but I think it's an urban legend...

Citibank and Death

This is too funny! It takes all kinds to make the world go round. Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die. This is easy to see happening, customer service being what it is....

My Aunt died this past January. Citi Bank billed her for February and March for their monthly service charge on her credit card, and then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge...the balance had been $0.00...now it was somewhere around $60.00

I placed the following phone call to CitiBank:

Me: "I am calling to tell you that she died in January."

CitiBank: "The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply."

Me: "Maybe, you should turn it over to collections"

CitiBank: "Since it is 2 months past due, it already has been."

Me: "So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?"

CitiBank: "Either report her account to the frauds division, or report her to the credit bureau maybe both!"

Me: "Do you think God will be mad at her?"

CitiBank:"...excuse me .?"

Me: "Did you just get what I was telling you.... the part about her being dead?"

CitiBank: "Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor!" (Supervisor gets on the phone)

Me: ''I'm calling to tell you, she died in January."

CitiBank: "The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply."

Me: "You mean you want to collect from her estate?"

CitiBank: ".....(stammer)" .... "Are you her lawyer?"

Me: "No, I'm her great nephew." (Lawyer info given...)

CitiBank: "Could you fax us a certificate of death?"

Me: "Sure." ( Fax number is given )

( After they get the fax. ) CitiBank: "Our system just isn't setup for death"

Me: "Oh..." CitiBank: "I don't know what more I can do to help..."

Me: "Well... if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her...I suppose...don't really think she will care...."

CitiBank: "Well...the late fees and charges do still apply."

Me: "'Would you like her new billing address?" CitiBank: "That might help."

Me: "Odessa Memorial Cemetery (### Hwy 129 and plot number given.)

CitiBank: "Sir, that's a cemetery!"

Me: "What do you do with dead people on your planet?

hehe .. :D

If that's true then my respect for humanity just dropped a couple notches. :D A very funny read though. lol

Hehehe. [img]smile.gif[/img]
"But sir, that's a cemetary!" [img]graemlins/1drool.gif[/img]
Funny.

whoa... i needed this. [img]smile.gif[/img] thanks man

Ehehe, the ending was quite funnny indeed.

Haha, yes, the ending was the best part :D

Unfortunately, frustrating conversations of that sort happen all the time. Death is sooo inconvenient.

Correction: people are sooo inconvenient ;)

[ 06-27-2004, 05:45 PM: Message edited by: JrKASperov ]

Indeed. As I work for my dad's funeral home, I have to say, death is quite inconvenient. Especially for people who dont get the idea, and upset the family more by not respecting their time of mourning and such. (though i do understand this happened a time back) Some people are just extremely unthoughtful! :shakes head, sadly:

[ 06-27-2004, 09:22 PM: Message edited by: Dron_Cah ]

I am a collector for a hospital. Though my focus is on insurances, sometimes I have to call the patient. I've had plenty of large claims where the patient died (we are predominantly a trauma facility, so we get all of the gunshots, stabbings, auto accidents, etc.). A lot of times, the insurance will send a letter to the patient requesting information, often about a week or two after sending the claim in (which is within 2 weeks of death). Thus, within a month of the person dying, they are harassing the patient's family for information. And as soon as I find out they are awaiting information, I start calling the patient's family, too. Thus, they have 2 separate organizations bugging them for information, and they are barely getting used to the idea that their loved one is gone. So yes, death is quite inconvenient...

Oh, and if we get no answer (either the patient has no family or there is no response), then we do turn them over to collections. :D You can collect from the estate, especially if you have a lien. The conversation with Citibank is an exaggeration, but not much of one. I talk to underpaid phone representatives all the time at work, and they are usually pretty bureaucratic (i.e. they give the same preset responses). That is what that is making fun of.

[ 06-29-2004, 07:36 AM: Message edited by: Nerull ]

LOL.... bankers, all they want is money [img]tongue.gif[/img] (no offense to any one who works in a bank).