Towards the start of May, Chuck broke the news that Citi was no longer honoring their generous Citi ThankYou Point & American Airline Citigold checking bonuses for people that didn’t receive the targeted offer. There has been two issues with this change in unofficial policy by Citi:
- People that were targeted are being told that they aren’t eligible (making it seem like Citi is just saying everybody isn’t eligible as they weren’t actually tracking the targeted offers as they all used the same promotional code)
- People that confirmed that they were eligible before completing the requirements are being told they are no longer eligible after meeting the requirements and in many cases paying annual fees
Now both offers specifically stated in the fine print the following:
This offer is available to targeted bank cardmembers who receive this communication
I think Citi are well within their rights to not honor this promotion, but I do take issue to them not honoring it in the two cases I listed above. If that applies to you, here is what I’d suggest doing:
- Collect all the relevant information regarding your account and bonus. You’ll want things such as: proof you were targeted (or proof that Citi stated you were eligible. It’s also worth checking your old paper statements to see if the offer showed up there at any stage), date the account was open, date the requirements were met, date the bonus should have been paid (remember this is 90 days after the end of the month you completed the requirements in).
- File a complaint with Citi (by phone, or secured message. I prefer secured message to keep a paper trail), including all of the relevant information listed above.
- Ask to be escalated to a manager if unsuccessful
- Ask to be escalated to the executive department if unsuccessful
- If still unsuccessful, state to the ED that you will be forced to file a complaint with the CFPB if the matter cannot be resolved
- File a complaint with the CFPB
I’ve now had a few readers (via e-mail) follow these steps and they’ve all gotten their points to post. There isn’t really any point in starting the process until it’s been 90 days after the end of the month you met the requirements, as they will just tell you to wait. You could probably also ask to escalate to the executive department sooner, or file a complaint with the CFPB sooner but I prefer to give large institutions a chance to make things right first. As always, stay calm and friendly – the customer service representatives are used to people yelling at them day in day out and they are much more likely to try and help you if you’re being nice.
It’s probably also worth downgrading to the basic account if they don’t resolve the issue in a timely matter. This shouldn’t affect your eligiblity for the bonus as the terms clearly stated:
Bonus miles credited will be based on the consumer account package at the time of qualification
Citi are also tightening the requirements for Citigold in November, so expect these promotions to be a thing of the past.
As a DP, I just got mine today, over 2 and a half months after my last bill pay went out which was on the last day of my 60 day period. I did not talk to citi at all or ask about the bonus.
Another data point:
I too was assured that the promotion was attached to my account and would be credited with the points 90 days after fulfilling the promotion. (I clicked on the link to apply online mid March – but didn’t get a mailing with the promotional code. )
When 90 days passed – no points. Sent a secure message and was told it didn’t matter if I was previously told I qualified – an investigation would be done to see if I was targeted.
Got another secure message saying I was not targeted and would not get the points.
Called in – escalated to a supervisor. He said that it was a “stock message- the not targeted message” and that the investigation was actually still open. He escalated the investigation to another department – don’t remember which one.
I sent another secure message saying I spoke with a supervisor and if things were not resolved I would write to the Cfpb. Got a response that it was noted that I would write to he Cfpb, but that if I was not targeted then I would not get the points. Then it said we see you already have an investigation pending so please wait for those results.
I left it alone and did not write citi or the Cfpb. Today opened my account and found this.
Thank you for your inquiry on 08/17/2016 regarding your Checking account number ending in 1555. We have completed our research and the results are as follows:
A credit of 50,000 AA Miles has been processed to your AAdvantage account for Promotion WD3QFS2Y4C. It may take up to 10 days for the miles to reflect on your account.
For more information regarding the status or the posting of the mileage, please contact American AAdvantage at 1-800-882-8880.
Thank you for participating in Citibank’s promotion.
Thanks to this blog I knew what steps to follow to peruse these points! Hope this helps someone?
I had the exact same experience resolved on 8/29- DON’T GIVE UP OR BACKDOWN!
Thanks again to Dr of Credit
Data point: I filed a CFPB complaint and just got a response today that Citi is honoring the bonus and I should be getting the 50K miles within 2 months.
It took approximately 2 weeks from the time I filed the CFPB complaint to get their response.
Hello,
I was told by customer service that my points should post within 30 days.. a week AFTER they were supposed to post the latest by (within 90 days). Since it has been 2 weeks now since the 90 days I have met the requirement, is it safe to downgrade my Citigold account to Basic checking since I technically met the requirements and it’s their fault for not posting my rewarded points on time? Want to make sure so Citi cannot simply change their mind and say that I am not a Citigold member anymore and that I have lost my right to earn the points.
A better way to understand my issue:
1st Bill payment was sometime in March (same time I opened account)
2nd and the Qualifying bill pay to meet requirements was april 25th,
Was supposed to earn my 40k points by July 25th (90 days after meeting the requirements.confirmed with representatives on May that I was eligible for the promotion and should expect within 90 days)
Sent a secure message to Customer service on July 31st, heard back from them on August 1st, telling me that points will post in 30 days from the day they replied to me.
So points should now post by September 1st I guess but I don’t want to stay as a Citigold member as I will be hit with the fee… Is it ok to downgrade to Basic checking now?
When I said same time I opened account in March, I meant the month, not the same day or week FYI
I’m guessing you’ll be fine if you downgrade.
Ok, thanks! Just wanted to hear what others think.
Anyone have any data points of getting Citi to post the miles who wasn’t targeted and didn’t get confirmation via chat or SM? That’s the boat I’m in.
Same situation. I was confirmed by phone, but do not have record. Filed complaint but they rejected to honor the promotion. I do not if I can get my monthly fee back.
DP: Looks like they caved after one escalation in my case. I had a SM stating that “the bonus TYP will be credited to your account within 90 days”.
Maybe they noticed a correlation between asking for one escalation and going all the way to the CFPB. Or maybe I just got lucky.
How are you guys getting a login for CFPB? I’ve tried a dozen or so times over the past 2 days to “set my password” using the “First Login?” page and the email never comes.
Just another data point from someone else who is not likely to get these points ATM:
“I will be delighted to escalate your case to receive the bonus miles. However, I regret to advise you that your account cannot be converted until the investigation is completed. Otherwise you will not receive the 50,000 Airline miles. You will receive the amount that was offered for whatever package your account is in when and if the request is honored.”
Keeping $30 a month while you deny me the bonus I was verified eligible for 4 months ago is… Classic Fraud / bait and switch.
Agreed. I experienced the same runaround from Citi so I filed a complaint with both the CFPD and the Attorney General of the State of New York. I got my fees refunded and I got the miles.
After 5 months of repeated emailing, debating, arguing, denying …..finally the miles posted on July 1. Citi rep had no problem eating their own words and telling something contradictory every time. As i dealt only via secure message, it was easy to shut them up and force them to give up. Seems like citi is completely not in control how to deal with it. The more firm, solid and persistent you are, you get it. If not, forget it 🙂
7/6- received the letter from citi dated 6/3 with a copy to CFPB stating that 50K TY pts will be posted 1-2 biz days after the stmt date, mine is 21st of each month…chatted with a rep. inquiring about the pts should have been available by now or since 6/21, but was told that my acct wasn’t targeted; called a rep. in citigold dept, who stated the same thing; again mentioned the letter to the rep….put on hold for 10 min then was told that the Exe Office has just manually input the pts. I guess that if had not called, the pts may have never showed up…so plan to follow up again in a few days to see if citi now has updated my acct or to see when the pts will post. The phone rep. wasn’t too friendly… when asked him for a rep. id, he said he’s not allowed to give… but later gave in after i asserted that every rep. i talked to so far did provide agent ID
7/7- not comfortable so decided to follow up to ensure that yday’s call with a rep. had been notated or verified with the Exe Off but learned from a SPVR that the system still indicated that acct had not been targeted but addl attempt to clarify with the exe off would continue …determined to not let this / citi get away after already spent much time since yday, so specifically requested that my call to be xferd to the exe off; otherwise, i’d had no choice to again seek assistance from CFPB; was placed on hold for more than 10 min, then was told that the person who signed letter finally confirmed and assured that the pts is now credited and will show in the next few days. The spvr now sounded confident that the system now updates the acct & pts will become available in a few days. So, seems that earlier rep. had no verification / confirmation with the signer in the exe off & this person in the exe off either dropped the ball or wanted to see if customer bothered to check.
What a roller coaster ride for my case; glad that pts & miles were quickly posted for other folks after CFPB’s letter