Consumer complaint received 2023-11-21
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Closing your account — Can't close your account
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NC)

I bought a pair of shoes at XXXX and at checkout was told I could get {$15.00} off if I started a credit account at the time. The checker said it would help her greatly. I agreed and gave my info. I was to get all the information and a credit card in the mail. I waited over a month for this. As soon as I got it I tried to pay it off and I couldnt find an address to send a check to. There was all sorts of info for attaching to my bank account or credit card both of which I do not do. I waited for a couple of weeks waiting for an email to tell me more but nothing showed up and since the due date was gettin close I decided to get more serious about finding their address. I found their website, signed in and finally found an address way down in the fine print. I sent off the check in plenty of time. I pay my bills through the bank who prints the check out and mails them while keeping a record for me. I thought it a bit strange that the bank didnt have an automatic info fill in on this company but since I had the company and an address from the official website I double checked and put that info in and my bank sent the check. I sent {$71.00} on XX/XX/2023. 
I soon got an email that a payment was due on XX/XX/2023. The email said that if a payment was made that is processing I could disregard this notice. 
a little while went by and I got an email saying that my payment was late. I called the number on the back of the credit card to see what was going on since I sent the payment. 
I was told that no payment was received and that I now owed the original amount plus {$30.00} late fee. I objected and told that the money was sent. She asked what address I sent it to so I read it off. I was told that was the wrong address. I said that is the address listed on your wed site. She said that address was incorrect and since it wasnt my fault the late fee would be reduced to {$15.00}. I told her that that is not fair but give me the pay off amount and to close the account since by this time I have had enough of the way this company does business. She told me {$88.00} and that the account was closed. I felt that an unfair charge of {$15.00} was a small price to pay to not have anymore trouble from these people.I told her I would stop payment on the first check and issue a new check for {$88.00} that she asked for. I got an email giving me the amount {$88.00} and the processed date XX/XX/2023. I thought the matter closed. 
I checked my account and saw both the original payment of {$71.00} and the new payment of {$88.00} listed. I checked with my bank to see that the stop payment did work and the money was not payed. 
I started getting phone calls that were announced as community bank on my answer machine, no message left. I still didnt associate community with comenity or XXXX XXXX After a few I tried answering but no one on the other end. I got an email saying they would report me to four different credit agency 's and more calls that would hang up. I checked the credit report and didnt see anything about late payments so didnt think any more of it. I was then getting calls that I would answer and I would hear XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and they would hang up. no message ever left. It was strange but I get so many spam calls I didnt think much of it. 
A couple of days ago I picked it up and there was finally someone on the line. She said she was collections and wanted {$140.00}. I told her this account was closed out a while ago. She said {$15.00} was not payed and the rest was late fees. I told her that I was all paid and the account closed months ago. She said that a {$30.00} late fee was imposed and that {$15.00} was deferred. I told her that was not what i was told when I closed the account. She insisted and that I should pay now with a bank account or credit card right there and then on the phone before more late fees add up. 
I asked if she was a collection company or the credit card company and she said that she was the collections department of the bank. I told her that I would not pay anything to her over the phone, I would call the number on my card. She said I should pay her since I would get the same office when I called that number. I am not stupid enough to give information, especially bank information over the phone. 
I called the number on the card Tuesday during banking hours and asked whats due and got the same amount. I said I would pay it and asked if the account was closed and got no answer he just changed the subject. XXXX asked for the address to send the check. He gave me XXXX address that I repeated back to him twice then he said it was the wrong address and preceded to give me another one. I repeated it back and he said that was correct. Now we are on the fourth address. 
I entered it into my bank account and sent the check. The reference number is XXXX and I was talking to XXXX. 
XXXX is a good store with a good selection of shoes. I know that this credit card company is not the store but they should know what type of shady credit company they are endorsing. 
I do not hurt for money and neither {$15.00} or {$140.00} hurt me in any way except that what they have done is wrong and crooked. How many other people have they been doing this to. I have checked my XXXX XXXX and it has dropped significantly but not enough to hurt me since I had such a high score. This type of behavior from a credit company should not be tolerated and I hope something can be done to help others who can not withstand what they are doing.