Consumer complaint received 2024-11-08
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments — Problem during payment process
Company: Continental Finance Company, LLC (TX)

I had a Cerulean MasterCard from Continental Finance and issued by XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX that I applied for a few years ago. I barely used the card and when i did it was for small purchases and immediately paid it off. On three separate occasions after I would make a payment, I would get text messages and emails stating that my payment was not made. Each time I had to call the Cerulean/Continental Finance and explain that I made the payment. I would verify with my bank that the payment was made and could see the payment had been processed with a verification number. I called my bank ( XXXX ) and asked them to send me a " proof of payment '' which I had to send to Cerulean/Continental Finance . The last time this happened in XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX I called the company and told them this is now the third time that this has happened and told them that the payment was made and that they keep doing this. I told the representative that the last two times it was an error on their end and asked him to check their records to confirm and he refused. He told me the payment wasn't made and that they we're going to charge me a late fee and report it on my credit report. I offered to give him the verification number from my bank and told him I can send the 'proof of payment ' from XXXX like the last two times and he wasn't interested in it and hung up on me. I then called back and spoke to a much nicer women who gave me the info to send the " proof of payment '' which is the email XXXX So, I sent them a letter with the " proof of payment '' and told them that it was the third time this has happened and asked for an explanation and asked to be contacted by the CEO of the company to let him know of the situation. I never heard anything back from them so I called back and a representative told me that I had a XXXX balance and told him I wanted to close my account ASAP because of their unethical business practices. The representatives name as XXXX and his ID number was # XXXX and he assured me that the balance was XXXX and the account was closed. He said I may get a statement but do disregard it. I asked him if I could get a transcript of the call which he said to use the same email, XXXX and request a transcript which I did but never received the transcript. A couple weeks later I receive a bill from Cerulean/Continental Finance stating that my previous balance of {$10.00} was paid, however that I made another purchase of {$10.00}, which i never did, and that I had a fee of {$10.00} and a balance of {$10.00}. which doesn't add up or even make sense. So, I called Cerulean/Continental Finance again and talked to a representative explaining the entire situation again and he said the statement was incorrect, the balance was XXXX, the account has been closed, and to disregard everything thinking that would be the end of it. Nope, I am now getting email and text messages over and over every day saying that my account is past due, that I owe them money, and to contact them. How is a company that is licensed to extend credit this inept? The only explanation I have is this is a predatory lender who purposely tells customers that they don't receive payments so they can charge late fees and make more money. THIS IS ILLEGAL! If this happened to me three different times, I'm sure it has happened to the majority of their customers and many who make double payments, pay extra fees, while the company plays XXXX and rakes in record profits because of these illegal business practices. This company, Cerulean/Continental Finance needs to be investigated to see how many customers have had this happen to them. I'm afraid they're going to report negative information on my credit report now that i have an outstanding balance and ruin my credit scores. Please help me.