Citibank

Just wasted my lunch hour trying to resolve my dad’s estate account, had to leave without anyone helping, will try another branch I guess. Signed in, spoke to a «banker», said only the manager could help and she would be out in a couple minutes. No problem, I thought. My dad was crazy to complain about Citi incessantly — this is going ok!
40 minutes later I had to leave — absolutely no intent to help me, manager nowhere to be seen.
They seem to be very good with small clients that like to bicker in several languages about credit card terms, interest that is off by 2 pennies, and the like. Half million dollar accounts, pffft — take your business elsewhere.
Which actually reminds me — the one time I set up autopay for my dad a few months ago to have them pay the water bill? They paid it, THEN pulled the money back later for no reason and didn’t tell us. So there I am, on a Friday night in Walmart, paying the bill (in cash) trying to avoid having his tenants from having the water shut off Saturday money.
What a horrible bank… how do they keep clients???

Very helpful and friendly staff! Excellent service. My family had mostly with Colleen to do, but have also very good experiences with all the other staff members that we dealt with so far. Relaxed and nice atmosphere at this bank.

I’ve only been here once, but it seems like their customer service could use a lot of work. I got what I needed completed, but will avoid this location in the future.

It’s a clean and open bank buuttt they are incredibly slow. Every time I come, there are people on the window chatting it up while the line moves glacially slow.

I was in a hard situation financially and Cindy Cadea (The branch manager) pulled some strings and really helped me out. Would definitely recommend opening an account here as their service is very prompt and personalized which is hard to find at other banks.

I bank with Citibank, but no more. I recently sold a property and always liked Citibank because they provided notary services at no charge.
When I went in to get some documents notarized (after getting time off work), I was told to sign-​in and that an associate would be with me shortly.
After half an hour went by, I decided to check back in with the manager who had suggested I sign in.
I was told that the person in charge of providing notary services did not bring their «kit» into work today, and I would have to go somewhere else.
No apology or accountability for apology for having wasted thirty minutes of my time, having me log in and then wait for something that they were unable to provide.
When I tried to confirm whether or not Citibank offers this service as part of its «pitch» to customers, she looked disinterested and didn’t reply.
Meanwhile I lost my lunch hour.
Add to that Citibank has cut all branch hours from 9 — 5 to 10 — 5. How does that fit with someone who works normal business hours?
I went in at 10 AM to discover a line of eight people and only two tellers working. The customer in front of me tried to voice a complaint about the new hours, explaining she works and getting to the bank now requires her to take time off work.
She was given a typical robotic, corporate response and in frustration finally ended up saying, «please just pass this on to the corporation– we know you can’t fix it, but you can relay your customers frustrations up the chain.»
Banks are making as much as ever, so why can’t they spend a little money and extend hours or supply enough tellers to service their customers?
«Money, money, money…»

Don’t walk — run from this bank branch. I walked in to cash an automated CITIBANK check and was told they would not cash the check even though it was a CITIBANK check. I was told they don’t cash checks over 5K by the manager — a week later I tried to cash another automated CITIBANK check for 2K — again the manager would not cash their own check. You would have to be crazy to deposit a dime at this branch — worst managed bank, and I use the term bank loosely — not even sure it’s legal — incompetent manager !! PS there is a Chase Bank next store…

As if Citibank didn’t already have banking hours by closing at 5pm as to 6pm like BofA, chase, etc they now open at 10am instead of 9. One would think that since your opening an hour later that you would have more then one teller opening as you’d have a line of customers who have been waiting. I currently stand 4^th in line with 5 customers waiting behind me.
Don’t waste your time with Citibank

The bad reviews makes it kind of scary to open an account at Citi, but judge for yourself!
I’ve been to this branch many times and I haven’t had one bad experience yet. Kenny is simply amazing! He can help you with anything you need and will do everything to get it done, including but not limited to staying over an hour after the bank closed! I didn’t realize that the bank was closed so I just kept talking to him and getting what I needed done as normal. Not once did he try to push me out the door. I only found it when I was leaving and they had to unlock the door for me to leave. That’s when I checked the hours and felt horrible for keeping him after hours. Definitely check this branch out and deciding for yourself!

