Citibank (NYSE: C) CEO Vikram Pandit has recently begun blogging and now disenchanted Citibank customers and other upset consumers are now using Citibank’s “New Citi” blog to voice their distaste for new fees being charged on credit cards, the company’s treatment of its investors and its acceptance of billions worth of taxpayer dollars.
In his blog post, Pandit made the statement that “I hope you’ll take the time to join us in this space and participate in conversations. We welcome your feedback and comments. We promise we’re listening.” Consumers have taken up Pandit on his offer.
Many of the comments were posted by Citibank investors questioning Pandit as to how he would raise the company’s stock price. One commenter that had worked for Citibank put money into Citibank’s stock through his 401K plan at $40.00 per share.
Other customers are using the blog to voice their disgust over new fees that the company is charging.
“Citi recently changed for me. After being a being a dividends card customer for eight years who always paid on time, I was offered a fee of $60 or a choice of spending at least $2400 a year with the card,” said a commenter named Paul.
The comments on Pandit’s blog were not all negative though. Some commenters wrote cautiously optimistic notes. “It’s very rare to see this sort of dedication to a new strategy. Keep up the good work!,” wrote a commenter. Another wrote, “Keep up the hard work Vikram!”
The positive comments were tempered by an accusation that positive comments may have been from Citibank employees themselves rather from customers or investors.
A Citibank representative has responded to a number of the comments on Pandit’s first blog post, largely related to investment issues.
