Consumer complaint received 2023-02-06
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Charged too much interest

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX XXXX XXXX, Comenity Capital Bank XXXX : Billing Inquiries XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX OH, XXXX Re : Notice of disputed accrued interest charges I am writing to dispute the accrued interest charges of {$2000.00} to my credit account on the XX/XX/XXXX Statement. The charge is in error because the Red Font Warning Box on the previous 3 statements was misinformed and misled customers, including myself, about the exact balance we have to pay by XXXX XXXX, XXXX to avoid paying accrued interest charges. The statement specifically stated in red highlighted : WARNING : Promotional Plan ( s ) ENDING SOON! YOU MUST PAY THE BALANCE {$980.00} OF YOUR PLAN 24 MNTH DF INT PY RQ IN FULL BY XX/XX/XXXX TO AVOID PAYING INTEREST CHARGES. Though the front of the statement said new balance of {$1000.00} and minimum payment {$35.00} by XXXX ET XX/XX/XXXX, the RED BOX and HIGHLIGHTED WARNING misinformed and misled customers that they only have to pay a total balance of {$980.00} by XX/XX/XXXX to avoid the accrued interest charges, in which I did! I believe XXXX XXXX could have made it more transparent and direct by stating that YOU MUST PAY THE BALANCE {$1000.00} IN FULL BY XX/XX/XXXX TO AVOID PAYING INTEREST CHARGES, if their intention is NOT TO TRAP customers into accrued interest charges. Unfortunately, it was NOT the case! 

Ive reached out to XXXX XXXX XXXX Department 3 times ( Documented Recordings ), but each time I was given a different and inconsistent explanation as to why I was charged accrued interest : - One stated that it MIGHT be the clause PLUS - IF YOU HAVE OTHER PURCHASES OR PROMOTIONAL BALANCES ON YOUR ACCOUNT, YOU ALSO WILL NEED TO PAY YOUR MINIMUM PAYMENT BY THE PAYMENT DUE DATE SHOWN ON THE STATEMENT, in which I replied that I do not have other purchases or promotional plans on this same credit card! 
- Another billing employee stated that it MIGHT be because I didnt pay it before XX/XX/XXXX, in which I said the clause stated as long as I pay BY XX/XX/XXXX TO AVOID PAYING ACCRUED INTEREST, which I did! 
- The 3rd attempt was that I had a one time late charge in XXXX of {$31.00} ( due to my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX late process ), so they MIGHT have charged that first before the full {$980.00} kick in. With that I asked, Why wasnt this clearly RED HIGHLIGHTED IN A WARNING BOX THAT WE WILL TAKE WHATEVER LATE INTEREST CHARGE FIRST BEFORE YOUR FULL BALANCE OF {$980.00}? OR PUTTING IT IN A SIMPLER STATEMENT AND TELL US TO PAY {$980.00} PLUS LATE INTEREST CHARGES! OR PAY FULL {$1000.00} TO AVOID ACCRUED INTEREST CHARGES! Unless, XXXX XXXX purposely misled customers into paying for the accrued interest charges. 

Any reasonable person would not avoid paying an additional {$17.00} or whatsoever I still owe, just to pay {$2000.00} more for the accrued interest charges ( currently Im not even clear how the XXXX XXXX Department determined that I still owe {$17.00} or more or less since they were not able to explain to me ). I am requesting that the error be corrected, that any finance or other charges related to the disputed amount be credited to my account, and that I get an accurate statement. 

Enclosed are copies of the 2 most recent statements supporting my position and experience. Please help me correct the error on my account promptly. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief