reduce my credit limit to 200$ from 1000\'s. I had called the customer service on October 6th and October 23rd ( to dipute the charge which was turned down which is fine) and in all the calls made I have asked the respresentative
whether my card is being affected and the answer has been no, it is reinstated without any issues. Since the last 2 days I have been calling them to have it reinstated so it does not affect my credit history but all the representatives that I have spoken to have been rude, I could care less attitude and have refused to reinstate my credit limit back. I cannot understand the logic of reducing the limit and messing a credit history of a person for one late payment that was paid in full the moment it was bought to my attention. I am looking for any sort of help I can get in disputing this and making sure Citi Cards does not do this to other hard working tax paying people. The representative that I spoke
to said that my limit was dropped because my account was delinquent. I checked my history thro a credit agency, far from being delinquent its in excellent shape and have not received any notice from Citi about my delinquency. I heard the financial industry has been regulated but this kind of messing with peoples life need to be stopped. Please stay away from Citi Cards. Of all the credit cards that I have had Citi cards has been the worst. The policies are the worst and the customer service 1 notch lower than their policy( The representatives don't know about the customer accounts, don't care and when question outright lie to justify the policy).
Damage Resulting
They have dropped the credit Limit from 1000s to 200$ for one offense. This will affect my credit hostory which I have worked hard to build. They have also charged me 100$ in finance charges and interest which looks inconsequential comparaed to what they will be doing to my credit hostory
Incident
I have a Citi Card for the last 12 years, I have had a clean history always paid in full. I missed a payment last month ( Due date: Sept 28th). Within 6 days of being late they froze my account. I called them ( Oct 6th ) and told the customer service representative that I had made the payment, she said that moment they received the payment the card will be activated and will not affect my credit history of any kind but they will charge me the finance charge and interest ( which I contested but they did not budge, I guess thats how they make money these days). My payment was posted on Oct 9th and card activated. On Nov 1st ( after 20 days of my payment in full) out of the blue they reduce my credit limit to 200$ from 1000\'s. I had called the customer service on October 6th and October 23rd ( to dipute the charge which was turned down which is fine) and in all the calls made I have asked the respresentative
whether my card is being affected and the answer has been no, it is reinstated without any issues. Since the last 2 days I have been calling them to have it reinstated so it does not affect my credit history but all the representatives that I have spoken to have been rude, I could care less attitude and have refused to reinstate my credit limit back. I cannot understand the logic of reducing the limit and messing a credit history of a person for one late payment that was paid in full the moment it was bought to my attention. I am looking for any sort of help I can get in disputing this and making sure Citi Cards does not do this to other hard working tax paying people. The representative that I spoke
to said that my limit was dropped because my account was delinquent. I checked my history thro a credit agency, far from being delinquent its in excellent shape and have not received any notice from Citi about my delinquency. I heard the financial industry has been regulated but this kind of messing with peoples life need to be stopped. Please stay away from Citi Cards. Of all the credit cards that I have had Citi cards has been the worst. The policies are the worst and the customer service 1 notch lower than their policy( The representatives don't know about the customer accounts, don't care and when question outright lie to justify the policy).
Damage Resulting
They have dropped the credit Limit from 1000s to 200$ for one offense. This will affect my credit hostory which I have worked hard to build. They have also charged me 100$ in finance charges and interest which looks inconsequential comparaed to what they will be doing to my credit hostory
Comments:
Posted by trmn8r on 2010-11-07:
You are right, generally speaking your credit history is more important than the $100 you were charged justifiably. There is a grace period. You went beyond the grace period. There is a penalty for that, and you paid it.
The bank is not obligated to continue to loan you money. They can shut down your credit card tomorrow if they want to do so. They may have looked at this late, and possibly other factors, and said we want to reduce our risk exposure. They have that right, in my opinion. My bank could shut my cards down, and I wouldn't hold it against them.
The bank is not obligated to continue to loan you money. They can shut down your credit card tomorrow if they want to do so. They may have looked at this late, and possibly other factors, and said we want to reduce our risk exposure. They have that right, in my opinion. My bank could shut my cards down, and I wouldn't hold it against them.
Posted by bluediamond98 on 2010-11-07:
These days the credit card companies are reducing limits out of the blue for no reason at all. In this case, they actually had a reason. It is their right to limit their exposure by doing this and they have no obligation to extend any credit at all. I have found that they adjust limits all the time - upwards and down so I am sure in time they will increase it if you are patient. As for your credit score, what effect did the reduction in your limit have? As far as I know, it shouldn't have had much - you are not penalized for not having a huge amount of credit available and in some cases, it makes it better. What is figured in is the amount of total money due (your obligations) against the total amount of credit available. For example, if you have a credit limit of $10,000 and you have charged $9,000 that has a negative effect on your score. It isn't permanent or long-lasting though- when you pay the balance down to a good level (less than 30%), your credit score will pop right back up. What DOES hurt you that cannot be fixed is a late payment. All you can do with those is wait until it wears off - the further away (in time) you are from a late payment, the less an impact it will have on your score. The damage done to your credit was done by you - not Citi. I understand that it is upsetting to you because you have such a great payment history and believe me, you do not lose the benefit of that. It is all very nicely laid out on your credit history but as far as the credit card companies are concerned, you are only as good to them as your financial situation TODAY - they aren't really caring about money they already have from 10 years ago. My advice is to put some time on it - a few months and then try to have the limit increased again. You will probably have better luck with that in time. If you are looking for a credit card company who cares and understands, you won't have much luck finding one. Best to stay with the devil you know.
Posted by trmn8r on 2010-11-07:
incrediblelee -> Good analysis. What you describe is called utilization, and it is good to keep it at less than 10-20% overall across all your accounts. Hopefully the OP has other credit, and a limit going from $1000 to $200 doesn't increase their utilization to 90% or something.
I read recently that calling the credit company often can actually flag your account for closer inspection. The advice to wait several months before asking again is a good one. To me, if a debtor is desperately asking for an increase, that would be a flag. At the same time I realize a reduced limit can have an impact on borrowers.
I read recently that calling the credit company often can actually flag your account for closer inspection. The advice to wait several months before asking again is a good one. To me, if a debtor is desperately asking for an increase, that would be a flag. At the same time I realize a reduced limit can have an impact on borrowers.
Posted by bluediamond98 on 2010-11-07:
...Adding, most credit card companies will not even report a payment as late until it is over 30 days. They will still charge you a fee, they may increase your interest rate, they may reduce your credit limit, etc... but it probably won't hit your report. You may want to wait until Dec or Jan, pull a fresh report and take a peek. Chances are you are upset about not much at all.
Closing the card may have the most negative effect of all. Not only do you mess with your ratio even more than reducing the limit already has...you may be terminating your most long-standing account. The age of your accounts (how long you have had credit) is also a factor in your overall credit score.
Closing the card may have the most negative effect of all. Not only do you mess with your ratio even more than reducing the limit already has...you may be terminating your most long-standing account. The age of your accounts (how long you have had credit) is also a factor in your overall credit score.
Posted by bluediamond98 on 2010-11-07:
Right! I knew there was an official word for it - just couldn't think of what it was...lol!
Posted by trmn8r on 2010-11-07:
You added more great information. The OP has had the card for 12 years. It may be the longest.
I closed down a few cards 3 years ago, before I knew about any of this. I closed my oldest card, and threw away about $50,000 in credit limit. Oh well. Fortunately, I still have $40,000 or so, and a card that goes back to 1996. I was "lucky" to have several cards.
I closed down a few cards 3 years ago, before I knew about any of this. I closed my oldest card, and threw away about $50,000 in credit limit. Oh well. Fortunately, I still have $40,000 or so, and a card that goes back to 1996. I was "lucky" to have several cards.
Posted by getoverit on 2010-11-07:
Citi actually reduced my limit several months ago because I don't charge that much on that particular card. I have other cards and stuff and didn't really worry about it.
Hopefully, the OP does have other accounts and the utilization percentage didn't go way up all of a sudden. And the single late payment on the OP's credit history should not impact the credit score too much either.
I also think incrediblelee's got this stuff about right - especially the part about sticking with the devil you know. I'm not closing any account or opening any new ones lately, even though I still get those offers for all kinds of introductory rates and balance transfer deals, etc. From what I've seen, none of these companies are all that friendly and it's best to show some stability on your reports.
Hopefully, the OP does have other accounts and the utilization percentage didn't go way up all of a sudden. And the single late payment on the OP's credit history should not impact the credit score too much either.
I also think incrediblelee's got this stuff about right - especially the part about sticking with the devil you know. I'm not closing any account or opening any new ones lately, even though I still get those offers for all kinds of introductory rates and balance transfer deals, etc. From what I've seen, none of these companies are all that friendly and it's best to show some stability on your reports.
Posted by Venice09 on 2010-11-07:
Thanks for all the great info, everyone!
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