Good-bye Citicard Bonus Cash Center - Hello Chase Freedom!

I've been a a one-credit card gal for the last 2+ years. It all started with a 5% cashback Platinum Dividend Citicard - which I continued to use even after the drop to 2% cashback in early 2007 - and I've stuck with it, through a mixture of convenience and laziness. But I'm finally over it. There's something inherently untrustworthy about a company (yes, even a credit card company) that sells customers a "Bonus Cash Center," but won't credit you properly when you use it.

For those unfamiliar with the Dividend card, Citi offers: 2% back on gas, utilities, supermarkets & convenience stores; 1% on everything else; and unlimited cash back if you shop through their online Bonus Cash Center. Unlimited cash back offers include: 1% cash back at eBay; 6% at Target.com, Nike.com, and Puma.com; and 7% at Fossil.com. Participating merchants include Ann Taylor, Gap, Old Navy, Kohl's, Timberland and Walmart. Great selection, right? If only Citi kept their word to their customers.

I've used Citi's Bonus Cash Center 10 times since October 2006, when my LuckyRewards (a similar scheme) expired. What, you ask, are the fruits of customer loyalty to Citicard? Out of the 10 times I used the Bonus Cash Center:

• Times I had to email/chase credit: 8
• Times credit was denied (even though I provided an e-receipt & waited the requisite 6-8 weeks for credit): 4
• Times I was credited properly sans exertion: 2

What's the point of a cashback card when I have to chase the credit I was promised? And the worst part is that once, I made a purchase 10/25/06 and wasn't credited until 8/20/2007 - 10 months later! Talk about an abysmal waste of time. Pffft to Citicard...you get a commission everytime I use your referral link, why don't you pay some of that forward! I'm officially off the Citicard bandwagon. My new credit card? Chase's Freedom card.