CitiBank Sucks – 7 Days Late And I’m Insulted

I Forgot My Payment So CitiBank’s Online System Insults Me

I’m not as organized as I could be. My Citibank credit card payment was due a few days ago (February 12th), and I forgot it.

Realizing this, I immediately went to Citibank’s website, logged in, and attempted to make a payment. Unfortunately, Citibank wasn’t going to let me off that easy. Instead, I had to answer a long survey that forced me to choose between a lot of options that weren’t applicable, and frankly, it was more than a little insulting.

I blog about this because it’s a great example of “How To Irritate Your Online Customers” that businesses everywhere can learn from.

Citibank Screw-up Lesson 1: You Can’t Control My Experience

When I logged in to make a payment, none of the normal payment menu options worked. Instead, I was forced to choose between one of two options:

No problems so far. The only question is, why? It seems like all of those options would be available in a normal menu. Since I have no need for “Special Arrangements”, I selected to “make minimum payment/pay current balance.” Here’s what I saw next (and what really, really irritated me):

NONE of those options applied to me. I didn’t lose my job. I didn’t decide to skip this payment. I just freaking forgot. Instead of paying the $40 late fee and moving on with my life, I have to tell CitiBank all about my recent personal experiences.

Of course, I stopped right here. I picked up the phone and spoke with a very nice woman at Citibank who agreed that this system is, in her words “pretty ridiculous.”

The lesson: When you try and force website visitors to do something, often times they simply abandon the process. If your blog requires me to register before I can comment, or if I can’t buy from your online store without registration, guess what? I’m leaving.

Citibank Screw-up Lesson 2: Required Questions Can Block Form Completion

You’ll note from the screen cap above that I’m required to say why my payment is late. I think it’s ridiculous to ask this of a person who’s barely 1 week behind the ball, but so be it. Unfortunately, my answer “I forgot” is not on the list.

The same goes for the questions Citibank asks about “changes in my financial situation” and “my source of funds.” [Seriously? I'm SEVEN DAYS LATE.]

I couldn’t answer half of the questions honestly because my answers weren’t represented. The only way to get through this form was to lie.

Lessons:

1. If you’re making a field on a form required, do your best to make sure all the possible answers are represented. I would have been much more likely to go through the questionnaire above had Citibank given options that I could feel comfortable answering.
2. If you’re making people answer a question but not giving them all the possible answers, expect them to lie.
3. An “other” option seems like it should be required for a complicated survey like this one.

Citibank Screw-up Lesson 3: Customer Service Is Not On Board

As I said, when confronted by a complicated survey that required me to answer a bunch of questions (some of which would have required me to lie), I skipped the survey and called instead. The phone call was nice – I would name my customer service person, but I’m afraid she would get in trouble. She was immediately apologetic when she found out why I was calling, and very, very nice. She told me that a lot of people have complained, and that when one customer read her the online form, she couldn’t believe it.

Lesson: Your customer service team should be in lock-step with your company policies. If they’re not, either the customer service people need training or the policy needs changed.

Citibank Screw-Up Lesson 4: No Way To Complain To The Relevant Party

I asked who I could talk to about this problem, and I was told that my customer service rep’s boss was available. However, I was also told that this person couldn’t really do much besides apologize. I was also given the number for Citibank’s “Electronic Services Team,” (or something like that), but was told they wouldn’t do much to help me either.

That’s right folks – customer service told me that complaining wouldn’t do any good.

Lesson: When your customers feel ignored, they will respond by going online and complaining about your business (just like I’m doing here).

So that’s my diatribe – hopefully some people read this and recognize some mistakes they might be making online…maybe even Citibank will read it.

By the way, for the 6 people the regularly read this blog: You’ll be glad to hear that I paid the account off today. The Lancaster household is getting by well enough – no need to worry.