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So this past Feb I opened a bank account at Citibank for the sole purpose of getting a new account bonus. $150 after keeping a $5,000 balance for 150 days. Not bad in these days of crappy interest & with a big bank, so i figure it's easy money. The August statement comes: balance still $5000 with a few cents in interest. I figure maybe i counted the days wrong. Sept statement comes: still no bonus bucks.

So i go to the branch today (because i can't reach a person on the shitty phone system) and the bank officer guy nods his head as I tell him why I'm there. He's not surprised because he's had several people come in lately for the same thing! So he puts an 'inquiry' in and i should get a response from the bank within 9 business days.

He says its probably just a glitch. Yea - I'm sure its a glitch. Never have those glitches in favor of the little cat. I can't believe such a big bank is dicking around with the few dollars I'm owed.

So this past Feb I opened a bank account at Citibank for the sole purpose of getting a new account bonus. $150 after keeping a $5,000 balance for 150 days. Not bad in these days of crappy interest & with a big bank, so i figure it's easy money. The August statement comes: balance still $5000 with a few cents in interest. I figure maybe i counted the days wrong. Sept statement comes: still no bonus bucks. So i go to the branch today (because i can't reach a person on the shitty phone system) and the bank officer guy nods his head as I tell him why I'm there. He's not surprised because he's had several people come in lately for the same thing! So he puts an 'inquiry' in and i should get a response from the bank within 9 business days. He says its probably just a glitch. Yea - I'm sure its a glitch. Never have those glitches in favor of the little cat. I can't believe such a big bank is dicking around with the few dollars I'm owed.

(post is archived)

[–] • 2 pts

I was about to talk shit but than I did the math and 3% guaranteed after less than half a business year is actually pretty good.

[–] • 1 pt

Sorry that you agreed to that binding arbitration clause, to be held in Israel, now, huh?

[–] • 0 pt

Do you not have an "ombudsman" or regulatory body for the bank?

Small claims court?

I've never had to deal with this before, but I've found that the fastest and most effective way to handle this kind of shit is to go straight for the big guns. It doesn't cost anything to send an email.

[–] • 0 pt

I did get the money within 14 days of bringing it to the branch officer's attention. No apology or anything, just a form letter in the mail saying 'according to our records you qualify for $X in bonus bucks which has been posted to your account'. Then I closed the account & moved those funds elsewhere.

I was just amazed/appalled that such a big bank could do this - and i wasn't the only one who had to request the bonus bucks per the branch officer.

[–] • 1 pt

Thanks for a follow-up to the story!

I think it's pretty common/expected.

They budget that when they put out the offer, only X% will remember the offer that initially made them sign up, and only Y% of those will have the audacity to chase it up properly. Many people will just say it's "not worth their time or the hassle", and yet others will keep the account open long enough to more than make up $150 as the bank lends their money out with interest.