Consumer complaint received 2019-01-15
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Charged too much interest

Complaint:
Purchased two pieces of furniture from XXXX XXXX XXXX back in XXXX of XXXX. I paid {$1000.00} cash and financed approximately {$1800.00} with Synchrony bank. 

Upon delivery of the aforementioned, I received the wrong pieces and they were REFUSED AND RETURNED to XXXX. We went through a lot of back and forth to get the correct items. This took quite some time. Upon arrival of the second delivery, the two pieces of furniture were DAMAGED/DEFECTIVE. I called XXXX and was told that I should accept them and someone will come out to assess and take care of the problem. I was hesitant but I decided to accept them since they were very heavy and the drivers were complaining about having to take them back to the truck. I was advised to send pictures to XXXX and I did just that. After not hearing from XXXX after a week, I decided to call. I spoke with a manager and she informed me that based on the condition of the furniture, she would have to EXCHANGE them. 

However, XXXX did everything to prevent the exchange. We would agree on a delivery date and time, but the time would change at the last minute when we would not be available. As such, the dates had to keep changing. In addition, XXXX decided to show up at my home even though I called in and informed reps and a manager that the time change would not work as no one would be home. Fed up of the runaround, I contacted Synchrony for assistance and was informed by the representative, that Synchrony would be able to help since I did not receive what I paid for. The rep went on to say that I " should not make any payments while the issue is being investigated. '' It took a long time to hear back from Synchrony as it relates to its decision. Surprisingly, Synchrony only requested information from Ashley Furniture and nothing from me to aid the investigation. Therefore, I disputed its decision and was told that another investigation needed to be done. Again, I was told to make no payments during the investigation. Synchrony 's decision at the end of the second " investigation '' was that XXXX could not get in touch with me. Again, no request for information from me during this " investigation. '' This is laughable! I called the store every week and my calls were not returned as promised. Also, I had only {$560.00} outstanding at that point. I was making payments in the amount of {$200.00} every month and I planned to make two payments to clear the balance. Therefore, I would have paid off the balance approximately SIX MONTHS ( or earlier ) prior to the end of the interest-free period, as indicated on the attached statement. 

Fast forward to XX/XX/XXXX when another delivery attempt was made. This time the two pieces of furniture were even more damaged. I called the store, sent pictures of the defects/damages to the manager, and was told to refuse the delivery. I contacted Synchrony once again for assistance since its last decision was based on the fact that XXXX could not get in touch with me ( which is not true ). I was informed that another " investigation '' will be done, and I should not make payments until its conclusion ( no request for information from me, but it takes over a month before I heard back from Synchrony. I received a voicemail from a Synchrony employee, stating " Synchrony does not address issues with quality. You need to contact XXXX regarding issues with quality. '' This decision is totally different from the previous reasons for ruling in XXXX 's favor. Another delivery date was set up and another delivery attempt was made. Like the previous deliveries, the two pieces of furniture were damaged/defective. The material had cuts and other issues. Once again the delivery was refused and returned to XXXX. 

Approximately four days ago I received a statement from Synchrony and interest in the amount of {$340.00} was added because " deferred interest '' was not paid on time. Bear in mind that Synchrony instructed me not to make payments during the investigations, which started in the summer of last year, and I was paying {$200.00} each month. prior to that. I contacted XXXX when I received the statement and XXXX agreed that I should not have been charged any interest since I did not cause the problem, still do not have what I paid for, and because Synchrony told me not to pay during the investigations.

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