Citibank - Why are they so difficult to deal with?

[Chicken]

Try contacting them by logging into Internet banking then send secure message. I found this method to be a lot better.

 

[pauly7]

Try contacting them by logging into Internet banking then send secure message. I found this method to be a lot better.

I agree - the email system is great - even get responses on weekends!

 

[spunkarooney]

Try contacting them by logging into Internet banking then send secure message. I found this method to be a lot better.

I have found the responses received from internet banking are similar to the nonsensical ones proffered by telephone banking.

You ask them anything for which a non-scripted response is required and you'll get a scripted response anyway.

I don't know why they just don't publish the scripts they use - it would be a heck of a lot easier.

 

[Dougo]

Its like pulling teeth dealing with the incompetent customer service reps.
Arrggghhh.. !!

I am not a gold card member... I have the fee free platinum.

I had trouble transferring my point to QFF online in March and have been trying to get some feedback from citibank on what happened.. Each time I call I get the response "a specially trained Qantas rewards customer service person will respond to your enquire in 5 to 10 business days"..
It has been more than that.. !!

How do I speak to someone in Sydney?

You may be ringing the wrong number. The reason I this is because I was when dealing with Westpac and their "Experts on Earth" - what a joke !!! If you look at page 1 of this thread, another post was created and the Westpac issues addressed there.

However I can say in relation to your Qantas issue, that the Qantas person who finally took responsibility for my question told me that it takes 6 weeks min from the time the transaction has been made. Rediculous really when the data is "transferred" via a telephone line rather than two cut down tins and a very long peice of string !!!

 

[Mis5P]

You may be ringing the wrong number. The reason I this is because I was when dealing with Westpac and their "Experts on Earth" - what a joke !!! If you look at page 1 of this thread, another post was created and the Westpac issues addressed there.

However I can say in relation to your Qantas issue, that the Qantas person who finally took responsibility for my question told me that it takes 6 weeks min from the time the transaction has been made. Rediculous really when the data is "transferred" via a telephone line rather than two cut down tins and a very long peice of string !!!

That is really ridiculous!! 6 wks... what day and age are we living in now?
lol

 

[Dougo]

That is really ridiculous!! 6 wks... what day and age are we living in now?
lol

The age of the call centre people who can cut you off ever so silently while you are still talking, or transfer you endlessly to an "expert" or the "correct" area for your particular issue, or speak an entirely different language so you have no idea what they are saying let alone talking about, or simply tell you just plain old lies - hard to believe i know, but oh so true !!

 

[brucek]

Agree. Good card. Godd product. Awful Citi rewards scheme. Citi points/$ converstion is very bad. Recently got A$1500 worth of fares to 180,000 Citi points!!

I have found Citibank very difficult to communicate with, and I'm by no means alone in this matter. But try talking to Citibank about this. You might as well talk to a brick wall, and I'm a Platinum card holder!

 

[travelingaussies]

I agree, I have a platinum card with them not that this should matter and the service is so bad I do not bother calling anymore.

All we pay our card off in full every month and they drop us from 55 days free to 45 days so out statement comes early now. arhhhh was not happy..

Just wish I could find another Platinum card program with 346,000 points and not much to use them on I do not want to waste them by closing the account.. Back to the point really bad service...

 

[oz_mark]

Agree. Good card. Godd product. Awful Citi rewards scheme. Citi points/$ converstion is very bad. Recently got A$1500 worth of fares to 180,000 Citi points!!

This is no different from the value of anything else in their reward catalogue. It is also on par with other credit card rewards schemes that allow you to buy air fares, and it is a lot better than the conversion you get from Altitude (would cost way more than 180,000 Altitude points). On the other hand not as good as Amex, which would have cost 150,000 MR points.

At the end of the day, a point in a credit card scheme is not going to be worth much (less than a cent).

 

[brucek]

After copping the poor Citibank rewards points conversion to airfares for our MEL-DAR-MEL trip I imediately changed my Citibank Platinum card points earning to QFF points. The redemption value is much better than purchasing travell using points stored in Citibank's rewards program.

Since then however, I've flown Emirates and joined its Skywards FF program and am about to change to a Citibank Emirates Platinum Mastercard. Much better value again.

The pitty about Citibank is that its products are very good. It's the difficulty communicating with it that seems to be the common catch cry when I talk to people about the company.

One problem we've had for several years now is it on-line bill payment www facility. We still use Westpac's facility to pay bills using BPay because you can nominate the payment date. i.e. schedule payments in advance rather than pay them on the day you enter the details onto the www site. This enables you to nominate the payment date such that the funds don't come out of your bank or credit card account unitl the day you nominate, which is usualy the day the account is due.

With Citibank's BPay site, the day you enter the bill to be payed details, the bill gets paid. i.e. you can't nomminate a payment date of your choice. Thier site pays the bill the same day as you enter it.

I've written and spoken with Citibank about this several times and do you think they will listen???

The result for us is we continue to use Westpac's BPay site as it has the functionality we need. This is an example of Citibank's unwillingnes to listen to customers. We cannot be the only ones that wish to schedule payments to suit us (sometimes a month or more in advance) instead of Citibank, who seem to think that if you enter a bill for BPayment today, you want the funds transfered to the payee the same day. Not happy! :evil:

 

[drron]

Thats strange brucek.I have a Citi platinum card and the Bpay facility i have allows payment at a future date-i have used it and it has worked.Though I do remember a couple of times the date reverting to the days date.

 

[oz_mark]

I don't use the Citibank BPay facility, but it certainly offers an option of future dating a BPay payment.

 

[zzyss]

Thought I'd post this seeing as the thread came up again:

Last week I rang up Citibank with an enquiry about changing the account from which EasyPay payments come out of. I went through the usual messages, and after not too long waiting, I get the "ring tone" to indicate that my call was about to be answered.

The next moment, I hear this weird sound, kinda like "Ooooooeeeeeee... wooooo! Hahahahaha" I didn't know what it was until the guy started laughing. It must have been a couple of guys mucking around. So I said "hello" tentatively a couple of times, and maybe on the third time, he finally hears me.

That got him *really* flustered. He goes "Hello?! Hello... Hello! Er.... hello, welcome to Citibank blah blah blah" and you can just hear from the tone of his voice that in his head he's thinking "coughk coughk coughk coughk coughk!"

I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I carried on as if I had heard and was not amused, but didn't say anything directly about it. If I had had the presence of mind, I probably should have tried to extort or blackmail something out of him, but seeing as I already have annual fee-free-for-life I couldn't really think of anything. And plus, I'm not that nasty

What would you guys have done in that situation?

 

[Diesellife]

What would you guys have done in that situation?

Ask for reduce interest rate, points bonus, 0% balance transfer...
Just anything that you can think of I love blackmailing. :evil:

 

[travelingaussies]

but seeing as I already have annual fee-free-for-life I couldn't really think of anything. And plus, I'm not that nasty

What would you guys have done in that situation?

Wow fee free for life how did you come across this as I pay the fee every year....

I would said something maybe asked for lower rate for 12 months if you do not pay off in full... or even 20,000 bonus points...

 

[notzac]

What would you guys have done in that situation?

Asked to speak with a supervisor.

 

[zzyss]

Wow fee free for life how did you come across this as I pay the fee every year....

It was just a promo that they had a couple of years ago... I'm pretty sure loads of people on here have them.

As to the suggestions, thanks. I'll know better for next time

 

[Febs]

My latest Citibank shenanigans, and an illustration of why I would never consider paying for this card:

Westpac sent me a replacement Earth Plat card the other day. I called up, spoke to an Aussie after 2 rings, and was told that my card could have been compromised, hence the replacement. I was told my old card would be active for a week to allow any direct debits to go through.

A week later...a similar, yet very different experience with Citibank.

Citibank called my dad (how or why, I have no idea) and asked to speak to me. I called them back, and was told that like my Earth card, I've used my card somewhere suspect (not sure where - it's not like I'm using my cards at strip clubs or the like ) and that it needed to be replaced.

CB: "OK so I can cancel your card now sir?" (with thick accent)
Me: "Well, no, I have direct debits that will come out soon. How about you send the replacement card, and I'll call after I receive it to cancel the first card."
CB: "Oh no, we can't do that."
Me: "Right, well that's no good. I have a DD coming out shortly, so I can't cancel the card yet. Can you not just send a replacement, and cancel this card in 1-2 weeks?"
CB: "No. Should I go ahead and cancel the card now?"
Me: "Umm...no. What will happen if I cancel now, and a direct debit attempt is made, say tomorrow?"
CB: "It will fail sir. So I'll cancel your card now?"
Me: "....."

..and it went on like this. Every option I gave, his response was "So I'll cancel your card now then?"



So now I have to call them back in between my regular direct debits, and hope that the replacement card arrives in time to call those organisations and change the details.

Sigh.

 

[brucek]

Hi Febs

We have had exactly the same issue, and scenario, as you have described with CB previously. On one hand I admire its security, and understand why they take such actions (advising you of a breach and wanting to replace your card). On the other however, don't understand the inflexibility in its systems and processes.

This type of situation underscores my point. Dealing with CB's Customer Service staff can be difficult, and here in lies the issue. Its CS staff appear to have a script they work to and will not deviate from it.

We recently swapped from CB Platinum Visa to CB Emirates Platinum MC. The automatic periodical payments came across onto the new cards no problem, no hassles. This begs the question: If periodical payments can be automatically transferred from one CB product to another, why can't the same happen when CB issues a replacement card for security reasons as you have described and has happened to us?

Don't bother trying to get an answer from CB CS staff because you wont, short of a prescripted answer to the affect that "it is company policy".

The sad part is CB has great products. The only issue I have is communicating with them, and at the risk of sounding racist, which I'm certainly not, its foreign call centre staff don't help sometimes. They appear to be extremely risk averse, not willing to deviate from a predefined set of procedures.

 

[Febs]

Hi Febs
<snip>

Sums it up perfectly, IMO.

They're a company with good products, severely let down by inflexible and sometimes nonsensical policies and procedures, and staff who are unable/unwilling to deviate from them.