Consumer complaint received 2022-09-08
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: PA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
I applied for an XXXX credit card with Comenity Bank XXXX XXXX sometime around fall XXXX to pay for a portion of my XXXX. The card had a promotional offer of XXXX XXXX interest for XXXX  months and XXXX XXXX interest thereafter according to their advertising. I set up my account with them online and opted into paperless email statements and signed up for auto pay so the payments would be debited from my checking account automatically and would be on time every month. I never checked the credit card statements since I was setup on autopay so I had no idea when the promotional period was ending since I couldn't remember what month I was approved for the card. I just figured I would see a XXXX XXXX higher payment amount debited when it ended and then I'd pay off the balance so I didn't pay anymore interest besides that XXXX month. I've had lots of XXXX XXXX promo cards and I've always done that. As of XX/XX/XXXX my remaining balance was {$12000.00} and my payment amount was {$450.00}. When I was balancing my checkbook on XX/XX/XXXX I saw a debit from XXXX for {$790.00} on XX/XX/XXXX which was almost double the amount of my normal payment. I went online to my account to figure out what happened and saw that on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX put a charge of {$10000.00} on my account which nearly doubled the balance from {$12000.00} to {$23000.00}. I was shocked and confused and immediately called Comenity to tell them of their mistake. They said that the card I signed up for did not have a 0 % or a 14.99 % interest rate, but was 28.99 % and although I wasn't required to pay the interest every month for 18 months it was accruing and the total of the accrued interest was {$10000.00} which is added to the balance in a lump sum after the promo period. I was irate and said I never signed up for that or agreed to that and I never would. I have an excellent credit score and I get XXXX XXXX credit card offers in the mail everyday and have used many for large purchases and I've never heard of any credit card doing this. She said it was in the terms and conditions. I told her to send me a copy of the terms with my signature where I agreed to such terms because nobody reads terms and conditions and besides it's fraudulent and deceptive to have the terms and conditions be completely different from what is advertised. She said I'd have to mail in a request in writing for a copy of the terms showing my signature. I mailed the request that day and also requested it on their website through the secure messaging on my account. Since this was at the end of the day on a XXXX I couldn't do anything about it, but at XXXX XXXX morning I went directly to my personal bank to move some money around. The transfer did not post to my checking account until XX/XX/XXXX. As soon as it did I immediately paid off the remainder of my balance of {$12000.00} minus the {$790.00} that was debited after their fraudulent interest was added. So the payment was {$11000.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX I received in the mail a copy of the terms stating an interest rate of 28.99 % to be accrued, but nowhere did it have my signature. After being sick with the flu I saw my lawyer who advised me to write a letter to Comenity and send it certified mail describing my experience with their deceptive advertising and requesting that if they remove the {$10000.00} fraudulent interest charges I would not bring a lawsuit against them. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent the letter. I got a confirmation from the post office that it was received by them on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a response that they were investigating the case. I checked my XXXX account and they adjusted the {$10000.00} off as well as an additional {$630.00} for a finance charge leaving my account balance at- {$630.00}. At that point I thought it was over so on XX/XX/XXXX I sent a message to them on their website through the secure messaging on my account requesting that the {$630.00} over payment be mailed to me in a check and my account be closed. On XX/XX/XXXX I received in the mail a letter from Comenity stating that their investigation is now complete and they were closing the case. I checked my account to make sure it was a XXXX balance and it was closed and the balance was {$10000.00} and a minimum payment of {$350.00} is due XX/XX/XXXX. So now I guess I have to take some sort of legal action although I don't have the funds for a lawyer.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief