Citibank - NEVER GIVE UP

[greenfrog86]

I suspect it may be to do with the fact that each card has it's own CitiRewards account (with each CR account also being a different "type" - i.e. different rules for what you can redeem to). Not say that's OK, but I suspect that's the reason.

I'm not sure... My rewards page has a drop down box to choose which account which is just insane as one of the options is my ReadyCredit which doesn't earn rewards. Such a stupid design.

In terms of the second profile I had to set up, it was just to change the PIN as you can only change a PIN online where that card was used to setup the particular online profile you are logged into (ie my main profile has everything but I can only use it to change the PIN on my Visa Debit, and the second profile only holds my credit card and I need to use that profile if I want to change the PIN again)

I absolutely astounded that they can't add it to your existing online profile. That is just insane.

I've been tweeting Citi over and over and over about these kinds of things and they just say 'Hi Greenfrog86, we'd love to help if there's an issue. Please DM your contact details' Ummm guys, why don't you just answer my question or respond to my assertion that you HAVE THE WORST PROCESSES IN AUSTRALIAN BANKING for many things???

Grrr I hate them so much, but am addicted to their products when they actually work and earn me bucketloads of points

 

[wafliron]

Yes, plus: if you don't like the answer you get the first time just call back & speak to someone else.

Haha, yes. And don't forget to record the call

 

[rowdy]

I was hoping for an easy application process. Having finally decided to get some value out of my Visa transactions I lodged an application for a citi select card online over the weekend. I got the automated response to send details of ID and income. Being high up in a publicly listed company I decided to make it unambiguous as to my employment history and income so send them details of the latest company annual report along with a link to the same for their independent verification. In the report it shows my employment record, service agreement details, income and shareholdings in the company.

It seems the latter part has confused the CSR and he informed that I am seen as a company owner, not an employee, since I own shares in the company. I pointed out a few times that it was a public company, not private and no different to him perhaps owning shares in Citibank. He eventually grasped that concept meaning he didn't need a statement from my accountant to detail my income.

He then went to the next part of the script which told him that he needed to contact the payroll manager to confirm my income, even though he agreed that my income is a matter of public record available for all to see. I told him today wasn't a good day for payroll given today was pay day after a 4 day long weekend and our payroll manager was a bit stressed making sure people got paid on time but he was quite persistant on needing to talk to her. I finally managed to convince him to contact the HR manager instead. I will have to ask how that conversation went tomorrow....

 

[cove]

Rowdy think of this test you have started with Citi Select as being like gaining admission to a professional group like CPA in the accountants group. Once you finally make it you want them to raise the entry bar to a Steve Hooker pole vault height to keep the riff raff out.
Citi Select can be worth the frustration but then you get a clunky web site that is vying for the worst bank credit card site for credit cards. I can now navigate thru the couple of sections that I need and I avoid the rest.
If you feel like giving up Don't as it is worth the journey and just laugh off the little bumps in the journey. Finally if you are talking to someone in a call centre in Manilla and the call is not going well try a second call during Australian working hours.

 

[wafliron]

Sympathy rowdy... welcome to the world of CitiBank

Another crazy Citibank story (although this one worked out for the better): My partner applied for a CitiBusiness Gold card earlier this week (over the phone a the online app kept failing!). She's never been a CitiBank customer before, so they requested that she send them copies of two recent payslips, her driver's license and her Medicare card. A hassle, but not surprising / unexpected.

Two days later she hadn't done it yet, and she receives a call on her mobile from a Citibank representative. He asks if she's at work (which she was), and says that if he can call her on her work number that will be sufficient and she doesn't need to send any documentation in. He calls her back on het work landline, says they're all done, and the application is approved. How does that work?! How does calling someone on the work phone number they supplied verify their identity, let alone their income or anything else (Citibank didn't call her Payroll department).

Rowdy think of this test you have started with Citi Select as being like gaining admission to a professional group like CPA in the accountants group. Once you finally make it you want them to raise the entry bar to a Steve Hooker pole vault height to keep the riff raff out.

Maybe we can start calling Select the most exclusive card in Australia due to all the hoops Citi make you jump through to get it!!

Citi Select can be worth the frustration but then you get a clunky web site that is vying for the worst bank credit card site for credit cards. I can now navigate thru the couple of sections that I need and I avoid the rest.

A little OT, but I think you use AwardWallet don't you cove? If so, you might be interested in this: http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/travel-insider-tips/awardwallet-38425.html. Hopefully can get AwardWallet to add support for CitiRewards, meaning one less reason to need to login to their god-awful website.

If you feel like giving up Don't as it is worth the journey and just laugh off the little bumps in the journey. Finally if you are talking to someone in a call centre in Manilla and the call is not going well try a second call during Australian working hours.

I spoke to someone on the Select customer service team for the first time earlier this week. As much as I don't have too many problems with Citi's regular CS people, man was talking to the Select people a breath of fresh air!

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I started this thread on March 15 which was the date that my CitiGold Relationship Manager advised me by phone that Citi had finally agreed to upgrade me from CitiBusiness to Select - yesterday Apr 13 my Select Card finally arrived in my PO Box.

Am at work now and tried to activate card - followed steps closely - finally I am spat threw to Citi CSO who says he will help me activate card - he asks for telephone banking pin - i do not have pin - ok I cannot activate without telephone pin as we need set up new profile - listen fella - I have no telephone pin - I have no ATM pin - I have no f*cking pin of any description - but I do need to use card so just do whatever you need to to activate.

Sorry Sir - my computer has frozen - I am locked out of my system - OK when you get back into system call me on this number I will be here all day and activate it - ok sir.

Get off phone - call one vendor I need to pay $15.4K - try this card - no problem - transaction completes perfectly.

Citi - you are an entity of amusement and frustration.

 

[cove]

Does anyone want to guess how few Citi Select members there are?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

And 30 mins after transaction of $15.4K affected I get a call from Citi security just to validate that indeed it was a bona fide transaction - yes Citi it was - and on Monday got another transaction of $35K going through for car purchase - OK sir thank you for your time.

 

[wafliron]

Does anyone want to guess how few Citi Select members there are?

Wouldn't surprise me if there were less than Centurion (which I've heard quoted as 6,000? Or was it 60,000?) - not because Select is that exclusive, but rather because it's a newish card, huge annual fee for a card that doesn't have a lot of "prestige" / marketing attached to it, and the hoops you have to jump through to get past Citi's ridiculousness.

And 30 mins after transaction of $15.4K affected I get a call from Citi security just to validate that indeed it was a bona fide transaction - yes Citi it was

I still get those calls on every second tax payment larger than $10k.

and on Monday got another transaction of $35K going through for car purchase - OK sir thank you for your time.

Coincidentally, I was wondering about paying for cars on credit cards the other day - based on your post there are clearly dealerships that'll let you do it, but are you getting slugged with a surcharge?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Coincidentally, I was wondering about paying for cars on credit cards the other day - based on your post there are clearly dealerships that'll let you do it, but are you getting slugged with a surcharge?

Yep I have to pay 1.9% surcharge on 35K. Dealership told me first 3K is surcharge free - balance surcharge 1.9% for Visa / 2.9% for Amex. I initially said ok lerts do another 12 transactions at 3K - they wouldn't come at that.

Now before you all jump in and say I would never pay that - I choose to. Select earns me 1.33 KF pts / $1 spend - so on 35K I get 46,550 KF pts for $665 I think - more than 1/3 pts reqd for ret J saver on SQ to PEK / PVG - so extrapolate that out 3 x $665 = $1,995 plus taxes approx $500 - still gives me less than 1/2 price J class travel to and from China - so even at up to 2% with Select still a bargain for me.

 

[wafliron]

Yep I have to pay 1.9% surcharge on 35K. Dealership told me first 3K is surcharge free - balance surcharge 1.9% for Visa / 2.9% for Amex. I initially said ok lerts do another 12 transactions at 3K - they wouldn't come at that.

Nice try I'd imagine the first $3k having no surcharge is so there's no disincentive for customers to pay an on-the-spot deposit for a car via CC, but they don't want to lose margin to merchant fees beyond that.

Thanks for the info too.

Now before you all jump in and say I would never pay that - I choose to. Select earns me 1.33 KF pts / $1 spend - so on 35K I get 46,550 KF pts for $665 I think - more than 1/3 pts reqd for ret J saver on SQ to PEK / PVG - so extrapolate that out 3 x $665 = $1,995 plus taxes approx $500 - still gives me less than 1/2 price J class travel to and from China - so even at up to 2% with Select still a bargain for me.

1.9% is getting up there, but I agree with your logic, especially if you have a need / use for the points in the short term. I've been paying 2% on some Amex transactions recently because I need lots of points quickly to be able to book some award seats to the USA as soon as they become available (~11 months out) shortly. Also helping to get my soft limit increased quickly so I can put max tax through the card later this month

 

[Stephen65]

I absolutely astounded that they can't add it to your existing online profile. That is just insane.

It is very odd that you have to set up a new online account each time. You can use the same password though.

However: to give Citi credit where it's due, this morning I rang in with a query about a transaction on my Citibusiness Gold card and I suspect I must have been put through to a US call centre because my question was handled very competently by an American agent. If only it were like this all the time.

 

[Foreigner]

To give Citi credit where it's due: this morning I rang in with a query about a transaction on my Citibusiness Gold card and I suspect I must have been put through to a US call centre because my question was handled very competently by an American agent. If only it were like this all the time.

I suspect it could have been the Philippines. The accent is quite Americanized, for want of a better word.

I've had positive experience with Citi, too

 

[Stephen65]

I wondered about that but because she spoke perfect English with a strong American accent I assumed she must have been a native American. I should have asked where the call was being answered. Either way it was an unexpectedly pleasant experience.

 

[greenfrog86]

I wondered about that but because she spoke perfect English with a strong American accent I assumed she must have been a native American. I should have asked where the call was being answered. Either way it was an unexpectedly pleasant experience.

That's the great thing about the Philippines and why many companies choose to base their call centres there. You can find some very well educated staff who have very easy to understand accents and great comprehension skills.

The thing that gets to me is all the dumb processes that the staff are required to follow.

In terms of setting up the second 'dummy' online profile, you will need to choose a new username but once in you can just change your pin and then forget that the profile even exists...

 

[rowdy]

Sympathy rowdy... welcome to the world of CitiBank
Maybe we can start calling Select the most exclusive card in Australia due to all the hoops Citi make you jump through to get it!!

So my application is still going. I got a call requesting another copy of my drivers licence when I was at the airport for a flight O/S about 2 weeks ago. I advised them that I would be overseas for a few days but would send it through when I returned. Did that. I also had reason to visit a local Citibank branch a few days after that and asked them to check on the application status. They checked and said that they were still waiting on a copy of my D/L. I handed it to them to take a copy.

A few days later I checked the application status online and it said the application was cancelled?? Rang them up to enquire and was told it was cancelled because they hadn't received a copy of my D/L!!! I asked them to check and she put me on hold for a minute and then confirmed that they had now received the D/L so would apply to have the application reactivated?? Now it's a week later and i check again, status is still shown as cancelled. Ring again and they say they have now received the D/L so can apply to have the application reactivated?? I asked them to send me confirmation that this has been done, but don't expect to receive anything.

Lesson learned - next time (??!!) apply at a branch.

I hope it is all worth it in the end.....

 

[adampenrith]

My experiences with Citibank is they are find until you want to change something to do something or want to talk to them.

If you just use the card, pay for it, its fine. Lots of credit limit increases and balance transfers options ..

 

[Stephen65]

Yes the automated parts of their business seem to work fine.

 

[MAX_1]

My experiences with Citibank is they are find until you want to change something to do something or want to talk to them.

If you just use the card, pay for it, its fine. Lots of credit limit increases and balance transfers options ..

Always contact the Office in your home town. I contacted Sydney last time I had to make a change ( only after I became so frustrated and was about to close down 2 cards ) and had everything sorted out within a few minutes.
Citi is great once you get over the hurdle of joining/changing cards etc. hence the same of the thread - Citi - NEVER GIVE UP.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

OK so I have been on phone to Citi - is there anywhere on Citi site where you can actually see reward points relating to each and every purchase like AMEX - or do you need to take their word on their statements.