Consumer complaint received 2022-04-06
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Can't close your account

Complaint:
I opened this Comenity XXXX XXXX account on XX/XX/XXXX, before seeing all the disastrous experiences by other customers from https : //www.depositaccounts.com/banks/reviews/comenity-direct.html. I did it through their website and provided the routing number and account number of my XXXX checking account, for the initial deposit of {$15000.00}. By XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX, I had read the reviews and, worried that I too would never get my money out, phoned their only number XXXX and asked to close the account and return the funds back to my XXXX acount. They said that the funds were on hold for 9 days and they would process the request and send them back after. They promised to send an email confirmation, which never arrived. 

The next day, I got help on the phone ( after confirming my identity ) setting up online access so I could monitor the account. The rep confirmed that they got the request and would return the funds XXXX days after they processed it. In the meantime, I tried to set up my XXXX account as an external account so I could transfer the funds out on my own, if need be. Once I set it up, and received the micro-deposits at XXXX, when I logged back into my Comenity account, the option to verify the external account, or set up an external account, had been removed. I contacted them through their online messaging option ( because they do not have an email address ), and asked how to confirm the external account, and was told " At this time it appears your XXXX permissions have been XXXX, which would be what caused your external transfer options to no longer appear. '' I then tried it from the XXXX side, adding Comenity as an external account, but when I went to check the micro-deposits on Comenity 's site, it didn't display them, which blocked that option. 

As part of the response on XX/XX/XXXX they said " We currently have an open request to have your account closed with the funds being send to your account ending in XXXX. Do you still wish to have your account closed once your hold expires on XX/XX/XXXX? '' I responded a couple of hours later, confirming that I wanted the account closed, and asking when the funds will be returned. XXXX days later ( on XX/XX/XXXX ), the answer finally came back as " Thank you for providing this information, I have added it to your account for further review. Once your closing request begins processing, it can take XXXX days for the funds to appear in your external account. '' Now, I thought that they'd begin processing on XXXX, when the hold expires, so, on XXXX, I replied with " When is my closing request ( from XX/XX/XXXX ) going to begin processing? '' By XXXX, I reminded them that I was still waiting for an answer. There has been no response. At midnight on XXXX, I started a new message thread on their website, recapping what had happened and asking for an immediate confirmation of when they will process the closure request. That too has never gotten a response. 

I phoned Comenity Directs only customer service number ( XXXX ) on XXXX @ XXXX PM XXXX, and spoke with XXXX. After confirming my identity, she then asked for more information and then I was disconnected mid-sentence. When I phoned back, I was disconnected twice when I selected the option to speak with an agent. On the third try, I got someone, whom I asked to transfer me to XXXX. When he said he couldn't do it, I asked that she be given my phone number, so she could call me back. After more waiting, and re-confirming my Identity again, he told me that she said that the request to close the account has been submitted, and would be handled in another XXXX business days. When I told him that I had already been told that when I first called in and made the request, on XX/XX/XXXX, and again when I confirmed via bank message on XX/XX/XXXX, he told me that the bank hadn't closed my account because they suspected that the request was fraudulent. At that point I told him that the only fraud that was happening here was Comenity 's. The requests were made only after rigorous verbal account verification, and also through the web site, and I was asking that the funds be returned to the bank account that they were drawn from. How would any would-be fraudster ever profit from that? Furthermore, I had received no notification at all that a suspected fraudulent request had been made, asking me to confirm. This is obviously a stall tactic from the bank and they have no intention of ever returning my funds. 

That consumer complaint site is full of reports from customers who were told over and over that their requests to return their money would be processed in XXXX days, only to be told later that they thought the request was fraudulent, and then repeating the XXXX day process, without ever transferring the funds. So, this is apparently a tried and true technique for Comenity. 

I tried XXXX last time, phoning the parent bank, Comenity Capital, at XXXX PM on XXXX, rather than the Comenity XXXX line. I spoke with XXXX, and explained the situation. She told me that she had no ability to work with Comenity XXXX acounts, saying the only thing she could do is transfer me back to the Comentity XXXX number. 

I am attaching a copy of my Comenity bank statement, verifying the funds I have on deposit. I will also attach a document showing screen shots of the website messaging service because there is no other way to get a written record of communications.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation