Consumer complaint received 2023-07-20
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: MS
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
Between XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, I made several purchases utilizing the Victoria Secret- Comenity Bank Credit Card XXXX Between XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, I made payments to satisfy the credit account. During this period, I was unable to log into the Victoria Secret-Comenity Bank payment portal, despite resetting my password several times. I kept getting error messages. The Pay Faster Without Sign In option could not locate my account. The site offered an alternative solution to make payments through the XXXX number. I utilized the telephone payment solution from XXXX to XXXX to satisfy the due payments, as I was not able to use the website. Also, during that time, I was not able to view my statements on the website. On XX/XX/XXXX, I wanted to pay the full amount owed on the account and bring it to a XXXX balance. When I called the XXXX number, I selected option three to hear the total amount owed on my account. The telephone automation service stated the total amount owed on the account was {$150.00}. The payment due date was XX/XX/XXXX. I made a payment of {$150.00} on XX/XX/XXXX to pay the credit card to a XXXX balance. After I received confirmation and the payment was posted, I understood the account balance to be XXXX dollars. After a couple of days, I called the automated telephone service and selected option XXXX to make sure the account had a XXXX balance. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I wanted to make a Victoria 's Secret purchase using the Victoria 's Secret-Comenity Bank Credit Card XXXX When I logged in to my account to make the purchase, I received notice that my credit limit was decreased by approximately {$1000.00}, and my account was past due. At this time, I was able to log into the Comenity Bank portal through the Victoria 's Secret website and view past statements. After reviewing my statements, I noticed Comenity Bank charge me a {$2.00} fee on XX/XX/XXXX, the statement closing date. On the credit card statement, under XXXX of Account XXXX, the following details are listed : Account No. 
Previous Balance : + {$150.00} Payments : XXXX Other Credits : XXXX Purchases : XXXX Other Debits : XXXX Fees Charged : XXXX Interest Charged : XXXX New Balance : + {$2.00} From XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, I received the following charges on the account : XX/XX/XXXX : Minimum Interest Charge : $ XXXX Actual Interest ( {$1.00} ) XX/XX/XXXX : Late Fee : $ XXXX XX/XX/XXXX : Minimum Interest Charge : $ XXXX Actual Interest ( {$0.00} ) XX/XX/XXXX : Late Fee : + {$6.00} XX/XX/XXXX : Minimum Interest Charge : {$2.00} Actual Interest ( {$0.00} ) XX/XX/XXXX : Late Fee : + {$14.00} XX/XX/XXXX : Minimum Interest Charge : + {$2.00} Actual Interest ( {$0.00} ) New Balance : {$30.00} It seems incredibly deceptive and abusive that Comenity Bank can calculate as little as {$0.00} in interest and legally charge me {$2.00}. That is XXXX times more than the interest charge calculated. As a result of the initial {$2.00} fee incurred on XX/XX/XXXX, I was charged {$30.00} in interest and late fees, received XXXX derogatory marks on my credit report, and my credit limit was decreased. All this over XXXX DOLLARS!!! This is ridiculous! 

Please note : Normally, I use the Victoria 's Secret Comenity Bank website to make credit card payments. However, I was unable to log in. During my attempts to sign in, I received several error messages, despite resetting my password several times. The Pay Faster without Signing In option was unable to locate the account. The site offered an alternative solution to make payments utilizing the XXXX number. I used the XXXX number to make payments on the account from XXXX to XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I wanted to pay the account to a XXXX balance. The automated telephone service provided the total balance of the account, which was {$150.00}. I made a payment of {$150.00} to satisfy the amount owed on the account and bring the account to a XXXX balance. The payment due date was XX/XX/XXXX. After the payment was posted, I called the XXXX number again to confirm the account had a XXXX balance. 

A {$2.00} fee was charged on XX/XX/XXXX, as a minimum interest charge. 
From XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, the account incurred several interest charges and late fees. The total amount due on the account was {$30.00}. I paid the amount in full on XX/XX/XXXX to end the derogatory credit reporting and interest/late fee accumulation. 
I called the XXXX number to dispute the {$2.00} fee, detailed below. I was told by a Senior Account Executive, XXXX, that she messaged her supervisor to call me. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I have not received a call. 

After looking through my call logs, voicemails, and emails, I noticed I have not received any telephone or email statement correspondence to inform me of a balance on my account. I have not received any telephone or email statement correspondence informing me the account was past due. I did not know the account was past due until I logged in to my Victoria 's Secret account to make a purchase. 

The XX/XX/XXXX Call : After calling the XXXX number and asking for customer service, an associate answered the call. I was not able to catch her name. I asked about the {$2.00} fee, the negative credit reporting, and the subsequent fees incurred. She explained the {$2.00} fee was the result of residual interest, which is different from the total amount provided on the statement. I explained to her the automated telephone service provided the statement balance as the total account balance. She repeated the residual interest explanation and said I should have received several statements in the mail to inform me of the charge. I told her I had not received anything. She said I enrolled in paperless statements, so the notifications were sent to my email ( no statements were sent to my email ). She apologized several times for the inconvenience and stated she understood my frustrations. However, she stated the charges were valid. She did not offer a resolution to any of my complaints, and I asked to speak to a supervisor. She immediately transferred me to a supervisor. 

Enter XXXX, the Senior Account Executive at Comenity Bank ( a title she provided ). Unlike the first associate I spoke with, XXXX did not offer an apology, empathy, or understanding. XXXX was very defensive and unobjective in her explanations. XXXX kept talking over me. I told her that us talking at the same time is creating a communication problem. I told her I would stop talking, let her speak, and then I would speak. XXXX told me to proceed with speaking and got quiet. Once, I started talking again, XXXX would start talking over me again. When I stopped talking, she stopped talking. When I started talking, she would talk over me again. This happened several times. 

Like the first associate, XXXX offered the same residual interest explanation and stated the charges were valid, despite my telling her several times the automated telephone service provided me the total balance on the account to be paid. 
When I started the automated telephone service provided me the total amount for the credit card ( option XXXX ), XXXX interrupted me again and told me I asked for the total amount not the full amount. I told her I did not ask for a total amount. I selected the option to hear my total account balance, which I assumed was the full account balance. ( How would Comenity consumers be able to tell the difference? ) I told XXXX the service does not offer a selection between a total account balance statement and a full account balance statement. XXXX repeated her subjective conclusion that I asked for the total amount, not the full amount. Calling me a liar. 

After voicing my frustrations over incurring several late fees, interest charges, and negative marks on my credit report over {$2.00}, I tried to reason with XXXX and asked if I can pay {$150.00} to satisfy the total account balance, you dont think I could have paid the full amount of {$160.00} to pay the account down to XXXX. No response from XXXX. I asked for a resolution to remedy the situation. XXXX said she could waive XXXX late fee. She said I would have to contact the credit bureau to dispute the negative credit report. This information provided by the Senior Account Executive is false. Only Comenity Bank can request for the negative credit reporting to be removed. 

To end the call, XXXX offered to transfer me to the payment solutions department. I asked to speak with her supervisor. After placing me on hold, she said a supervisor was not available. She offered two solutions : 1 ) She could message her supervisor and tell them to call me back. 2 ) I could call back. I asked XXXX what confirmation do I have that she messaged her supervisor to call me back? XXXX said I. Can. Either. ( In those words; speaking slowly ; with a pointed tone ) : 1 ) Allow her to message her supervisor and tell them to call me back. 2 ) I could call back. I told XXXX instead of answering my question, you just repeated yourself, so I repeated my question. XXXX said I can have her name and employee number. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I have not received a call back from her supervisor. 

NO ONE would knowingly incur several late fees, interest charges, a credit limit decrease, and 2 derogatory credit marks over a {$2.00} residual fee. NO ONE. This is an abusive and deceptive practice that needs to end.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief