Chief – would you believe……………. it was all because of Costco?

For the past two days, I’ve spent at least one hour per day on hold trying to phone Citibank. I want to cancel one of my credit cards (Premier), and would also like to set a travel alert for another credit card (Prestige), as I’m going away tomorrow.  The wait was inordinate.

Was the phone broken? I have never before experiences such long hold times with Citibank.

Finally, I phoned Citigold, even though I did not have a banking or brokerage issue. The representative tried to contact the credit card department for me, but the result was the same. Wait. Wait. Wait. And Nothing.

And then I learned what the real issue is: Citibank’s phones are ringing off the hook because everyone is signing up for the new Costco credit cards!!

And then I decided to try a workaround – instead of calling the phone number on the back of the Premier card, I called the phone number on the back of the Prestige card.

877-288-2484

The Citibank Prestige rep was able to help me with my travel alert and went on to connect me with the appropriate department.  After quite a few frustrating disconnects, and listening to Citibank’s frustrating jingle for longer than should be legal, I finally spoke to the appropriate department.  I was informed that the Thank You points allocated to the Premier card will expire 60 days from cancellation, so I decided to wait a few weeks before cancelling the card.

Usually, I am quite satisfied with Citibank’s customer service. Today was not one of those days.

And now, I have to go home and pack.