In Memoriam: Citibank Customer Care

My friend Marc Berman, the author of PROGRAMMING INSIDER, is as detailed and passionate a champion for keeping alive memories and respect for content and personalities that would otherwise be forgotten.  So the fact that a Sony digi-net, getTV, recently hired him to help them get their social media straight is both earned and apropos, a rarity these days.

But he’s got other things on his mind today.  Namely, the inexcusably horrid behavior of Citibank and their sadly deaf CEO Jane Fraser.

Since Marc’s also a superb storyteller, I’ll let him take it from here.  Straight from his Linked In:

Two months have passed since Citibank recklessly wired my daughter’s savings to a hacker. They blame her, now citing she fell victim to a scam and they are not responsible. Not one of its top executives will respond. And they continue to fail to recognize that SIM Card Swap is becoming a national epidemic. I will continue to fight. And I ask for your support. Be very wary if you bank with this financial institution. The pain they have caused us is absolutely impossible to live with.

Recently, his local NBC station picked up on the story, featuring his daughter in the story, though neglecting to specifically call out Citibank:

I am grateful to Lynda Baquero from WNBC’s “Better Get Baquero” segment, who was here earlier this week to help in our quest to get Citibank to return Jackie’s money. Jackie is a victim of SIM card swap scam. She is not the criminal. Please share this.
Turns out Jackie isn’t the only one this has happened to that I know.  Another social media friend, a corporate marketing executive, documented an eerily similar experience, where she too lost thousands of dollars through wire transfer and, once again, has found Citibank to be deaf, dumb and non-responsive.
And where, might you ask, is Citibank’s CEO Jane Fraser through all of this?  Why, delivering a stirring speech to the NYU Stern School graduates of 2022 on–wait for it–empathy!!  How it “can serve as a competitive advantage in one’s career and life”.
Respectfully, Ms. Fraser, are you f—in’ kidding?!?!??!?
Maybe to you mere thousands of dollars is what you’d offer in valet tips, or in the neighborhood of what NYU paid you to vamp for fifteen minutes of your valuable time.  To Jackie Berman and others, it’s their life savings.  Unless Jane plans on running for a Republican nomination any time soon, I honestly don’t know how she can live with herself.
Marc has asked those of us equally irate to share this story, and so I am.  Fortunately, I don’t have a dime of my vast fortune tied up with them.  Rest assured I never will.  My bank isn’t perfect, but it sure isn’t like this.
Maybe, just maybe, if enough people raise enough of a ruckus some menial underling of hers will be able to crack her sneering veneer and simply get these nice people the peace of mind and security of life that they deserve.  What, there’s not enough other tsurris going on in this world already?
Do as you see fit.  Keep your money somewhere else.  Drop Jane a note perhaps.
Years ago, when the company sponsored local New York baseball, their catch phrase was “The Citi Never Sleeps”.
Jane Fraser, it’s time for you to wake the f–k up.
Until next time…

2 thoughts on “In Memoriam: Citibank Customer Care”

  1. Thank you Steve. So many people have reached out. At this point I know of about 10 people who pulled their money out of Citibank. I have tried countless times to contact Jane Fraser, as well as the other senior Citibank staff members. No one will respond. Their Executive Response Unit has banned both my daughter and I from emailing them and have told us the case is closed. I am here to say this is far from over and I will not stop fighting and educating the public about Citibank.

    We have another TV appearance coming and we have sought outside council. In all my years, and that is many, I have never experienced anything like this. I will not stop until Jackie’s money is returned. And I am here to warn everyone to steer clear of Citibank. This financial organization is an absolute atrocity.

    Reply

  2. Does the FDIC insurance cover them should they reimburse? Didn’t the Obama era bankingg remorms change to cover fraud on debit cards?
    Other banks would have honored this.

    Reply

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