Consumer complaint received 2019-11-02
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: WA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
Paypal Credit DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING!!!!! 

I applied for a Paypal Credit account after seeing advertising for their six months interest free purchases. I applied and received the card. I used the account to pay for dog training lessons. One month later I had credit interest charges on the account. When I called to ask why they said I did not make a " special financing '' purchase which means it needed to be an online purchase when in fact I made a " cash transfer '' to my dog trainer which means account to account. When you view the advertising and special terms is says NOTHING about online purchases only. I am an intelligent consumer and would not have done it if it was clearly only for online purchases. I then made a purchase and thinking I had six months, only made a six month incremental payment instead of paying off the balance. I then received an interest charge in the first month.

This is a deceptive marketing practice and is meant to lure people in with six months interest free offer but then not make clear that it has to be for online purchases. They then know that people will make purchases that don't qualify and they can charge them interest. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/2019 - Date opened account XX/XX/19- Date of first purchase of {$1000.00} XX/XX/19- First payment of principal of {$180.00} ( {$1000.00} / 6 months ) XX/XX/19- Interest charged to account {$19.00} XX/XX/19 - went online to make payment and saw interest ; called customer service After several minutes of arguing i forced them to refund my interest and promised to payoff the account. I told them this was deceptive marketing and they KNEW IT! 
XX/XX/2019 - payment of {$910.00} to transfer on Monday. 

Here is the advertisement in full. Nowhere in this does it say for online purchases only. The first line highlights the six months of interest free period. 

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Purchases of $ XXXX : No Interest if paid in full in 6 months on purchases of {$99.00} or more. 

Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the balance is not paid in full within 6 months. 
A minimum monthly payment is required and may or may not pay off the promotional purchase by the end of the 6 months period.

No interest will be charged on the purchase if you pay it off in full within 6 months. If you do not, interest will be charged on the purchase from the purchase date at the Purchase APR applicable to your account.

For New Accounts : Variable Purchase APR is 25.99 %. The APR is accurate as of 9/1/2019 and will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate ( as defined in your credit card agreement ). Minimum Interest charge is {$2.00}.

Individual items that are less than {$99.00} qualify for special financing when combined for a total of {$99.00} or more in a single transaction.

Multiple separate transactions of less than {$99.00} per transaction can not be combined to meet the minimum purchase amount.

Purchases of {$98.00} or less : Buy now and pay over time with PayPal Credit when you spend {$98.00} or less.

If you pay your balance in full each month by the payment due date that is on your statement, you can avoid paying interest.

Or, make minimum monthly payments, or any additional amount of your choosing, until you've paid off your balance according to your standard account terms. Please note, interest charges may apply.

We'll send you email reminders when your payments are due. You can also keep track of your account and view your statements online at any time.

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