Consumer complaint received 2019-07-09
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (MD)

On XX/XX/XXXX I walked in to a XXXX XXXX store to buy an engagement ring for my girlfriend. After choosing the ring that I liked the employee and I started filling out some paper work and he pitched me the idea of financing the ring at 0 % interest. Since I was also in the process of buying a new home it didn't seem like a bad idea to finance the ring so I could keep some money in the bank to show to the mortgage loan officers to prove my trust worthiness. 

I asked the XXXX employee what the " catch '' was and he said that as long as a paid my ring off within the terms that I wouldn't pay any interest. So I was thinking no problem, I decided to choose a term of 6-months. I had filled out the short credit application and gotten approved and he sent me on my way and told me to look out for the credit card to arrive in the mail. 

I don't know the exact date but I had received the card in the mail a couple of weeks later and set-up an account online linked to my bank so that I could make payments. My plan was to pay {$650.00} for the first 5 months and the remaining balance on the 6th month ( {$480.00} ) The first payment was due on XX/XX/XXXX and had made my first payment on XX/XX/XXXX @ {$650.00} the payments were completed as follows : XXXX XX/XX/XXXX @ {$650.00} XX/XX/XXXX @ {$650.00} XX/XX/XXXX @ {$650.00} XX/XX/XXXX @ {$650.00} XX/XX/XXXX @ {$480.00} Bear in mind, I have a very good credit score and history and haven't missed a payment in 10 years. I had paid all of the payments on time as discussed in person. 

I had made my last payment just like I had made any of my other payments by logging into their interface. The site stated that the payment was due on the XXXX and I had set it up to be paid on the XXXX and I did pay it by then. 

Feeling accomplished making my last payment I felt a sense of relief to have finally paid the ring off but then the next month I receive an email stating that my statement balance was ready. I though to myself to just delete the email since I knew I had paid the balance but my gut told me to check it out just in case. 

I login and BOOM they hit me with {$360.00} out of nowhere. I noticed that they had " edited '' in a charge in on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX that shows them adding in the " promotional interest '' in there but it was NOT there before the due date of the XXXX when I had logged in to schedule my last payment for the balance. In other words there was no indication of the interest charge before I set my final payment. 

Furthermore, the representative completley manipulated me and conned me into this whole thing by telling me that as long as I pay in 6 months I wouldn't be charged interest. I immediantly called XXXX Credit card company and told them that there must have been a mistake because I had made all of my payments " on time '' within 6 months which is the truth. My first payment was on XX/XX/XXXX ( due on XXXX ) and my last payment was XX/XX/XXXX and the representative just snickered at me almost like she's in on the whole scheme and tells me that the 6 months starts from when I sign the paperwork ... XXXX ARE YOU KIDDING ME? No one ever explained that to me, I told her that I have an excellent report and never have missed any payments and could've paid the card of MONTHS ago but I didn't because I thought I wasn't going to get charged any interest and she sits there and tells me that it was in the " fine print '' and that I should have paid attention. It honestly sounded so scripted like SO many have this issue due to their SHADEY promotional offer honestly it made me sick. 

In my final defense, I had asked the lady I was on the phone with why they don't change the due date or highlight online that your last payment is due on a certain date other than the due date and she said that they do but the only problem is supposdely they send it to your inbox on their outdated website and you have to click on it and scroll all the way down to see it highlighted in red. The funny thing is I never even got that mysterious mail in my inbox from them at all ... 

Over all I feel like they probably trick thousands of people like me into this " promotional deal '' that is structured completely different then traditional loans or or credit cards and in my opinion it should be illegal for them to structure a business like this because its based off of deception.