Citi Not Honoring Premier Sign Up Bonus
 

I applied to a Citi TY Premier CC, in January this year. This was done through my CitiGold account manager. There was an offer for bonus TY points, that many of you should be familiar with (30,000 points after $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of becoming a cardmember and 20,000 points after a total of $15,000 in purchases within the first 12 months).

This offer was included in an email I received from my account manager with the application form.

The card was issued, and I spent more than the required $3,000 in the first three months.

Now Citi is refusing to issue me the bonus points.

A couple of months ago, I enquired via chat, and they told me to wait, saying it usually takes a few billing cycles for the bonus points to post.

Now, via secure messaging, Citi is saying that there is no record that I have been offered the bonus points, and that it is too late to investigate this matter, because 90 days have elapsed since account opening.

I insisted, mentioning that I had previously enquired by chat, and also saying that I had the email from my manager with the sign up offer (and that I would be happy to share the email with them).

Their response, again, is:

“We have received your enquiry regarding your introductory promotional offer. Unfortunately, we do not show you were solicited to receive the offer you mentioned. Due to the time frame (90 days for the date the account is opened) has elapsed since opening date, we are unable to review your dispute”.

Anyone would have any tips on how I could solve this? This is very frustrating. I intended to apply for the Prestige, but now I’m having second thoughts.

My account manager promised to help, but he stopped replying to my emails. He is very unresponsive (and that’s another thing I need to solve, by switching my account to a more responsive manager). I can’t show up at the branch, because I do not live in the US.

Any advice?

Thanks!

Citi Not Honoring Citi Premier Sign Up Bonus
 

Sounds super frustrating. I would either file a Better Business Bureau complaint or call the Executive Office for resolution. If you Google Citi Executive Office number I think you will get the number. They were surprisingly accessible and helpful when I called a few years ago.

This strikes me as a poor use of chat/email and much better served by a direct one-on-one conversation. Call them.

As a general rule, email is a great way to solve one-off problems. But, when things don't get fixed immediately, place a call.

Make sure your phone has a speaker + mute and you can do something else fun while you sit on hold.

When you do reach someone, have your specific issue down to a not more than 15-20 second speech. If it's longer, you will lose the agent and get little.

We've gotten help from executive office too for problems related to statement credits. Not quick to get resolution but in the end they were able to solve it.

It's strange that they are acting the way they are. If you have some written / email communication from them stating you were entitled to the bonus under certain conditions, and you met the conditions.

I have a similar problem, received this message from Citi today;

I'll call and report my results soon.

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

I called Citi. After talking to a couple of representatives, I was informed that an "investigation" was being opened, and that I should hear back from them within 5 to 7 business days.

I will report back.

If this does not work, I will try the Executive Office path.

Update:

Citi did not contact me about the result of the "investigation". I called and was informed that they denied my request, based (again) on the fact that more than 90 days had elapsed since account opening (i.e. credit card issuance).

I wonder how I was supposed to complain about the lack of credit of bonus points within 90 days, given that I had these same 90 days to actually meet the minimum spending required, in the first place.

After a couple of days, I was able to get the help my account manager to place a call to the credit card department. After he spoke to an agent and to a supervisor, he connected me to talk to an “account manager” (of the credit card department). We talked briefly. I was able to explain the situation to him, and I tried to be as polite as possible (of course). He asked me to send him a fax with a printout of the email that I received when applying for the card, with the sign up bonus offer. I sent the fax within a couple of hours.

That was Friday (28th). So far, no news and no bonus TYP in my account. Let's wait a few days to see if this is solved.

Will report back.

File a complaint with the CFPB.

Matter solved. Bonus points posted today!

I'm glad this is solved, though I wish I did not have to make such a big effort.

I appreciate all the advice given.