Citibank Complaint: Transaction issue

#1805571 25 Feb 2016

Credit card

Complaint #1805571 submitted on 02/25/2016 relating to Citibank. Complaint relates to Credit card - Transaction issue .

Complaint was submitted via Web and sent to the company on Thursday 25th February 2016.

Narrative (may be redacted).

I visited a Sears store near me to inquire about the purchase of a cooking range. The sales associate convinced me to purchase the range that day and told me he could get me 5 % off if I used my Sears Card, which I did. The total purchase was going to be {$2500.00} and I informed him my credit limit on the card was {$1800.00}. The sales associate suggested we run the transaction to see if it goes through. It did and I assumed that the credit limit on the account was raised or the transaction was deemed okay. However, I received an email later that my credit card was over limit. As someone who monitors my credit rating carefully, I became concerned that the sales person 's actions could potentially harm my credit rating with an over limit report. I called Sears Credit ( a Citigroup company ) and was told that warranties and services are not counted toward the credit limit and they can put me over my credit limit when making a purchase. And they told me that the over limit status would be reported to the credit bureaus. Furthermore, they told me that I now owed {$750.00} plus the minimum payment in order to bring my balance below the credit limit. I feel this is a trap and puts the consumer in a very bad position. Not only did Sears knowingly allow me to cause harm to my credit rating, they also put me in a potentially harmful financial position. If I did not have the ability to pay the card down by the next billing cycle, I 'd be in a very difficult financial situation. Regardless, I will have a blip on my credit report regarding the over credit limit. Sears 's position is that I should have known their credit practices and the fact that services and warranty charges allow consumers to exceed their credit limit, which may potentially harm them. How was I supposed to know this and what is a credit limit for? And how can Sears take the position that they have no responsibility in this situation? Sears is wrong. I should have been informed at the time of transaction that what the sales associate was doing could potentially harm me. Please do something about this.

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