Cautionary note for holders of Citibank Aadvantage cards
 

Today I called several credit card issuers and my bank to let them know we would be traveling in Europe beginning next week (I think I first learned of the advisability of doing this on this forum, so thanks to whoever pointed it out). Most of the calls were uneventful.

When I reached Citibank and input my account information, I was immediately connected to a customer service rep, rather than having to fight through all the menus. After getting my name, she said that our account AND A VERY LARGE NUMBER OF OTHER ACCOUNTS had been compromised by a third party and Citibank had been trying to notify us. I asked her to explain in what way they had tried to notify us, because we are not particularly hard to reach. She said they had called our residence multiple times and sent a letter on June 5 (which we never received).

I asked whether they had left a voice mail message, she said they don't do that as a matter of policy, and I said they should get a new policy.

We are leaving the country Wednesday, so time was short. We don't actually use this card in Europe because of the fees (we use our Capital One card, but we think it's a good idea for each of us to carry at least one card that the other doesn't have, in case we have a loss or theft), but I complained about their failure to contact us and our time problem. She agreed to have cards sent to our house overnight for Tuesday delivery, so if my wife happens to be home when UPS arrives, we will have the cards in time for the trip.

If you have an Aadvantage card with Citibank and haven't been alerted to this problem, I suggest you call and find out if your are on the list. I asked what third party is responsible for this problem; the csr said they aren't ready to identify the third party but will do so when the bank's investigation is completed. I have no idea if other Citibank cards are affected.

luckily, I don't have a Citibank account (I cancelled mine years go due to their bad terms and ineptitude). But you are right, any wacho policy that they won't leave phone messages for people is nuts. I have another card, and they leave phone messages for me whenever they have some issue with a charge they think is unusual (which it never was). They do it too much, IMO. All they do is call and say something about please contact them for whatever reason they are calling.

I think they are lying to you, and never sent a letter or tried to contact you.

I've got Citibank accounts but never got their credit cards. I find that Citibank is sorely lacking in customer service. Yes. Other credit card companies will leave you a message to call them to verify a charge so there's no way to prove what that rep. is telling you.

Interesting that she said they don't leave messages.

Citibank called us on our AAdvantage Master Card just this week and left a call back message. We'd made a fairly large purchase at a home improvement place that must have set off an alert. On the message, they left an 800 number to call, and an asset number which was basically a reference number for us to call and verify the transaction.

So, maybe they don't leave messages when they have security problems? They do definitely leave messages in other cases. I'm not sure I'd see the reason for the difference in policies. Either case is an immediate risk to you as a customer, and in either case, if fraud's involved, the thief would already be well aware that they had your cc number. So, not sure I see the difference other than to not leave recordings around that admit they can't secure their system.

Well, an "insured" risk, just to keep it straight. Either way, you aren't responsible financially.

Thanks for the warning, by the way.

Thank you for this post jd_dallas, I think I will call Citibank tomorrow just to see what they say to me. Fodorites are so great about passing on information.

All they have to do is to leave a message saying along the line of "Hello, this is Citibank, making a courtesy call in regards to your credit card. Please call 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx, and ask for Mary at your earliest convenience. Thank you, and have a nice day.."

that's simple, vague enough but improtant enough.

You'd think that with all the extra money Citibank makes from foreign conversion charges they would be able to afford someone to handle this problem.

I cancelled mine several years ago also. I refuse to pay some bank for doing absolutely nothing.

Curious

As a minor follow up to my original post, I called Citibank to check on a different, non Aadvantage card that I use for business. I was told that it is not affected by this problem.

I'm not trying to beat up on Citibank; my service with them has been pretty good up to now. But they should handle incidents like this with a lot higher regard for the customer.

There's only one way your displeasure will register: find another bank. If I am unhappy with something I'm paying for and don't get the situation resolved without difficulty, I don't do it again. Fool me once...

Take your business elsewhere. Otherwise, all you'll get is a "bedbug letter."