Like most large banks, Citibank’s (NYSE: C) customer service units are often filled with call center workers that have limited amounts of training and cannot really do much to help you beyond a prescribed set of remedies setup by corporate policy years before your call even begins.
Citibank’s customer service isn’t any worse than any other major banks, but it still leaves room to be desired for those trying to get their finances in order. The Consumerist recently covered the story of a Citibank customer that hoped to have his credit card rewards automatically transferred to his account rather than via check to save him some time and prevent the bank from wasting paper, but it appeared that no one in Citibank’s call structure had the authority or competence to make that happen, and issued his rewards via check instead.
If you find yourself in a situation with Citibank where the regular customer service line isn’t helping you, there’s a special executive line that you can call. Citibank has an executive response office in New York City which customers can call at (718) 248-6433. The head of Citibank’s crisis response unit is Rudy Guerrerro, whose direct line is (210) 677-7284.
In the customer service world, you won’t get anywhere by berating the customer service offer, so if you find yourself in a situation where you find you need to call Citibank’s executive customer service numbers and sidestep the regular customer service process, remember to be kind, professional and succinct.
