Consumer complaint received 2019-11-27
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: Problem with fees

Complaint:
This complaint is in regards to Comenity Banks deceptive practices in regards to their XXXX Credit Card and promotional APRs. To preface, I speak from a perspective of someone who analyzes web and UX ( user experience ) design as part of my job, and so I know from my field what the web designers were trying to promote and, more importantly, what information they purposefully bury. 

I had an XXXX XXXX done on XX/XX/. I used Comenity Bank 's XXXX Credit Card with their 0 % APR for 12 months. I went paperless, as is encouraged by many institutions for conservation reasons. 

The amount was for XXXX. My first statement was sent to my email on XX/XX/XXXX and due on XX/XX/XXXX. The wording of the due dates on the website indicated that each due date for me is the XXXX of every month, starting on XX/XX/XXXX. The nature of paperless statement is that you get a minimum payment, the amount owed, and the due date. ( See comenity.png attachment ). 

Because the buttons to pay are front and center around this box, I - along with possibly many other users - completely miss the " you *might* have another due date with a promotion '' wording below the action buttons ; the action buttons prompt immediate action. This is a known fact in UX design to put buttons we want clicked up and center and information that is extraneous after it. Unfortunately, they put the " you may be in this group '' statement after the action buttons. 

We're also given two buttons in the statement email - view statement, and make a payment. Most users would navigate immediately to make a payment, thus completely missing important information embedded within the PDF that is available nowhere else on your account ( again, see comenity.png ). 

Once I got to the website further suggests that all of my payments and that the 12 month 0 % APR were all due on the XXXX of every month ( see comenity2.png ), with nothing in the site UX determining that I specifically have a promotional APR date that is different from the large due date on the screen. Despite having personalized amounts within my account and account payment history easily available, there is nothing easily accessible for the user to remind them that they may be on a promotional APR, again except on the PDFs. And this promotional APR date is buried in PDFs that aren't even attached to the email. 

With exception to XXXX, I made a payment of {$500.00} on my card between the XXXX and XXXX of every month to pay off the card. I always scheduled payments several weeks in advance. 

I had a scheduled payment on XX/XX/XXXX, which was my second to last payment. According to the supervisor I spoke with over the phone, I logged in on XX/XX/XXXX but didn't schedule a payment. This is completely incorrect ; I wouldn't log in without scheduling a payment, and my transaction history for paying off this card shows a level of consistency with my actions. I remember scheduling that payment, and I don't know why it didn't go through. I also wouldnt have any way of not seeing this not go through, as we are not sent any emails regarding scheduling payments correctly in advance. 

Usually this would be no big deal, because on XX/XX/XXXX I received an email saying I owed a payment. Strange, I thought I scheduled one ( and as confirmed with my phone call today, I logged in to do just that -- and for some reason, on my very last payment, my scheduling for *some* reason didnt go through ). My statement from the XXXX, however, indicates that I only owe {$450.00} and its all due on the XXXX ( see comenity3.png ). 

I had a lot of issues trying to log into the site on the XXXX and XXXX to make that payment ; I called on the XXXX after a lot of struggling and I was hung up on from their call center. I was locked out of my account several times in those two days trying to get the system to work. Despite putting in the same username and password information, it would not let me in, and it claimed it couldnt find my account throughout the XXXX and XXXX until AFTER XXXXEST, just when the payments for the day are due. ( See comenity5.png for all the emails saying I was locked out of my account ; unfortunately I dont have screenshots of my SSN not working to reset my password, but as you can see, there were issues with the account ). 

It wasnt until today, XX/XX/XXXX, that I realized something was wrong at all when I got an email notice saying I still had another payment to make. Thats when I saw that XXXX had dumped a 28.9 %, {$940.00} accrued interest balance on me ( AND a {$27.00} late fee for their website problems on the XXXX and XXXX ). As mentioned earlier, I called and tried to see what I could do about this sudden charge, and despite the supervisor on the phone confirming that I did indeed log in on XX/XX/XXXX, I for some reason didnt schedule a payment despite having a consistent history of scheduling payments. 

In conclusion, my complaint covers the following items : -- Comenity and XXXX paperless design within the emails employs UX that encourages users to look immediately at the main item ( the money amount and due date ) and to overlook the statement because all the important information is right there in the big box within the email. 
-- There is no customization on the main payment page, once logged in to make a payment, to alert a user that they DO have a promotional APR with a clear end date. It is instead buried in old statements, when in reality it should stand just as clearly as the account due dates. 
-- Regarding my experience XX/XX/XXXX : Unreliable scheduling system. 
-- No emails to let the user know that they have successfully scheduled a payment. 
-- No emails letting a user know that their promotional APR is ending soon. 
-- Regarding my experience XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX : Unreliable web system that can not connect to the last digits of my SSN to my account, and a bug well over a 24 hour period and after office hours are closed, leaving people who make payments within a couple days of its due date ( in other words, a lot of Americans who have financial struggles or are tight on money ) unable to easily make a payment and leaving them to accrue late fees on top of the incredible amount of interest.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief