The abused vs Citi

[The abused]

I too am having problems with CITI. Subject Access Request took nearly 60 days.

Recently recieved a letter from CITI regarding missed payment. I was debited £12 for default, I pay by Direct Debit. I recieved a very apologetic letter stating that they were sorry and an assurance that this would not have a negative affect on my credit. Low and behold two weeks later I recieve a letter stating that due to a review of my account my credit limit has been reduced. I have sent them a letter requesting a copy of the original agreement and that my interest rate be returned to its original " until paid in full" rate of %5.85 and not the 35% they have been charging for the last 17 months. That was on the 14th February 10. No reply from them yet.

If it is of any use the letter was recieved from a John Jones (head of Credit Cards)

[Enron]

Best start your own thread and we can then give you some advice.

 

Citi operate in an underhand manner, as many of us have experienced.

 

So your s78(1) Consumer Credit Act request is in the post?

[The abused]

I have requested a true copy of my agreement. I have sent a signed cheque for £1. I have not been very pedantic with my letter. Do not wish to appear too clever with them. Nice and polite. I did request that they either reinstate the interest rate and refund additional interest paid. if they do that I aint too concerned about the CCA.

But me thinks they wont want to do either. Just said that I would keep a copy of the letter if it should go to legal proceedings inform relevant government bodies and if neccassary bring it to the attention of local MP.

I did give them 30 days to reply. Will still keep up to date with payments although a bit of a struggle.

Only question I have is how long do you think I should leave it until further letter sent requesting CCA and placing account in dispute. Or would it be better to approach FSO and ask them to intervene ?

 

Thanks for the support Enron !

[Enron]

OK, if the 5.85% was a promotional balance transfer or offer - it's likely that in either sending a payment late or similar breach of contract that the offers been voided.

 

I know it's nasty, but it's one of those things that they hide in the small print.

 

From the point of view of the CCA request, you will likely get a set of Terms & Conditions from when you opened the account - if you want to get a true copy of the "executed agreement" send me a Private Message, and i'll give you details.

[The abused]

Hi Enron

Payment was by Direct Debit, But not enough money in account as cheque had not not cleared. Changes to Barclays Additions plus account!

However my account was credited with a £318 interest adjustment to my CITI account. So infact there was more money credited to my account than required.

My point of arguement is as follows;

A promotional sheet of cheques. Each cheque counterfoil states 5.85% pa until paid in full. The letter states 5.85%* until paid in full.

A miniscule asterix at the bottom with miniscule print states " This special rate is subject to operating your CITI card account within the terms and conditions of your account"

Now through implication this can only be interpreted that whilst your account is in default a change of interest rates apply. Whilst the account is operated in accordance with terms and conditions then the promotional rate will apply.

I am sure I am right on this

In addition I obtained a copy of the ammended terms and conditions effective from 2nd Dec 08.

Now if we take item 7

"We may, at our discretion, at any time and for any period offer you a promotional interest rate. If you;

do not make the minimum monthly payment required under condition 2 in cleared by the payment due date; and/or

exceed your credit limit without our permission; and/or

at any time breach the terms of this agreement repeatedly or seriously we will, in addition to other actions we may take, withdraw any applicable promotional interest rate. Once withdrawn promotional interest rates will not be reinststated".

These are new conditions to take effect from the 2nd Dec 08. My buggered direct Debit was October 08. I paid it by Debit Card on the 19th Oct

There is nothing on any paperwork associated with these cheques that once removed promotional rates will not be reinstated. It constitututes a different set of uni-laterally adjusted terms and conditions to the sole financial gain to CITI than when the cheques were signed.

The account was originally the Associates opened in 1999.

[The abused]

Hi again Enron

Forgot to ask How do I PM you.

Regards

Regards the abused

[The abused]

My cheque for £1 was cashed on 4th March for CCA request. No reply from CITI yet. Will send them a reminder and send a copy to FOS.

Interestingly I looked up CITI gold cards and if you miss a payment they up your APR (USA) after 12 months they then return your APR to original rate if you have not defaulted in that period. Ihat is in their current terms and conditions). 18 months and I am still on 34.9% so it dont look like they have the same policy over here.

Tried to find CITI cards current terms and conditions for UK but unable to. Will persevere however!

ps thanks Enron for details re CCA

[The abused]

I have rcieved a letter from CITI informing me that they have recently announced an agreement to transfer the ownership of some of their credit card accounts. That includes mine, to CC Asset Management.

 

The letter goes on to state that CCAM is now responsible for data controller.

 

It further adds that "Under the terms of CC Asset Management Limiteds agreement with us, they will have the right to request certain changes are made to your account and or related consumer credit agreement"

 

Any ideas anyone on what CITI are doing and who the hell are CCAM Ltd?

[The abused]

After reading through the forums is looks as though CITI have sold some of the credit card accounts to CCAM.

So how will they reply if you request a CCA from them. If they aint going to send me a CCA it dosent look like they will send one to CCAM.

However it looks as if they are being a little cunning if they have the right to request changes to your account and iplement them. In this case unless you do not wish for changes how can they legally enforce it.

If the account is in dispute how can they sell it to CCAM.

If Citi owe you money for unfair charges plus interest how will CCAM react as they are now the creditor.

If I went along the lines of saying stuff you I am not going to make anymore payments then what are they going to do?

I notice in the letter it says some of our accounts. Is this because I requested a CCA?

They will advise me when the account will be tranferred.

If Citi are profiteering by charging me an interest rate of 35% why would they chose to sell to another company?

If citi are under the opinion that they cannot provide me with a valid CCA and thus will cease payments then they must be corrupt in selling these accounts to CCAM.

If CCAM take over ownership and I dont pay then they are going to lose out big time.

On the back of the letter it says citi will still continue to service the account.

Is citi trying to be clever by saying that ownership will be transferred to CCAM and getting them off the hookfor not supplying you with a copy of your valid CCA as these will be a new set of rules and parasitic charges implemented by CCAM.

I know I am rambling a bit it just makes things harder for me to get my head around.

Regards to you all any ideas on this would be most welcome

[Enron]

CCAM now own the accounts, and will now be liable for any claims for any unfair charges and so forth.

 

Though with reference to CCA, and the enforceability or not of an account -- it will now ultimately be their responsibility to honour the requests of their new customers.

 

That said, I still expect Citi to operate in an investment banking capacity. Whether they will still retain the original executed agreements is doubtful though, I would imagine these would transfer to CCAM as their bought their retails credit card business lock, stock and barrel.

 

My feeling on this, is that because of the problems with the retention of executed agreements Citi sold the business, and have royally stuffed CCAM.

 

But there's nothing new there, especially when you consider Citi's actions with relation to EMI.

[Laura Cooke]

I also had letter yesterday to say my account gone to CCAM

[The abused]

Well not been on here for a while as been working away. On my return was greeted with a letter from CITI and OPUS your new credit card issuer. Needs a lot of reading on the small print. What they can and wont do defies belief. At the top of the letter it is dated and states that as from 21st November the agreement will be between myself (named) and the RBS. however on the right hand side of the page it states as start date N/A.

 

I phoned CITI customer line at 10.45 hours. After the usual security chcks I asked why my account had been transferred to OPUS. No answer. I also asked what rate of APR (its the same 34.9%) why has my interest rate been increased from the original (for the lifetime of the loan rate of 5.8%) was told 2 years ago failure of direct debit. I stated that the account had already been credited with more than the repayment due that month so why have I had the interest rate removed. Also my account was wrongly debited in january of this year due to an administration error by citi who apologised for this misdemeanor and then proceeded to negatively affect my credit raing due to the lowering of the amount I could borrow. I asked the Indian gentlemen if he was aware that selling my account whilst in dispute is illegal. I was asked to hold the line. after about 8 minutes all I got was I need to write to CITI. when pressed why has my promotional rate been removed and after a delay was told he can only go back 12 months and I must write to CITI and they will reply in 2 days.

 

So will draft a letter to citi reminding them that the account is in dispute. The amount on over payments is well over 5 thousand pounds now so I believe I need to go through the court on a fast track as this can be done in a day. I think this has a maximum claim of 15000 pounds. Any ideas anybody?

[The abused]

Just a quick question who is supposed to have my non existent CCA? RBS or OPUS. on the letter from opus it says agrrement between rbs and me. So presumably it must be owned by RBS (looks like they have been stuffed well and truly) unfortunately my business banking account is with RBS with decent bit of money always in it which I need.

[the_shadow]

Hi T.A.

 

I believe Opus have purchased some of the citi cards business, they've been offloading accounts for a few years now as they try and retreat out of this countries credit card business.

 

As you have been notified of the new owner of the account the s78 request should go to the new owner and you are correct that Opus card is underwritten by the Royal Bank of Scotland and hence they will have right to offset against any monies you hold with them

 

S.

[Sare Heid]

hi,

 

subbing.

 

i've also got a citi account which they have informed will be transferring to opus, which i am not at all happy with, will be starting my own thread and will post link later if anyones interested.

 

cheers

 

SH

[The abused]

Just to make things more difficult I have a business account with RBS so does anybody know that if I pursue OPUS will this have any affect on my business account.

Got my new OPUS card today which I will not activate or sign.

[Sare Heid]

Worth checking the small print cos mine says "opus is a trademerk of ccam, which is used under licence by Bank of Scotland plc. opus credit cards are issued by bank of scotland plc."

[hatesdebt]

It's also worth noting that bos are to do with lloyds and pass on info. So, if you default on anything to do with bos, but you also have an account with lloyds, bos will report to lloyds, so you could then have issues with them as well.

[bradfordlad]

Just to confirm, Opus is definitely BANK OF SCOTLAND (HBOS Group) rather than ROYAL bank of scotland.

[The abused]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I have now recieved my statement and yes it is Bank of scotland and Lloyds. I did manage to phone their customer services. I will not activate my card but if you keep entering the wrong acc # or details you will eventually get put through.

 

I spoke to a very pleasant English lad (makes a change from an Asian who is difficultto understand to say the least ). To cut a long story short I enquired about removal of promotional rate by CITI. He asked me if I would like it reinstated. Thats very decent of you I replied but it should be back dated to October 08. The promotional rate should not have been removed in the first place. I have written and contacted CITI on many occasion but they do not even have the common courtesy to reply. He said he would put a complaint in on my behalf as I told him I would now need to instruct my solicitor to take legal action for the recovery of overpaid amounts plus interest and costs.

 

As I say the lad was very pleasant and I made my point clear without being aggresive or nasty. I was told my complaint would be looked at and if I had not heard from them by mid January (even just to acknowledge my complaint) then I was to telephone a complaints department #

 

The # is 01268 884160.

 

Interesting points arise here. It may be that you can negotiate a lower rate or perhaps have a promotional rate reinstated. Strangest thing of all is he could not believe the way in which CITI have operated and treated their customers.

 

So time will tell what happens next. Am writing a pleasant letter to OPus underlying the above. Will request how much they purchased my account for and is it their normal procedure to purchase accounts which are in dispute. Do they have a copy of my original CCA agreement. ( CITI dont as they refunded me the £1 I sent way back in February) Perhaps CITI have sent them this. I do hope that they have not been shafted by our colonial cousins but alas it looks like they have.

 

I intend to find who I need to pursue. Do I go through BOS via the courts if necessary or still chase CITI ?

 

I will write to CITI and send a copy with my letter to BOS.

 

Watch this space

[The abused]

I have just recieved a reply from OPUS regarding my complaint, it is as follows;

Thankyou for your recent letter and for giving us an opportunity to deal with the issues raised.

 

I understand that this has been disappointing to you and as I am a specialist in this area of business the information has been passed to me. I should be able to send you a full response within the next 8 weeks.

 

OPUS card uses the Financial services Authority rules when dealing with customers concerns and I encloce a copy of our customer care leaflet which explains how we deal with customers complaints.

 

In the meantime, if you'd like to raise any queries please contact Customer Service on the number below. Our opening times are Monday to Friday 08.00 to 21.00 Saturday 09.00 t0 17.00 and Sunday 10.00 to 18.00

 

Thanks for giving us a chance to deal with your concerns

 

Yours sincerely

 

Carolyn Browse

complaints Investigator

 

Well that is that. The customer care leaflet is very basic.

[The abused]

Still heard nothing from OPUS. It is a pity they dont share the same enthusiasm when you are late on a payment and they write to you, or call all through the day and evening.

[The abused]

Just an update. I recieved a reply from OPUS. it is as follows.

 

In my letter dated the 4th March 2011 we were hoping to give you a full response to your complaint by now.

 

My investigations are going well, although they are taking a little longer than anticipated because I am still investigating the issues you have raised.

 

I'm very sorry that this has taken longer than we both expected. We are making good progress with our investigations, so I hope to get back to you very soon. If you'd like to talk to us about this in the meantime, please contact our customer Services Team on the telephone number below.

 

I hope I have reassured you yhat we are doing all we can to get back to you with a full response.

 

Opus Credit uses the Financial Services Authority rules when dealing with customers concerns and I enclose a copy of our Customer care Leaflet which explains how we deal with customers complaints.

 

Thank you for your patience

 

Yours sincerely

Carolyn Browse

Complaints Investigator

[Velanova]

I"ve already been down that route and had all those letters that tell you absolutely nothing. They just string you along. I lodged my complaint with Citi last October due to a payment made by debit card not being credited to my account thus going into arrears and having charges added due to alleged non-payment. It was a no brainer to investigate since my bank account statement clearly showed the payment had been taken by Citi Card and a letter from my bank also clearly confirmed the payment had been taken and not returned to my account. As of today, 6 months later, I have made zero progress. My complaint has obviously been put in the "too difficult" box and Opus are now saying (having accepted responsibility for the complaint) that it is Citicard's responsibility to deal with the complaint. Well I am not giving up - this is going to cost them a damn site more than the value of the missing payment, I'll make sure of that.

[The abused]

Yes I understand you have been through the route of requesting help. I have explicitly stated in my letters to CITI and OPUS that all correspondence I have sent to them and all replies I recieve from them may be produced in a court of law should it get that far. I have spent well over a year now writing to CITI eventually being fobbed off with they cannot produce a copy of my credit card agreement and it now belongs to OPUS.

 

I have requested from Opus to inform me who is responsible for the repayment of charges applied to my account 2 and a half years ago. I believe OPUS are resonsible. If they have purchased my account from CITI then surely it must be up to them to check they have purchased an account that is not in dispute. If CITI have knowlingly or not unloaded disputed accounts on to OPUS then more fool OPUS.

 

Yes they will try and put you off with delays and bull...t but sooner or later it is going to end up in court. I have no intention of giving up either. It is just a pity that the country is run and governed by spineless individuals who are all too easily influenced by banks. They basically allow banks to do whatever they want. I believe we are almost on our own pursuing what is owing to us with exception of help from this website.