Consumer complaint received 2018-06-30
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX, a local company, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ), was hired by us to install decorative cement curbing around our house ( Attachment 1 ). The work was warranted for one year ( Att 3 ). Construction was completed by XX/XX/XXXX, and XXXX was paid in full ( Att 4 ). By XX/XX/XXXX, four cracks had appeared in the curbing. At the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX XXXX repaired the cracks ( Att 5 ). Over the next few months, 10 more cracks appeared. 
After repeated attempts to contact XXXX, which were not answered, finally XXXX responded on XX/XX/XXXX to a XX/XX/XXXX email of ours. It was agreed that the repairs would be made to the curbing in the Fall ( Att 6 ). Hurricane Irma prevented this, so the repairs were rescheduled for XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX. As this time neared, we repeatedly attempted to contact XXXX, but obtained no responses from them. It became clear that they were not going to honor their warranty. 
We requested that the Florida Department of Agriculture, Division of Consumer Services contact XXXX about their lack of response. The DCS obtained no reply from XXXX by XX/XX/XXXX ( Att 8 ). 
A complaint against XXXX was then filed with the XXXX XXXX XXXX. They also received no response by XX/XX/XXXX, after repeated attempts to contact XXXX ( Att 9 ). 
A third complaint was filed against XXXX with XXXX XXXX ( in XX/XX/XXXX ). They also failed to obtain a reply from XXXX ( Att 10 ). 
Finally, XXXXeniors vs Crime, a branch of the Florida Attorney Generals office was contacted. Repeated attempts by their office to obtain a reply from XXXX went unanswered ( Att 17 ). 
At this point ( XX/XX/XXXX ) we decided to attempt to get a refund from ( XXXX ) the credit card company which we had used to pay XXXX ( Att 13 ). Via phone conversations, we explained our situation to them, as described in the above paragraphs. XXXX sent a form in which we could dispute the XXXX billing. We returned this, along with a package of support materials ( many of which are the bulk of the attachments that accompany these comments ). 
By XX/XX/XXXX we received a letter from XXXX that our dispute of charge had been denied, since more than 60 days had passed since the billing statement containing the XXXX charge had been mailed. The warranty on the curbing work was valid for a year, so our position is that this supersedes the 60 day limit. Furthermore, it would be impossible to make a complaint while XXXX maintained for several months, that they would fix the curbs. We had no reason not to believe them. Additionally, XXXX customer service rep said that due to the circumstances of this appeal, the 60-day limit could be appealed. We were invited to submit further documentation ( Att 14 ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX requested the filling out of a second form. We sent it in XX/XX/XXXX ( Att 22 ), along with a lengthy explanatory note ( Att 15 ). 
No response was received from XXXX, so another letter containing a chronology of this dispute, along with documentation, was sent out on XX/XX/XXXX ( Att 16 ). 
On XX/XX/XXXX we received a letter from XXXX that briefly summarized our billing dispute, and firmly denied it. In the next paragraph of the letter, the Dispute Resolution Team is said to be reportedly working to resolve the dispute. We found these statements to be incompatible ( Att 18 ). 
A letter from XXXX, dated XX/XX/XXXX, stated that We previously received and responded to your ( the XXXX ) correspondence submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding this same matter. However, we had not yet contacted the CFPB in any way ( Att 19 ). 
On XX/XX/XXXX, we wrote a lengthy exposition of our case, and only now did we indicate that we will be taking this dispute to the CFPB since XXXX does not seem to be taking a responsible attitude toward a fair and honest resolution ( Att 20 ). This letter was sent to the  XXXX Complaint Department, with a cc to the president of XXXX XXXX. 
A letter from XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) reiterated that their investigation has concluded, and that we should contact the merchant directly ; a meaningless recommendation, as they know full well, since we and four consumer assistance groups had tried this without success ( Att 21 ).

The cracks in the curbing, and the color inconsistency, are shown in a set of photos ( Att 23 Part 1 & 2 ). The last three photos show that the attempt to remove the red color of portions of the curbing by covering the dyed cement with a brown paint was not successful. This part of the curbing needs to be removed and replaced with properly dyed cement.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation