Consumer complaint received 2025-04-10 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/XXXX I was promoted a new credit card from the XXXX XXXX, which was really a false promotion from Comenity Bank. 
. 
XX/XX/XXXX or there abouts I received the card and used it for a few purchases to activate the card. 

XX/XX/XXXX Approximately I received the bill from Comenity for the charges, which I immediately paid the full balance ( as I have done for all of my credit cards for decades ) for {$1000.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received the next statement from Comenity, showing my payment was received but adding a {$40.00} late fee, though they showed they had recieved the payment. I attempted to call the numbers on the credit card, the statement and in the emails I'd received from Comenity to discuss the issue. Every single attempt to reached an automated call system. I could reach the automated system to pay a bill however any attempt to talk to a person or a representative the phone system forwarded to a voice mail that said " You have reached a non-working number at Comenity ''. After numerous searches on the internet I found yet another number for a different Comenity bank and spoke to a person who promised that the late fee would be addressed. On the same day I paid the open balance minus the {$40.00} late fee for {$170.00}. It is important to note that the initial bill was due on XX/XX/XXXX and not only had the mail reached them on that date they themselves showed it was processed the next day. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received a new bill from Comenity and AGAIN they claimed I had paid the bill late and added another {$40.00} charge. I again attempted all of the numbers I had for Comenity all of which only reached a number that said " You have reached a non working number at Comenity ''. Unable to reach a representative I wrote a letter to Comenity disputing all of the late fees and demanding that they close the account. I included a check for the balance due on the account minus the supposed late fees. I sent this letter to Comenity via USPS certified mail with tracking so that I could prove that they had received the letter and I hoped for some type of response from them. They received this letter XX/XX/XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received another bill from Comenity, there was no acknowledgement of my letter, a research into the dispute no any other charges EXCEPT this time Comenity charged another late fee and interest to the account. I again attempted phone calls to Comenity only to reach " You have reached a nonworking number to Comenity ''. Unable to do anything more I sent a letter to Comenity. This time I figured out how to record the audio from the calls to Comenity that ended with " OK I'll transfer you to somebody who can help with that. Please hold while I transfer you to a representative ... You have reached a nonworking number at Comenity, if you feel you have reached this number in error please check the number '' as evidence since I also had seen a CFPB settlement with another bank where the bank refused to look into disputes. There was simply no way to reach Comenity to discuss these repeat errors. This is not a PDF so I can't attach it to this complaint, but I do have an audio recording I'm happy to share. I then sent Comenity another letter disputing the claims and asking for a resolution. 

XX/XX/XXXX I received a text message from Comenity indicating that I was late paying the bill ( since I'd only sent the letter for XXXX and not agreed to pay their fraudulent charges ). This time Comenity must have fixed their phone number. I was able to have a call with Comenity. I recorded the discussion with their representative who acknowledged that I had paid the account and tried to close it ( though they had never acknowledged this in writing ). Again I'm happy to share the audio recording with CFPB. The representative acknowledged that they had received each of the checks ahead of the bill cycle and that the bill was actually received early. They further dug into my past bill cycles and acknowledged that the charges were fraudulent. During the call we even discussed that the XXXX bill was processed through my bank ( as in the charge hit my bank ) prior to when they tried to say it was on the bill. 

During the call we discussed closing the account and getting rid of the fees. The representative agreed to close the account and to remove the charges. During the call he agreed to send me a letter confirming the decision. He promised the issues were now resolved. 

HOWEVER - Comenity may have closed the account, but apparently they did NOT remove the charges, and they then started reporting the me credit reporting agencies as if I was late paying the bills. 

I do have a recording of the final call with Comenity, as well as recordings of the calls attempting to reach a representative for months prior. I'd like to provide this to CFPB but the call recording is XXXX and exceeds the size I can upload to this complaint. Is there an alternate means to send it to you? 

I've absolutely no idea how to close this account and get rid of all of this nonsense from Comenity. When I researched the company the XXXX  and XXXX are absolutely loaded with people having this or similiar issues with this fraudulent provider. Obviously they are attempting to prey on people who don't actually read their bills or something which is an absolute shame, but all I want is for this card to be closed, for them to fix any credit reports they have made and to be done with them. I'd even pay them the late fees to be done with it - I dont ' know what else i can do to get rid of them.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief