Citibank's action upsets Melisa

      After she was given her credit card from Citibank in June, Melisa Tan, 31, decided to get a sub-card from her 61-year-old father who is self-employed.    But her application was rejected. 
     When she called up the bank to find out the reason, the customer service officer who spoke to her refused to tell, saying "they are unable to disclose the reason and there is no department which can help me on this''.
     Melisa was obviously unhappy and decided to return her credit card and to "cancel all services with them."
     On July 11, after she received her statement, she called up customer service again to enquire whether she needed to pay the bills straightaway or
"wait for the final settlement since I had already asked to close my account".
     The officer she spoke to was surprised when Melisa told her that she had already asked for her card to be cancelled.
     Apparently, the bank record did not show any cancellation request.
    Melisa recounted: "I was obviously upset and I asked her whether I had to pay the bills or wait for final settlement.
    "She told me to wait for final settlement.  And so I waited. Then a couple of days ago, I received a call from Citibank regarding my outstanding payment.
     "I told this officer what I was advised to do. He was surprised and told me that if I did not pay I would have to pay interest. So I told him to get his manager to call me as it wasn't my fault.
      ''An hour later, a woman called, saying that she was a senior staff and wanted to explain. I told her that  I only wanted to speak to her manager, someone who could make decisions.
      ''The manager called me an hour later. She told me to make payment by next week as this account was an outstanding account in their system and there would be interest incurred.
      "She said that if I made the payment by next week and called her after that she could help me waive the interest."
      Melisa questioned why she should even pay interest "since I was only heeding their advice."
      Two days ago, the manager called to repeat what she had told Melisa ---  interest would be waived but only after she had made thepayment.
    Citibank had obviously made a mistake by not carrying out Melisa's instruction. For that, it should have apologised first before proceeding to ensure that Melisa paid her bills.
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