Consumer complaint received 2023-01-13 00:00:00
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
I received the Bread Financial American Express credit card provided by Comenity Capital Bank back in XX/XX/XXXX. 

In general, American Express is known nationally and worldwide, has a good reputation and is known to provide excellent customer support when needed. However, this clearly was not the case with the American Express card acquired through Comenity Capital Bank pursuant to a license from American Express.

This bank lacks everything from transparency, ethics, competence, and customer support. Customer Service was very poor : lacking knowledge and understanding the banks policies and procedures. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I filed a dispute claim with American Express for the XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX software purchased from XXXX XXXX XXXX in the amount of {$120.00} requesting assistance for a product I was unable to use. 

As time went by, I messaged customer service and called on numerous occasions inquiring as to the status. All I was able to obtain is that I will receive a letter in 90 days. I was told I am liable for the full amount. Otherwise I will incur interest and late fees! As a general rule banks and credit card companies will not hold you financially responsible for amounts being disputed until it has been resolved. 

My monthly bill was due in early XXXX of XXXX. However, due to a credit I received for a product I returned, my account balance reflected a credit balance of over {$850.00}. I called the bank and requested for my refund to be deposited directly via ACH.

I was told that I am unable to get my refund until the dispute is resolved. This was outrageous since they already deducted the amount due from the credit balance. 

In order for me to receive my refund I was put in a position of closing the disputed claim and closing my account which I did not want to do. I have never experienced anything of this nature in working with other major credit cards or banks over the years! 

Furthermore, the terms which are in very fine print of the Credit Card Agreement and any reasonable and informative person would not have seen, under Your Rights If You Are Dissatisfied With Your Credit Purchases reads as follows : 1. The purchase must have been made within your home state or within XXXX miles of your current mailing address. 

In addition to their lack of ethics, is their misrepresentation, this bank has the audacity to carry the American Express logo on their card, which is accepted nationwide and worldwide, yet they will not cover purchases exceeding 100 miles of your residential address! Although I filed a dispute claim with Comenity Capital Bank, I am questioning whether they even bothered to follow up on this dispute. Getting the impression they simply wait 90 days to send a letter only to find out no resolution was achieved. Comenity Capital Bank is not only unethical, they lack transparency ; they misrepresented what the American Express cards truly stands for, and lacks customer service! Its been a huge inconvenience, a waste of time and costly! I do not recommend the Comenity Capital Bank American Express Card. I will inform news reporters and other agencies to make the public aware of how this bank operates. The right thing for Comenity Capital Bank to do is to either reopen the disputed claim, do a proper investigation at minimum, which I am entitled to or to simply refund me the {$120.00} for mishandling my case in the first place, misrepresenting the American Express standards nationwide and worldwide, and for bribing me into closing the disputed case and my account in order for me to get my refund back totaling over {$850.00}.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief