09 August 2010, 00:02 / Finance

Citibank invented a manager for itself

For two decades now, a mysterious character named Larson has been communicating with millions of Citibank credit card holders, and none of the clients have been able to trace him. Tatyana Seyranyan

Letters from S. Larson from "customer service" come from the city of Sioux Falls. Citi employs 3,200 people in its local building. But when clients call the secretary asking to speak to S. Larson, the latter never picks up. Citing "respect for privacy and security," Citibank would not disclose information about S. Larson other than to say it is "very proud of the man."

Inquisitive clients

Danny Sullivan is 45 years old. He has been a Citi customer since his college days and runs a blog on search engines. According to him, Google only talks about S. Larson as “a genderless, non-aging, non-job-changing, non-climbing Citibank employee.” “Why does S. Larson still have the same job?” asks Deb Angie, 46, who has been receiving his letters since the 1980s.

Larry Russell from California complained to S. Larson four years ago that the interest on his loan had jumped from 2.99% to 32.31%. S. Larson replied that he had no right to demand reimbursement of losses. Russell tried to call Larson. “Eventually I was told that S. Larson was not a real person. It’s a name chosen by the system,” Russell said.

Mentions of colleagues

A former Citi employee said he remembers Sue Larson working with him. In April of this year, when one of the clients tried to send a complaint, the secretary asked her to send a letter to Steve Larson. Two people on Sullivan's blog said they received letters from Citi with the transcript being Sandy Larson. Another customer said the letter was signed by “Customer Services President S. Larson.” In October, one of Larson's colleagues at Citi said in a blog post that "Sandy was his best friend." Another colleague from Citi's customer service department wrote, "Instead of constantly complaining about S. Larson, maybe you should make your loan payments on time to avoid receiving emails from her."

The benefits of secrecy

There are 167 people in the Sioux Fall phone book with the last name Larson, but only Sandra Larson with a first name starting with C. Her number triggers an answering machine: “Hi, I’m at the bank today, I just walked away from my desk. If you are interested in opening a Citi account or getting a check refund, you will need to dial a different number. Otherwise, leave your name and phone number and I will call you back.” But he never calls back.

According to Kitty Brady, a former Citi employee in New York, banks often resort to creating fictional characters to deal with clients. “This position is too difficult: clients often get angry.”