Echoing what Miranda K. has written, Kenny makes my day. To make a long story short and simplify things, I’ve been dealing with monthly service charges since I signed up for the wrong account. Every month, I call Citibank and so far, Kenny’s been the one person who has been helping me deal with them. Kenny has been spectacular. He’s efficient, helpful and friendly, and he looks out for his customers. Recently, he suggested that I convert my account into a student account to avoid these charges, which aren’t very fun for students. I agreed to it, and all is well. (I previously didn’t want to convert it due to… well, like I said, it’s complicated.)
Now, Kenny gets a happy customer and doesn’t have to answer my monthly queries of getting refunded for these charges. Now, if Kenny worked for the DMV instead, I wouldn’t need to take anxiety pills or go to anger management classes before dealing with those folks…

I have had a great experience every time I have come into this branch. I am always greeted when I enter and the customer service has always been amazing, at both the teller and the bankers. Happy I chose this bank.

Oh no! I can’t believe that this Citi bank branch has such a horrible rating!
I actually cancelled my Bank of America and Chase bank accounts to devote my loyalty to Citibank, and honestly it is because of a banker named Kenny. I opened a Citibank account two years ago because it is the only bank that does international transfers for free if you have an account in that location as well (say, Hong Kong).
Two years later, the tellers here know me by name and always greet me with water when I come in. Kenny pulls all the stops to make sure that I get as much thank you points as possible with my accounts (we are talking upwards 5 figures thank you points, people). Kenny would stay past 7pm on a Friday to get rid of fraud charges on my credit card. My credit score is at the top 90% percentile because of Kenny. Most of all, Kenny is honest — he tells me that Citibank has one of the worst interest rates (as with most commercial banks), and advices me to take my money elsewhere!
Honestly, to the other Unilocalers, I feel bad that they had such a horrible experience — maybe I luck out because I ONLY talk to Kenny (I email or call the branch asking for him) whenever I have problems. I have no idea how the services are with other bankers. All I know is that I have referred all my friends and family to Kenny, and they are all really happy with my referral.
So, Unilocalers, if you want to open a Citibank account, or just complain about your Citibank account — go to Kenny and tell them I sent you. You will be greeted with a bottle of water and a genuine smile — I guarantee it!

I’ve banked with Citibank now since I moved to San Diego. I use their checking account and savings account services so pretty basic.
I love that you can deposit cash into their ATM and I love that you can mobile deposit checks, but that seems to be all banks now.
I will say that as a spare change collector, this branch does NOT have a change counter so you have to get paper and roll any change yourself. Coinstar is great but who wants to pay a fee for their own money?
I’ll also say they have typical bank hours which is difficult if you work far from a branch and they have normal «business» hours. I find myself taking advantage of their Saturday hours frequently.

I had a issue with Cititbank thankyou points vanishing from my account. Unknown to me, when a transfer occurs with thankyou points from your checking account to your Citibank credit card account those points ‘EXPIRE’ in 90 days from the date of the transfer. In all fairness to the La Jolla branch, I did the point transfer at the Mission Valley branch, and was told none of the fine print details. No email, no letter from Citibank what so ever to WARN me that my points where about to expire. So I found out the hard way, points vanished when I went to use them. I called the Citi Thankyou points 800 number, told them my situation, and they said they would mail me the decision if they where going to credit my account for 30,000 points. 4 weeks latter no response, never heard from them again. Talked to the Mission Valley Citibank Manager and got a lot of double talk.
This is where SUPER «CINDY» at the «La Jolla branch 8813 Villa La Jolla Dr.» comes in to save the day. I had originally dealt with another banking issue, and she was all over it. so I remembered her name. She’s always friendly, prompt, and even gives you a phone call direct for a progress report .
That’s what happened again, as she got my 30,000 thankyou points credited after jumping through a few hoops. She’s redeemed Citibank through my eyes.
BRAVO, CINDY, thanks (accounts dept.)
8813 Villa La Jolla Dr
La Jolla, CA branch

I will NEVER go back to this citibank branch… the Asian male teller always ruins my day. There’s always a reason why they can’t do something and they make everything more inconvenient than it should be. In January, my roommate accidentally dated her rent check 2010 out of habit and the teller would not let me deposit it, I walked out the door right up to the ATM, changed the date and had no problems depositing it there. They are ALWAYS out of check envelopes for the ATM so when they’re closed, you can’t do anything. Today, I tried to deposit a deposit refund check that was made out my mom and I. My mom was a co-​signer on the lease so that’s why her name was on the check. The teller told me I could not deposit the check even after I explained the situation and the fact that she lives in Tennessee and we are never in the same place… I am definitely switching banks ASAP.

Branch Manager Karen is more like an angel when it comes to customer service. Her help was a big deal when I was applying for a home loan in January of 2011. Thank you very much Karen!

(Letter Dated Feb 8, 2010)
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –
Dear Chun,
Thank you for choosing Citibank. We value your business and want to update you on some important changes to your account.
Why We Are Writing To You:
We are writing to you as a reminder that effective February 1, 2010, your monthly service fee and monthly per check fees are no longer waived for having direct deposit or two qualifying online bill payments. However, when you maintain $ 1500 in combined checking, savings, money market, and CD balances each month the monthly service and per check fees will be waived…
Sincerely,
Debbie Gabor
Director of Personal Banking
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –
Dear Debbie (If you are reading this),
So long, farewell, good bye, adiós, a’vour, ciao ciao, cyonara! The only great thing I liked about Citi was that you had an ATM in every 7-​Eleven, which I found convient. You also found it convient NOT to mention that the monthly checking fee is $ 9.50 per month, or $ 114 per year. That potentially amounts to 1 good night at a strip club, 2 decent dinners for two, 4 tanks of gas, 28.5 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, 57 bottles of Two Buck Chuck, or 114 McDouble Cheeseburgers.
And why would I want to maintain $ 1500 at your pathetic 0.1% interest rate? I keep my real savings at

and
…over 1% interest rates, no fees and no minimums.
And you’re very welcome for my taxpayer bailout money.
And I’ll be over at Chase Bank from now on.
And if you need to reach me, my new number is 1−800-YOU-RMOM.
Sincerely,
Chun

I’ve gone here occasionally over the past few years.
Not the best. If I knew of another Citibank branch nearby, I’d probably go there instead.
Service isn’t terrible, but it’s a bank — service should never be terrible where you store a lot of your money.
Instead I just have to be extra careful and prepared when I come.
Don’t come within a half hour of 5pm — they are in a rush to get you all out of there. And what happens if they do this?
— My deposit is handled at a desk with a simple calculator and pen. Yes, my «receipt» was a handwritten piece of paper with numbers scribbled on. The teller’s name was not given to me, so who’s to say what happened to my money if something goes wrong***? (She said: «It[The deposit] will show up online»)
***Something went wrong next time. Also close to 5pm, this time my teller deposited the wrong amount (less). The numbers were very simple, and I probably wouldn’t have caught the mistake if it weren’t so obvious. She said very casually «Oh I get so tired at this time in the day» … wow that makes me feel really good about handing you my money.
I think I’ll look up another branch now.
Oh yea. Maybe then don’t like 20-​something year olds? Do we not have enough money to be taken seriously? I’ve had smaller issues at this place, nothing huge, but at this point I’m tired of dealing with them.

Why is the service here horrible? WHYYYYY?
ok, the teller service is normal– and compared to other banks I admit it’s convenient to not have to fill out those silly forms with the amount of money you want to deposit.
but if you make a mistake with my credit card and then lie to me about the special promotion AND i catch the lie and I come back to complain, don’t try to make up excuses and shift blame-​just admit your mistakes! a simple apology would have sufficed, but it angers me when you sit there making up excuses and then offer to get me extra points on my rewards WITHOUT ASKING FOR MY NAME before I leave. and yes, I did notice that you gave another customer a free water bottle because you ALSO made a mistake with his account — but offered me nothing. nice customer service there.