Consumer complaint received 2021-07-07
Company: BBVA FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms

Complaint:
BBVA Bank located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, TX : Branch representative offered me a credit card with a 13 month 0 % interest promotion on purchases. When I received my first statement, it included a substantial interest charge. When contacting corporate customer service, I was informed that the card I received does not have any promotional interest rates. This concern was then escalated, and the corporate customer care team determined that this case was a bank error that occurred at the bank/branch level. 

At this point, according to a corporate manager with BBVA 's collections department, while dealing with this issue internally, the bank indicated to corporate customer service that the issue would be resolved by honoring the 0 % interest for 13 months. On XX/XX/XXXX, due to the bank 's resolution, the customer care marked this case as resolved. 

Unfortunately, I never received this promotion. At this point, I have accumulated approx. {$2800.00} in interest after this branch claimed they would honor the promotion. Up until this point, the branch made no effort to contact me regarding the resolution they claimed to have provided to corporate customer service. I decided to attempt contacting them again at the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, while nearing 12-13 months of having this card, the manager offered me a refund for a single month of interest, and claimed that he could not offer more. He denied what the corporate manager told me about the branch agreeing to honor the 13 months of 0 % interest, and avoided discussing the topic once I cited the ticket number and dates. He hung up on me in two conversations, claiming that the conversation was going in circles as I continued to inquire about the corporate level ticket. 

Another issue that arose throughout this conflict was also related to interest rates through their COVID relief program. This is a completely separate issue, but it is being mentioned as it is the second time that this bank has misrepresented interest rates. This was offered through BBVA 's collections department on approx. XX/XX/XXXX, when I was told that through their COVID assistance program, I would have no payment due until XX/XX/XXXX, no interest on the account during that time frame ( 6 months ), and no impact on my credit due to participating in the program. Again, I received a statement with interest, and contacted BBVA. At this point, I was told that the COVID relief program does not waive interest. This was escalated to their management, who I spoke with about this matter as well as the original ( but separate issue ) that occurred in XXXX. While he promised to investigate this issue ( and this is ongoing ), he informed me that the incident that occurred in XXXX was actually closed out in his system and marked as resolved, and he was confused as to why the bank hadn't contacted me to tell me this or reversed the interest charges. He told me that the ticket indicates that the bank agreed to honor the 0 % interest for 13 months, due to the issue being a bank error. 

Further, this ticket number was referenced with multiple BBVA representatives to confirm its accuracy. While verifying this information, I was informed by all of them that the information I have noted is correct : That as of XX/XX/XXXX, the branch has agreed to honor the 0 % interest for 13 months, and that this was the resolution that allowed for the case to be marked as resolved. 

Not only has this matter added up with substantial interest charges, but the total interest charges ( approx. {$2800.00} ) have not been paid off, and comprise of 1/4 of my credit limit. Of course, due to the nature of credit cards, a payment is about equal to the interest, so the balance will not reduce without making larger payments. Due to an unexpected COVID-related layoff, this has been an especially difficult task. This excessive balance heavily impacts my credit score ; this means that due to BBVA 's error and refusal to correct it, my ability to qualify for a vehicle, housing, additional credit cards, and other credit opportunities has drastically suffered. The interest rate on loan that I needed could very well be lower if it were not for this incident, meaning that BBVA 's actions could have resulted in significantly more financial harm than can be represented on paper.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation