Consumer complaint received 2017-04-13
Company: BARCLAYS BANK DELAWARE
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Credit card protection / Debt protection

Complaint:
I signed up for the XXXX card offered by Barclay due to its SCRA benefits for XXXX service members and its great incentives offered to Military members. It guaranteed $ 0 yearly fees and 0 % interest for the entirety of my XXXX military service contract. At no time in my original communications through the SCRA division of Barclay Bank, did they state that the $ 0/0 % interest would not apply for XXXX members but for members who joined after they had an already established account with Barclay Bank. In addition, it did not state that it had the right to change the terms of its contracts at any time. This was a very deceitful offer and it now feels like a " BAIT AND SWITCH '' scam and I 'm sure to many XXXX Military members who have this card as well. No warning of the disestablishment of the SCRA benefits for XXXX members was in the process of being implemented was ever given to myself via email, letter, or message in my account prior to it just being all of a sudden taken away. The company has maintained that it will allow me to retain my 0 % interest but the yearly fees of {$990.00} plus {$290.00} for each additional card will be implemented is unsatisfactory to me. At a minimum, current card holders under the original terms should be grandfathered but any new members should be fully aware that the yearly fees apply. This whole process has left a very sour taste in my mouth as I have reached out and left a message to their customer service number ( XXXX ) with no reply within 48 hours as it states. In addition, I have left a message through my credit card account with no response as well. I finally today was able to contact an Executive Specialist, with the Office of the President at Barclay Cards USA and she clearly stated that it was their right to change the terms of their contracts to align with business practices ( other credit card companies ) around them with no warning to the card members. She also stated that at this time, they are not offering any other services to satisfy the card member or to help to maintain the business of the card member. She stated that before my one year mark with the company that they " Should '' be reviewing accounts to see if any of their current offers apply and if not then at the year mark the yearly fees would be charged to my account. I asked if I could be switched to either their Black Card or Titanium card, due to their yearly fees not being near as much as the Gold Card and I do n't feel like I should wait till XXXX to see if I qualify for offers at that time. This is unsatisfactory and I felt was completely communicated wrong from the very beginning. In addition, I feel that I should be grandfathered in with my original terms or allowed to switch to another one of their cards immediately and not have to wait for my account to be reviewed one month prior to my year mark with this company. I began this process wanting to stay with Barclay services but after my conversation with the Executive Specialist, I am now leaning towards terminating any further business with Barclay Bank and refraining from any future business through them as well.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation