Don't ever take out a loan with Citibank!
I am beyond frustrated. Last year, we got a 6 month forebearance on my Citibank loan for financial reasons. We thought I'd be able to find a job by then, as well as Tom getting a raise- hopefully a good one. When the forebearance was up, we resumed payments, despite the fact that I was pregnant and had still not found a job. Tom has yet to actually recieve his raise, though he was informed it will be 3.5%, which only comes out to $87.50 a month before taxes, but hey, every little bit counts. We should be recieveing it on his next paycheck, at the end of this month. Well, we knew we'd be cutting things close until I got a job, but we still decided to buy a house (we didn't know when we went under contract that we'd be expecting a baby- we found that out about a week later!). Add cost of a fridge. Well, the added costs of prenatal medical care proved to not exactly fit in our budget, but we were still doing ok. But, the car's been overdo on the inspection since May but Tom hadn't been able to fix it (check engine light was on- automatic fail, so...). Well, after about 3 or 4 warning/violations regarding it, we finally just had to take it to the mechanic to get it fixed. we'd already spent $90 on Tom trying to fix it, but then, the mechanic cost another $450. Tom had been paid that day, so he paid through the checking account and said we'd just put the gas and groceries and stuff like that on the credit card and try to keep it as minimal as possible for this month and we'd pay it off as we could. Well, I called Citibank about my student loan, knowing that the $255 a month payment would be a bit much for us right now- we simply don't have that much in our checking or savings and that was 2 weeks ago. After being told that I'd already used up my only allowed forebearance and that I wasn't eligible for deferment, I asked if I could pay with credit card. I was told I could call them and pay with credit card over the phone.
Well, then that's what we decided to do- pay by credit card this month and next month make sure we had the money in our account to pay it with check again. I waited almost 2 weeks to make that call, until today, because we're still expecting an over $300 check from our apartment complex for our security deposit refund and maybe we'd get it in time to pay Citibank by check. My loan payment is due in 2 days- so still enough time to pay by credit card since, unfortunately, the deposit check still hasn't been sent. It may be sent this wednesday, but we don't know. Well, I called the Citibank customer service number and went through their layers of menus and finally got a human and verified all of my identifying information. When ask what he could do for me, I told the man with the thick Indian accent that I wished to pay my loan by credit card. After going around and around "well, you can only pay over the phone with checking account information/debit card" "so can I pay by credit card online?" First he told me yes, but once I'd gone online with him still on the phone (I didn't know where to look and wanted him still on there so that he could help me find this) and looked for myself, he changed his tune and told me no. I could not pay by credit card online. But I could pay with checking account information and have it withdrawn from my account. I told him there is no money in my checking account. There is no money in my savings account. He told me I could pay with paypal using my credit card. I told him there was no money in my paypal account- I would like to pay with my credit card, which I'd been told previously I could do. (By the way, on the website it only gives you the option of paying credit card via paypal if you are an international customer- I am not). He told me I needed to speak to the payment people- and he gave me a number different than the customer service one I had called to get him. I asked him "and they will be able to take my payment by credit card?" He said, and I quote, "yes, they will be able to do that for you."
I hung up and called this other number. After getting through all the menus, it hung up on me. I tried again, and after getting through the menus, it hung up on me again. I tried one last time and - HALLELUJAH! I got a human. I explained my situation. She said she could take my payment with check card. I told her that my checking didn't have any money in it, nor does my savings. She told me that she could not take a credit card payment, only check card over the phone. I asked what my options were to pay by credit card and she said that was not an option- Citibank does not accept credit card payments (perhaps they should have a meeting or something because that other guy, despite the accent, clearly said that they would be able to take my credit card payment if I called this number). Well, I asked if there were any other options- could I get the payment reduced? Could I get it put off at all? She checked my account and told me what I already knew- I'd "already used my one allowable forebearance" and they had no other options for me. No consolidations, no other payment plans- nada, zilch, zip. I'm just trying to be a responsible borrower here- they tell you to let your loan people know if you're having trouble with payments and they'll help! Well, as soon as I knew we would have trouble, I called! I'm doing what I'm supposed to instead of just not bothering to pay! Here, straight from the Citibank website:
Get Relief in Times of Financial Difficulty
If you are experiencing difficulties or unable to repay your federal student loans, you're not alone. As a valued customer, Citi will help you evaluate your options, which may include:
- Choosing a new repayment plan
- Postponing payments with a deferment or forbearance
If you are having difficulties or are unable to pay your private student loans, don't delay in getting help. Contact us immediately when you encounter financial difficulties that inhibit your ability to pay.
Our Specialists are Here to Help!
Please don’t delay! Call us at 1-800-967-2400, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET.
TTY users can call us toll-free at 1-800-846-1298.
Well, I didn't delay, I called immediately. But these people are NOT here to help. They're here to appease you by telling you what you want to hear to get you out of their hair and onto a different customer service employee. There's no acceptable reason why that man should have told me they could take my credit card payment if I called the payment people at this other number (by the way, that number wasn't even a payment number- it was a customer service number with the exact same options/menu/wording as the other number!)
Anyways, when this woman was insistent that there was NO way to pay using a credit card, and that I had no other options to postpone or reduce payment, my comment was "so my only option is default?"
She, at least, apologized for the bad information I had been given previously (the outright lie)...they all "wished they could help" and they try to sound sympathetic, but you know what- they don't really care. They have a job, and it doesn't matter to them that you're scraping the barrel to make payments and that you can't find a job and that you're just doing what you can to try to make a payment. The idea of paying for groceries and gas on a credit card and STILL not being able to pay your loan bill is beyond them. It's not their life and they don't care. If they really wished they could help, they would try to do just that. I understand that they can't go against policy, but if I default, it's really not my fault anymore-I've done what they tell me to- I've gotten in touch to let them know, I've given them the chance to help me figure things out and they have no options.
All we need is a little understanding and a little extra time. Hopefully we'll get our deposit check next week, and we can pay this then- before the late fee is added, and hopefully our eligibility for food stamps and medical assistance for pregnant women will go through and we can use that money starting next month to start chipping away at the credit card bill instead of adding to it. Maybe then we can get back on our feet.
But it just sickens me that if I'm a "valued customer" that they can't find some way to help me out in my times of financial difficulty. and to top it off, that not one, but 2 customer service people would tell me that I could pay by credit card when I could not, in fact, do that. Perhaps if the lady I originally spoke with had told me the truth, I may have been able to scrape up the money before now, somehow, someway.
I wonder if these people make commission on late fees.