Consumer complaint received 2019-06-19
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: PA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
XX/XX/2019 : made payment in full online via comenity bank website to equal a {$0.00} balance.

XX/XX/2019 : a late fee is assessed on the account.

It was my understanding that after making the full account balance payment, my balance would be {$0.00}.

Had this late fee been legit and had it been added to that full payment amount on the comenity site, I would have had no problem making that additional payment amount.

However, like I said, I was under the impression this account was paid off. To my surprise, I received a text from Comenity to contact them.

This is now XX/XX/XXXX, two months later and two late fees later. I have since contact Comenity twice since this initial fee was assessed. Upon speaking with the first agent, she indicated that she could only remove one late fee. I felt as though I held up my side of the agreement, in that I made the payment in full on said date. IF I was to be charged a late fee for making a payment on that date/time, this late fee should have been added to the full amount. Had that been the case, again, I would have made the payment in full in addition to the late fee. However, this was not the case. Instead I have been contacted several times since to pay a late fee that should never have been assessed to begin with. Upon getting nowhere with the first agent, I asked to speak with a manager. He confirmed what the agent was telling me, and offered to remove one late fee. I then asked to cancel my account. The managers first response was that if I did not cancel today, he would remove both fees. Upon hearing this, it validated my point through this entire thing. That the company is able to remove both fees, rather they chose not to. Comenity has continually had horrible customer service and I am sorry but conducting business in this fashion is not something I can support. Therefore I asked to have my card cancelled, indicating that I wanted both fees removed.

XX/XX/2019 : I receive another phone call from Comenity regarding two more late fees. Again the agent was blatantly lying to me as she indicated she can not remove more than one late fee, which they supposedly did on XX/XX/XXXX, when my account was cancelled. I am weary that my account was even cancelled that day as they indicate. Again, I asked to speak to a manager. This manager now indicates that the " offer '' of the last agent is no longer valid, as it was only acceptable for 7 days. None of this was ever communicated to me. Believe me, I thought about calling Comenity back to accept this offer, only to cancel the next day or the next week, whatever. However, again, this is not a style of business I can support. They refused to remove both late fees, which should never have been assessed to begin with, until I said I wanted to cancel my card. Only after I said I want to cancel did they indicate that they were able to remove both fees.

The fact remains, that when going onto any site to make a payment, if a late fee is due, why wouldn't it show as due when I click " Make payment in Full ''. I honestly feel that because I made a payment in full, and there was no further possibility to charge me interest or other fees, including late fees, they turned around and assessed this late fee. Comenity has continued that they can not remove more than one late fee, however it is clear that they are able to do as they please, when it suits them. I do not feel that I am deserving of this late fee and it has been one thing after another since making that payment in full. One would think that they would rather have a full payment that having to worry about getting their money, but in the case of Comenity, it is clear that is not the case. Their agents have been zero help, in fact, at times rude and condescending. I made that payment in full on XX/XX/XXXX so as to avoid any future headaches with this card. With full intention of not using the card again, which I did not. I never would have imagined that two months later I am still attempting to get these late fees removed from my account. It is clear that Comenity is not going to remove said late fees. I did advise them that I was going to refute this late fee, hence why I am writing this now.

I am not particularly new to late fees. And had this late fee been assessed at the time of my last payment, in full, I would have made the adjustment to the full amount and paid the late fee. However, Comenity waited until the next day, per their response due to processing time, to charge me the late fee. I don't feel as though I am deserving of this late fee, regardless of the terms of their agreement. I have never experienced an issue of accruing a late fee AFTER making a payment in full. I feel as though I was lied to by several agents ( telling me they COULD NOT remove more than one late fee, which conveniently, I had two ), as well as both managers, when in fact, which was confirmed by both managers, that there are exceptions to the rule, as there always is.

There is nothing left to do other than to write this dispute and make a formal complaint. In doing so, I am hopeful that Comenity will remove any late fees that are currently accrued on my account, as I made a payment in full per their website.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation