My girlfriend is having some problems with citibank and I'd appreciate some advice in helping her deal with the situation. She currently has 2 citibank credit cards, one for 1200 and one for 2500. They are each both over limit and about 4 months late. The orginal credit limits on each card was $600 and $1200 respectively. She recieved an offer in the mail for the smaller card a few days ago about a payment plan, 4 monthly payments of $25.00. She called them up today and asked them some questions about it with the intention of doing it. She was told that while she would be in the payment plan, she would continue to get charged a 29.00 late fee. She also asked about the extra $600 in late fees and interest and the CR rep proceeded to become extremely rude to her and told her nothing could be done. My Girlfriend then asked to speak to a manager. The manager told me nothing could be done and said that they are a bank and they won't take away any fees. She also told my girlfriend to take responsability for her actions. After that the manager hung up on my girlfriend. What should her next course of action should be? I know that a lot of people have had problems with citibank on this forum and I'm doing my best to find posts that apply to this situation. Any help would be appreciated
I have had nothing but good experience with Citi, but I understand your dilema somewhat... You say she owes 1200 and 2500 on the cards or is that her new credit lines since you listed the original CL's or is that how much she owes and she has a balance about double the credit lines on each card? She is 4 month's behind and now the fees are adding up? You say she has $600 in fees and interest, what is her APR at right now? How did she over charge her accounts by so much? Are the over the limit amounts all resulting from late fees, over limit fees and interest? You say she is getting charged a $29 late fee, is she contantly paying late? or do you mean an over-the-limit fee?
What originally happened to cause this situation? Did she have a disputed charge?? Did she just get carried away? The solution depends on what caused the problem originally.
The original credit limits on the 2 cards were $600 and $1200. The balance for the $600 credit limit card is now $1200. The balance for the $1200 credit limit card is now $2500. The interest rate she is paying on both cards is 24.9% The reason for the high balances is because she had been experiencing financial problems and has been unable to make payments for months now. As a result, she has been charged numerous late and overlimit fees. Before that she has been a good customer for like 4 years and she's trying to make good on the debts. However, $600 dollars in fees and interest for a card that was originally $600 seems like highway robbery to me.
Tat, We had a similar problem, we couldn't get the already charged late, interest fees waived, but they set us up on a plan 0% interest, with 6 months @ $200 per month. During this time they are waiving additional overlimit and late fees as well. We had a choice to go 4, 6, or 12 months, but took the 6 months because that is enough time to get us back below are CL. The only stipulation is that you allow them auto withdrawal from your checking acct during the 6 months (they are sending us reminders). The guy we worked this deal out with was named Mark @888-403-7330, ext. 46163. He was really nice and easy to work with, maybe give him a call. Our balance was 8500, so your payments would probably be alot less! Our card was the Citi Aadvantage card.
Tat - Look at Karen's hardship program post. Its what I am talking about. BTW mine was only 2 months ago, so that is a recent number for Mark.
Thanks for the info jlynn. Would it be better to wait until they offer a settlement rather then pay all of those late fees. My girlfriend might get a decent tax return and she'd be willing to offer them 600 and 1200 for the two cards to settle the accounts when her return comes in. Personally I think thats more than fair considering those amounts are the original credit limits for the 2 cards.
I got into the hardship program yesterday. See my post on it. The number I got for them is 1-800-926-1058. I owe over $20,000 to them and my payments are $333 per month for six months. And, payments don't start for almost 60 days. Citi has been good to me. I have two problems with them - first, they call up to four times per week. Second, they jacked my interest rate to 25% one day after my first late. Other than that, they have been good to me, and easy to work with. Very understanding.
They gave us a settlement amount (about 80%) at the time, and we just couldn't do that amount. You are only at 50%, so I don't know if they would go for it, especially with it being so soon. Also, while you are waiting for the refund, more fees and interest are going to keep accruing, so you are looking again at a lot more. I would suggest doing the hardship, then when the refund comes in, pay them off. Might come out ahead, but put pen and paper to it first.
Tat, I was going to recommend you talk with Karen after reading her post. Hopefully you guys can get some sort of compromise. Wish you the best of luck. Because we all know, bad things can happen to good people.
Is it possible to have late and overlimit fees removed in this program? My girlfriends only concern really is not paying all of those fees. Would a settlement offer be a better way to go?
Didn't work for us, but you never know, maybe your powers of persuasion are better? Also, here's another math quiz...if she gets 0% interest for 6 months, what are her savings per month? Might all balance out... making it easier to rationalize.
Sorry, I posted that last reply before I read the other post. I hear what you're saying about 80% being too much. She just doesn't want to pay that whole amount considering half of it is just fees and such. I'll have to talk to her about the hardship program.
Maybe some with Citi can chime in and share what they know about this: 1. What are his chances of settling for less AND deletion? 2. Do you think it will be harder to get the account deleted in the future if it is settled-and they refuse to make the TL positive, vs. goodwilling the lates. Everything is such a gamble.
However, $600 dollars in fees and interest for a card that was originally $600 seems like highway robbery to me. TAT | ============================= Well:Not Really! The orignal credit limit has nothing to do with the fees and interest.
