A charge labeled “Victoria’s Secret Auburn” on your bank or credit card statement is almost always a purchase made at the Victoria’s Secret and PINK store inside The Outlet Collection shopping center in Auburn, Washington. Merchant descriptors on statements rarely match the storefront name exactly, so even a legitimate purchase can look unfamiliar a few days later. If you still don’t recognize it after checking receipts and other cardholders on the account, the charge may be a fee tied to a Victoria’s Secret credit card, a recurring subscription from a related brand, a billing error, or fraud, and you have clear rights to resolve it.
Confirm the Store and the Purchase
The Victoria’s Secret and PINK store at The Outlet Collection (sometimes listed as “The Outlet Collection Seattle”) sits at 1101 Outlet Collection Way SW, Auburn, WA 98001, and can be reached at (253) 804-0105.1Victoria’s Secret. Victoria’s Secret & PINK Store at The Outlet Collection Before treating the charge as suspicious, compare the date and dollar amount to any paper or email receipts from around that time, and check with anyone else who is an authorized user on the account. A charge that looks strange on a statement is often a transaction the cardholder simply forgot about.
Fees on a Victoria’s Secret Credit Card
If the charge sits on a Victoria’s Secret credit card (issued by Comenity Bank) rather than a general-purpose card, the amount may be a fee rather than a store purchase.
- Paper statement fee of $2.99 per month, up to $35.88 per year, charged whenever the balance exceeds $3.50 and a paper statement is mailed. It is waived for the first billing period after the account opens, and avoidable entirely by enrolling in paperless statements before 5:00 p.m. ET on the last day of the billing period.2Comenity Bank. Victoria’s Secret Credit Card Pricing Information
- Late payment fee up to $41, or $30 if no late fee was assessed in the prior six billing periods.2Comenity Bank. Victoria’s Secret Credit Card Pricing Information
- Returned payment fee up to $41 under the same structure.
- Account Assure, an optional debt-cancellation product whose monthly fee is calculated as a percentage of the statement balance and added to the account as a purchase. Coverage can be canceled at any time, but the charge is easy to overlook because it appears alongside normal purchases.3Comenity Bank. Victoria’s Secret Credit Card Account Agreement
- Expedited phone payment fee up to $15 when a payment is made over the phone using the expedited option.2Comenity Bank. Victoria’s Secret Credit Card Pricing Information
The card carries a variable purchase APR of 35.99%, and a penalty APR of up to 39.99% that can apply indefinitely after a late payment.2Comenity Bank. Victoria’s Secret Credit Card Pricing Information A higher-than-expected balance can reflect interest accruing at those rates rather than a new purchase.
One point of confusion worth clearing up: the VS and PINK Rewards loyalty program is free and does not involve recurring charges.4Victoria’s Secret. VS & PINK Rewards Program FAQ Credit card holders are automatically enrolled in rewards, but the fees above come from the separate card agreement, not from the rewards program.
Could It Be an Adore Me Subscription?
Victoria’s Secret and Co. acquired Adore Me, an online lingerie retailer whose “VIP Membership” program charges $39.95 per month. In June 2023, attorneys general from 32 states and the District of Columbia reached a $2.35 million settlement with Adore Me over claims that it failed to clearly disclose membership terms, used fake countdown clocks, made cancellation unnecessarily difficult, and forfeited store credits when members tried to cancel.5Massachusetts Attorney General. AG Campbell Announces $2.35 Million Multistate Settlement With Lingerie Retailer Washington State took part in the settlement, which returned up to $695,000 in refunds to roughly 5,700 Washington consumers.6Washington State Attorney General. AG Ferguson Wins $695,000 in Refunds for Washingtonians
A recurring charge of about $39.95 that reads as a Victoria’s Secret affiliate, or any unexpected lingerie-related subscription, is worth checking against Adore Me’s billing records. The settlement required the company to disclose fees upfront, honor cancellation requests promptly, and stop billing any member who has accumulated 12 months of store credits.6Washington State Attorney General. AG Ferguson Wins $695,000 in Refunds for Washingtonians The Auburn storefront itself does not operate on a subscription model, so a true “Victoria’s Secret Auburn” descriptor should correspond to an in-store purchase and not a recurring membership.
How to Dispute the Charge
Start With the Merchant
For questions about merchandise, a missing refund, or a duplicate billing, call the Auburn store at (253) 804-0105 or use Victoria’s Secret’s online customer care portal.1Victoria’s Secret. Victoria’s Secret & PINK Store at The Outlet Collection For issues with a Victoria’s Secret credit card itself (fees, interest, Account Assure), call Comenity Bank at (800) 695-9478 or send a secure message through Comenity’s website.7WalletHub. Cancel Victoria’s Secret Credit Card
File a Formal Dispute Under the Fair Credit Billing Act
If the merchant will not resolve the issue, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to dispute billing errors with your credit card issuer directly.8Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges Send a written dispute to the address the issuer designates for “billing inquiries,” not the payment address. Include your name, account number, and a clear description of the error, with copies of supporting documents.
Your letter must reach the issuer within 60 days of the date the first statement containing the error was sent to you. The issuer must acknowledge the dispute in writing within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days, or two billing cycles.9Discover. Fair Credit Billing Act While the investigation is open, you can withhold payment on the disputed amount and related finance charges, though you still have to pay undisputed portions of the bill. The issuer cannot report the disputed amount as delinquent or take collection action during that time.8Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
For unauthorized charges, federal law caps your liability at $50. If only your card number was used and the physical card was not lost or stolen, you are not responsible for the unauthorized charges at all.10Federal Trade Commission. Lost or Stolen Credit, ATM, and Debit Cards Many issuers add zero-liability policies on top of that.
Escalate If the Issuer Won’t Fix It
If you are not satisfied with the issuer’s response, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or report the issue to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.8Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges If you suspect identity theft, the FTC’s portal at IdentityTheft.gov walks you through a personalized recovery plan.10Federal Trade Commission. Lost or Stolen Credit, ATM, and Debit Cards
Because the store sits in Washington State, you can also file a complaint with the Washington Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division online, by phone at 1-800-551-4636 (in-state) or 206-464-6684, or by mail at 800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000, Seattle, WA 98104.11Washington State Attorney General. File a Complaint The office forwards the complaint to the business and asks for a response within 30 days. It cannot act as your personal attorney, but it uses complaint data to spot patterns that lead to enforcement, which is how the Adore Me settlement came together.
Could the Charge Be a Pending Refund or Return Issue?
Sometimes what looks like a mystery charge is a refund that hasn’t posted or a return that didn’t go through as expected. Victoria’s Secret accepts returns within 30 days of the purchase date for items in original, unworn condition with the receipt, and refunds go back to the original form of payment.12Victoria’s Secret. Victoria’s Secret Return Policy Online orders can be returned in-store at any U.S. Victoria’s Secret or PINK location, including the Auburn outlet, or shipped back with a free return label from the order history page.13Victoria’s Secret. Free Returns for Online Purchases
Without a receipt, or after 30 days, the store only offers an exchange. Non-receipted exchanges are capped at $250 within a 90-day period and require a government-issued ID. A one-time price adjustment is available within 14 days of purchase with the original receipt.12Victoria’s Secret. Victoria’s Secret Return Policy If you returned an item and the credit hasn’t appeared, call the Auburn store with the receipt before opening a formal dispute, since the refund may still be in transit from the merchant to your card.