Consumer complaint received 2024-07-22
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest — Charged too much interest
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (FL)

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, 18 months ago, my husband & I excitedly went into XXXX XXXX XXXX located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. We had been married for several years but had not had the funds to purchase a wedding ring. Finally, after a long wait, we were excited to purchase a nice ring. We had a budget in mind and planned to stay at that price. When we pointed out a specific ring and asked the price the salesperson, who happened to be the manager, said it was near the same price as what we had been looking at approximately $ XXXX. That was perfect we wanted that ring. When it came time to pay for the ring, she said ... '' Oh, I'm sorry it's $ XXXX... I miss read the price. '' Of course, we were disheartened ... This is when she informed us that we could apply for credit and receive a special no-interest,18-month promotion. So we did this. We weren't sure if we would be able to pay it all off within the promotional time or not but we were fine if we had to pay some interest near the end. 

As time went on, with the bad economy and rising prices we were not able to pay off as much of the ring as we had hoped within the 18 months time period. We understood that was our problem. 

What the salesperson NEVER told us and we NEVER expected, was that at the end of the 18 months, all of the interest that we had saved would be accrued and added back to the balance if the entire purchase had not been paid off. 
Imagine our shock, when our balance nearly doubled due to the addition of {$2700.00} added to our statement!!! 

So we called the customer service line. Which we later realized was for Comenity, the credit card, not XXXX XXXX the store which are two different entities. We spoke to three different people who told us they could not help us. The third person said we would need to speak with " XXXX '' a manager, but XXXX was not there and did not have a last name nor a direct line to contact her. Then we asked for the corporate office number of XXXX XXXX, which again she did not have. 

We retrieved XXXX 's corporate number ourselves and determined that XXXX XXXX is the " Manager of Customer Care ''. Upon my original 3 calls, he did not answer but sent an email to my husband 's email instead, ( the email address could have only been found on our account because it had not been provided on the voicemails ) saying he could not help. On my XXXX call, he answered the phone & again said he could not help because the financing wasn't handled by XXXX. After several minutes of conversation and determined that he could not assist us. We asked for the name & number of his boss. It took several minutes and numerous requests before he would provide us with his superior 's name & number. Reluctantly, XXXX provided the name of XXXX XXXX the " Director of Customer Experience '' along with his number. 

We called XXXX immediately, but as expected XXXX did not answer. We left a voicemail acknowledging that he was likely speaking to XXXX XXXX at that moment who was relaying our previous conversation. 

Soon after XXXX called us back & said that the two of them ( he & XXXX XXXX ) had determined that they would provide our name & number to the finance company, Comenity we assume, for them to call us back on this issue. XXXX would never provide us with a name or number for the finance company, nor would he agree to provide to us a follow-up email making us aware that he indeed contacted someone and that we could expect a call by a certain date. 

This was on XX/XX/XXXX and we have not heard from anyone as of yet. We realize that in the scheme of things {$2700.00} is not a huge amount. But when we were completely taken unexpectedly by this knowledge and in today 's economy it is A LOT!!!! 
We were told by the customer service agents of Comenity that this information was on the statement. 

We have never once dealt with a situation where the interest from a grace or promotional offer period was accrued and then added back to the account down the road. We were unaware that this was even allowed. So when the sales agent did not tell us about this we did not know to ask. 

In addition, who reads the statement??? We were under the impression that we knew the terms. We would verify the numbers that our payments were applied but beyond that, we never anticipated our interest was to be charged back to us! This is a predatory act and is causing our family harm!!! 

We would have never in a million years agreed to the terms as such a situation and bought an item not knowing that we would be able to pay within the time frame. It is our opinion that both XXXX XXXX and Comenity are equally at fault. 

XXXX 's salespeople should be trained & know the finance product that are offering their customers and be required to explain every aspect of the loan product before the customer can make a purchase. However, their salespeople have a clear incentive not to share this information with their customers because they are paid on commission and they would likely make smaller sales. 

Also, Comenity has a clear incentive for XXXX 's salespeople not to inform their customers because they get to claim back interest from the customers who are unable to pay off the larger purchase in the allotted time frame. 

In addition, Comenity, does not allow access to managers, thus they say they can not help you and XXXX claims they do not handle the financing thus they can not help. Therefore no one can help and customers who have been blindsided by this misleading and deceptive practice. 
Unfortunately, we are sure we are not the only people in this situation with these companies. 
Please advise on next steps. Thank you