Consumer complaint received 2023-04-02
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: AZ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: You never received your bill or did not know a payment was due

Complaint:
10+ years ago, I opened an NFL Extra Points branded credit card with the very reputable XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX Initially, I used the card much more frequently, but in recent years I rarely make use of it. Annually, there was a single small recurring charge - I assumed it to be an annual fee. Upon opening the account, I established automatic bill payment, so it was always immediately paid off. 


Sometime in XXXX, this particular portfolio of cards was purchased, unbeknownst to me, by Comenity Bank. One annoying trait of XXXX was their propensity to send me wholly unsolicited, repeated mailers containing enticements to take advantage of their convenience check/balance transfer offerings. The frequency with which I would receive these letters, in tandem with the decade-long stasis produced by the automatic payment system, meant that I increasingly normalized delayed reading/reviews of any mail received for this card. 


On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a suspect voicemail from a XXXX XXXX phone number I did not recognize. The voicemail informed me that they would like me to return their call regarding some undisclosed item of business. Living in an age of constant phishing scams, I resisted immediately returning the call and instead made a note to look at any mail I'd received from the company that might give credence to the call. 


A week or so later, I opened a letter and saw that there was a, purportedly overdue, outstanding balance. I immediately called to find out what was happening. When I called in, I was sent to their collections division. The woman answering the call was extremely rude. I eventually was able to find out that the credit line had been sold to Comenity and that a small recurring subscription fee- under {$90.00} - had been charged to the account. 


When I questioned why it wasn't simply paid automatically, the woman - again - became very rude with me. My response - given the frustration and surprise of the situation- was to respond with a similar level of rudenessher response was to literally scream at me and then hang up. 


I tried to call back on two separate occasions in order to address the situation. Each time, identical responses- grievously rude collections employee, escalation as I attempted to make a payment, and disconnected calls. Because this is a new bank that was forced upon me, there was no ability for me to use online facilities. I finally was able to find a way to pay using a debit card and an absurdly complicated telephone payment system. 


Before I was able to find a way to pay this statement, the disreputable representative employees of this company : - Charged me {$120.00} in fees- Reported my account as delinquent - causing my credit score to tumble by over 100 points to the low 700s - Reduced my account limit by ~ $ XXXX - ensuring further damage to my credit score This was clearly retaliatory behavior by an out-of-control collections department allowed by this company to run amok and specifically intended to cause me grievous personal harm. 


Additionally, Ive informed every customer service representative that Ive spoken to after the first phone call, at the onset of the conversation, that I wish to speak to a manager and close the account. They refuse to do either and then disconnect. I have no way of closing this account with a seemingly dishonest company that I did not choose to do business with.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief