Consumer complaint received 2025-02-06 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
A necklace was purchased online from XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX mos deferred interest using credit card but was not received in store. A different necklace was purchased instead with XXXX mos deferred interest and the salesperson returned the online purchase. Comenity Bank continued to charge me for the online purchase, charged me late fees on the returned item, and did not remove the charges after calling them from the store in XX/XX/XXXX with the manager verifying the necklace was returned although it was never in my possession. The credit representative stated the late fees would be removed and payments applied. Comenity Bank stopped sending me account statements XX/XX/XXXX and when I went online to make payments found posted messages that my address was incorrect when I verified several times the address on file was indeed correct. I was forced to accept electronic documents and when I filed the complaint XX/XX/XXXX only received duplicates of the initial few months plus statements up to XX/XX/XXXX. I made multiple calls to billing and customer service to resolve the issue. I was very proactive in paying off the debt before the deferred interest timeline by making larger payments than required. In XXXX I was still not sure the balance issue was resolved but attempted to pay half of the balance due {$630.00} which posted on XX/XX/XXXX. The balance almost tripled after making a {$260.00} payment which posted XX/XX/XXXX. I was prepared to make my final payment on XX/XX/XXXX exactly 10 days before the end of the deferred promotion but the balance seemed way off ( {$1000.00} ). I called Saturday XX/XX/XXXX and was told I was being charged for the other item and needed to provide proof that I did not have the necklace from the online purchase. I went to the XXXX store and obtained a reprint of the transactions to send to Comenity Bank. The manager on duty ( different from the manager who assisted me in XXXX ) was not surprised and stated she has seen this happen to customers before. She attempted to help me call customer service again without resolve. I uploaded the documents on the website provided by the store. I received a response saying the balance was correct and my dispute was closed. I called back and was passed between billing and customer service each time having to explain the situation, issue, etc. It was so frustrating and upsetting I asked to be escalated to management. I wrote a letter XX/XX/XXXX and I asked that I not be penalized by the delay in getting the issue resolved in a timely manner. I didnt receive a call back until XX/XX/XXXX from a XXXX XXXX who left a voicemail. I called her back the same day, again explaining the ongoing issue. She reopened my complaint and stated she will investigate and call me back. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX did indeed call me back. She went through the account month by month comparing my records of payments with what posted on the account. She didnt understand the charges on the account the first few months but deducted that my complaint was valid as it was related to the online purchase. She did not see XXXX bill pay payments from XXXX but calculated the total amount paid toward the balance, included the XXXX missing payments ( pending I send documentation ), and stated that I owed {$120.00} which I paid while on the phone with her XX/XX/XXXX to bring the account to a {$0.00} balance. Comenity has since reported to the credit bureaus a balance of {$2600.00} XX/XX/XXXX and past due payments for XXXX, XXXX XXXX  days past due, XXXX XXXX days past due, & even after the disputes placed with the XXXX credit bureaus XXXX past due XXXX days. I believe Comenity Bank has fraudulent practices XXXX sending statements/forcing customers to accept electronic documents XXXX customers/charging for items not received XXXX late fees on returned items XXXX to handle issues in a timely manner/preventing customers from getting complaints resolved or passing them between departments XXXX properly documenting payments received and not honoring the actions discussed as a resolution. I honestly feel I am not the first person they have treated in this manner based on the statement from the store manager who was from XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief