Consumer complaint received 2022-03-28
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: OR
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
My very first card with Synchrony was a walmart card in XXXX. I had perfect payment history but at some point they didn't like that I wasn't using it enough so they reduced my credit limit by XXXX bucks with no notice. Notice showed up in the mail 2 weeks after they actually closed the account. 

My next card with Synchrony was the Care Credit card in XXXX which was really for medical expenses, dental work or animal vet visits. It had a XXXX credit limit. I used it at the beginning to get some dental work done because I had no insurance. It quickly became my emergency back up card for health issues with me or my animals because I had no health insurance at the time and Synchrony was offering special financing if I used XXXX or more of my credit line. Then my use dropped off and it was about a year or so that I went without using it. I then attempted to take my dogs to get checked out at a vet and my card was declined. I called in to Synchrony only to be told some robotic answer that they tell everyone which is that they randomly check accounts for accuracy and any issues and they said they closed my account due to inactivity. Again, with no notice and my actual closed notice didn't even show up in the mail for 10 days after the card stopped working. Not only did they remove my credit line but my credit score dipped almost 85 points that month. Within 6 weeks of them closing my account with no notice I had several other of my credit card companies that I am a cardholder with and have a good history with, reduce or close my account because of Synchrony closing my XXXX credit line on the Care Credit card. I have never paid late, I always pay more than the minimum and there were numerous times I have paid my balance off in full. I am really disgruntled and furious at this point because I really needed that card and when I called they treated me as if I was a problem to them. That was in XXXX in the middle of the Covid pandemic. 

So last year I accepted a Old Navy credit card when I was shopping directly at the store. Little did I know that when I got approved for a credit line for XXXX it was with Synchrony bank. I decided to keep the card because I shop at Old Navy for all my tshirt needs and figured it would be good to keep it for emergencies. 6 months later when they noticed I was using more credit than I usually do they reduced my credit limit by XXXX bucks with no notice to me util it arrived in the mail 13 days later. This also affected my credit score and adversly affected my DTI. It through me over my limit actually and they wouldn't reverse over the limit charges citing that I needed to be more responsible about knowing my due dates and to make timely payments. I was never late, never I have records and they have record to show this. It is ridiculous that they continue to do this to people for what reason? 

My question is this. Does paying on time and having no issues with your account mean anything any more? Having it revoked for no reason and with no notice is not ok. That Care Credit card was my only way of paying for health emergencies with me, my husband or my pets and they just ripped it out from under me for no reason. I have cards with credit limits over 10k that I still have and hava n't been revoked with no notice or for lame reasons. I have an amazing job, cars, a very comfortable life and always pay my bills on time so why is it I am being punished for that with Synchrony? 

Synchrony clearly plays god with consumer 's credit and I believe they need to be reprimanded for it. If they would have just left me alone I would have been able to buy a house but because they messed with my credit so much I missed out on being able to purchase my first home. The fact is it is because of what they did to my credit that I still am unable to purchase a home I think they should compensate me for that. A year or more of suffering credit because of one move they made. It makes me sick that this has happened. It took me years to get my credit in the 700 's and then just like that they take it all away. Not fair and not right.

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