Ross Store Card Charge: Disputes, Fraud, and Comenity Complaints

A Ross charge on your statement is almost always a purchase made with one of the two Ross credit cards issued by Comenity Capital Bank: the store-only Ross Credit Card, which works only at Ross Dress for Less, or the Ross Mastercard, which works anywhere Mastercard is accepted. If you don’t recognize the charge, it may be a legitimate purchase you’ve forgotten, a rewards-related posting, or an unauthorized transaction you have the right to dispute.¹

Why the Charge Might Look Unfamiliar

Comenity issues two Ross-branded cards, and applicants don’t pick between them. The bank decides based on creditworthiness: applicants who don’t qualify for the Ross Mastercard can still be approved for the store-only card. If someone in your household applied, they may have ended up with either product without realizing which one was issued.¹

The Mastercard version can produce charges that don’t obviously look like Ross purchases, since it can be used at any merchant that accepts Mastercard. A charge from an unrelated retailer paid with the Ross Mastercard will show that merchant’s name, not Ross. On the store-only card, charges will only ever come from Ross Dress for Less.

Rewards activity can also cause confusion on a Ross statement. The program pays 5% back on Ross purchases (and 1% on other purchases for Mastercard holders) as Ross Rewards Dollars. Every 100 Rewards Dollars produces a $5 Reward Certificate, issued in $5 increments up to $20 per billing cycle. Earned rewards and certificates can take up to two billing cycles to post, so an entry tied to a purchase from a month or two ago is normal.²

Disputing a Ross Charge You Didn’t Make

If the charge is on a Ross card issued by Comenity and you didn’t authorize it, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute it in writing. Your dispute letter has to reach Comenity at its billing-inquiry address within 60 days of the statement date. Include your name, account number, and a description of the charge, along with copies of any supporting documents. Comenity must acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days.³

While the investigation is open, you can withhold payment on the disputed amount. The issuer can’t report you as delinquent on that amount or close your account over it during that window. If Comenity fails to follow the required procedures, it forfeits the right to collect up to $50 of the disputed amount, even if the charge turns out to be valid.³

There’s a wrinkle that helps store-card holders on quality-of-goods disputes. Federal law normally limits those disputes to purchases over $50 made within 100 miles of your home. When the card issuer is also the seller, as with the Ross store-only card used at Ross, those limits don’t apply.³

If the charge appears on a non-Ross card (your own bank’s credit or debit card) and somehow references Ross, contact that card’s issuer directly. The FCBA process runs through whoever issued the card the charge landed on, not through Ross.

If It Looks Like Fraud, Not a Billing Error

For a charge that looks like outright fraud rather than a mistake, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recommends calling your card issuer immediately to report the charge and request a replacement card. For Ross cards, call Comenity at 1-800-440-5215 for the Ross Credit Card or 1-866-743-3660 for the Ross Mastercard.⁴⁵

Beyond the issuer, place a fraud alert with one of the three major credit bureaus. Alerting one triggers notification to the other two.

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian: 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

You can also report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov and file a report with local law enforcement, keeping a copy for your records.⁴

Billing Complaints Filed Against Comenity

The Better Business Bureau’s profile for Comenity Capital Bank, which issues all Ross credit cards, shows 5,412 complaints filed over the most recent three-year period. Of those, 4,219 involve billing issues. The BBB gives Comenity an A+ rating and accreditation status.⁶

Recurring themes in the complaints include on-time payments processed incorrectly or marked as late, late fees applied after alleged fee waivers, website issues that led to rejected payments and subsequent late fees, and difficulty reaching a human representative by phone or online. If your unfamiliar charge is actually a late fee or a payment that was mishandled, the written FCBA dispute process is the mechanism that forces the issuer to investigate and respond on a set timeline.⁶

1
Ross Stores. Ross Credit Card
2
Ross Stores. Ross Contact Us – Rewards Details
3
Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
4
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Credit Card and Debit Card Fraud
5
Ross Stores. Ross Contact Us – Payments
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Better Business Bureau. Comenity Capital Bank Complaints