Consumer complaint received 2022-12-27
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NJ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
At the end of XXXX, I began to notice that my Venmo VISA Card, serviced via Synchrony Bank, had an unusually high balance due. I began to take photos of my transaction history as it appeared in the Venmo Application for XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, of the offending transactions. I subsequently contacted the company to question the charges and within just days after doing so, I noticed that the charges had been amended as they now appeared on my transaction history in the Venmo application. I contacted the bank again to question why these changes were made and I filed an appeal. After some time had gone by and I received no communication of a resolution, I contacted the company again to inquire about the dispute. I was told that no dispute had been filed after having previously been told by a different representative on an earlier call that one had. Again, I asked for them to file a dispute which they followed through with this time. I was also told unofficially before any official investigation by a representative that these " Payment between Friends '' type transactions I had been making were not actually considered cash advances, even though they had all of the traditional interest rates and fees, and other features associated with them. It should be noted that the card had a {$270.00} Cash Advance limit with a {$2700.00} total limit. After XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, I believed the source of all the disputed charges to be funded by a different source that was connected to my Venmo Account. I had several bank accounts and credit cards connected to the general Venmo Application account since I opened it. After {$270.00} any cash advance approved by Venmo should have come from an alternate source connected to the Venmo Application ; not my Venmo Line of Credit cash advance or any balance. 

After again receiving no correspondence from Venmo or Synchrony after ample time had passed, I reached out to the company and was told a resolution to my dispute would be decided soon. This resolution came back in the bank 's favor, with me still being responsible for the charges in question. I appealed this decision. Again I received the same resolution. I repeatedly tried to contact Synchrony as well as the XXXX and XXXX Credit Bureaus to correct this error. Now it is over 1 year later and I have been denied an auto loan application as a means to get to my place of employment, along with other credit applications multiple times. My credit score has suffered irreparably during this time with this card being the major impacting factor. I feel that this will never be fairly resolved by dealing with the company, as they continue to drag their feet with investigations and fail to acknowledge any wrongdoing or error on their part ultimately anyway. Disputes filed with XXXX and XXXX have yielded the same disappointing lack of justice, fairness, and accuracy. 

In total, from XXXX XX/XX/XXXX through XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Venmo Card as serviced by Synchrony Bank continues to claim that charges in the sum of {$1500.00} on my account are valid charges that I remain liable for and provide no explanation as to why they were altered in my transaction history as photographic evidence I possess clearly exhibits. The {$4200.00} that the bank claims I owe them today was calculated using the actual legitimate and validly executed and documented transactions balance which I never disputed, the {$1500.00} that I did dispute which I believe to have been fraudulently charged and reported on, and the accrued interest and fees associated with the account since my unsuccessful attempts to come to a fair resolution with the company as it pertains to my dispute. 

Please see the attached images for evidence on my behalf which shows many examples of the transaction types and additional information such as what time the payment occurred, to whom it was sent, and the interest rate I was being charged for the transactions that have been altered or removed as in the instances of identifying information that would obviously make it a cash advance. The transaction ID numbers have even been changed from the originals. My statement now lists the transactions as 'VENMO* Visa XXXX NY. '' My current statement also shows that my {$270.00} cash advance limit has been exhausted, but this can't be true since their entire case is that these charges are not cash advances, and they have changed my transaction history to reflect them as ordinary card charges. Fraudulently so, I might add and emphasize.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation