Consumer complaint received 2023-09-01
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: WA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
I would like to file a complaint against Comenity Capital Bank, which serves as the credit card account company for the XXXX stores. They have engaged in a deceitful practice with me, related to compounding late charges and interest charges, while investigating an erroneous past-due charge, even after admitting that the past due charges were in error. I have now closed my account with them. Here is the history. 

I received a bill for XX/XX/2023 stating that I my account was overdue for the amount of {$36.00} ( total amount due for merchandise purchased ) plus a late fee of {$28.00}. The due date had been XX/XX/2023. However, I had paid the total amount due electronically through my bank XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX ). I checked my XXXX  XXXX XXXX account online and found that Comenity Bank had withdrawn my funds for on XX/XX/2023. Following the instructions on my bill regarding what to do if I found a mistake on my statement, I wrote a letter to Comenity describing the above with a copy of the confirmation from my bank. 
On XX/XX/2023, I received a letter from Comenity stating that they had received my claim, and although my statements may display additional finance charges and fees, I was not responsible for them during the investigation, and that my account would be adjusted appropriately if the investigation indicated that an error had occurred.

Subsequent statements from Comenity continued to rack up late fees and interest charges while I waited for a conclusion to the investigation. 
On XX/XX/2023, I received a letter from Comenity Bank saying, Good news, your account has been credited! However, they only credited it for the original late fee of {$28.00}. But the letter stated my balance was {$96.00}, which was for merchandise I had purchased. So, I believed they had erased the other late fees and interest charges as well. 
But then I received a phone call from Comenity saying I was late on another payment for XX/XX/2023. Again, I looked at my XXXX  XXXX XXXX records and the payment of {$98.00} ( which had been my understanding of the merchandise purchase on the bill ) had been withdrawn well before the deadline on XX/XX/XXXX. I was confused and asked to speak with a supervisor, who told me that I owed numerous late and interest charges. I said that I needed to see an itemized bill before I would pay anything more, and she said she would mail it to me. So, I waited to receive it. 
Then again on XX/XX/2023, I received a phone call from XXXX at XXXX stating that I had a balance of {$34.00} remaining on my account. At this point I was tired of dealing with them and just wanted it all to stop. XXXX said this was the final amount on my statement, so I decided to just pay it. I did so with my debt card, after being reassured that this would result in a XXXX balance with Comenity. It was reconciled with my bank on XX/XX/2023. 
Then on XX/XX/2023, after thinking everything was done, I received another XXXX bill stating I owed {$100.00} in more late fees and interest fees. I had not purchased anything from XXXX since XXXX and I never will anymore. I called customer service to try and straighten it out, without success. The woman I spoke with insisted that I still owed late fees from several months ago, despite the call from XXXX and my payment the prior month. It was futile to argue with her. I went ahead and paid the amount only because I discovered that they had ruined my credit rating. I have had a credit rating of approximately XXXX for many years. Because of Comenity Bank it is now XXXX points. 
At this point, I thought I was done with Comenity, but I received a phone message from Comenity on XX/XX/XXXX, instructing me to call an XXXX number for an important message. When I called this number I found out that I now owed {$130.00}. XXXX. So I called a customer representative, who told me my payment of XX/XX/XXXX had been refunded because it had an incorrect routing number or account number, so Comenity had added another late fee. 
Again because of my fear of further damage to my credit score, I paid this fee through their site. On XX/XX/XXXX, I looked at my J.Jill/Comenity site and my account stated that my current balance was {$0.00}. And that payment of {$130.00} had been received on XX/XX/2023. 

I am so upset and frustrated by my attempts to correct this situation. I have always paid my bills on time. I believe they have been dishonest with me from the very start, and unresponsive to my pleas to correct these situations. Basically I gave up and paid them money, I did not owe, because the consequences of not doing so, have caused me harm in terms of ruining my credit rating. I would like to have my credit rating restored, and my money for the late fees and interest refunded to me. 

Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief