Consumer complaint received 2022-10-17
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NV
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Add-on products and services

Complaint:
I've been a CareCredit / Synchrony Bank customer in the past, having no issues in financing a medical procedure and paying it in full within 2 years -- interest-free! However, I closed the account afterward to eliminate extra credit lines.When it became necessary several years later to finance dental work, I eagerly signed up again for CareCredit. I put the account on autopay and wasn't concerned enough with checking my statements, as I trusted this credit provider and the two businesses where I provided the card information. 

I would've previously recommended Care Credit to a friend, but certainly not after they signed me up for their " Card Security program '' without my consent or authorization. It looks like this is a very common scenario based on the numerous reports I see from others. They've promised I should see the refund within a week ( most of it -- their total promised refund is {$520.00} and some change ) but their behavior when I called in was sketchy and I thought it was worth bringing to the attention of CFPB as I'm sure there are many victims who are still unaware, and some who can not speak with this shady " protection '' business without having their calls disconnected. I also want to ensure I get my full refund, compensated further for my time in an ideal world, but at least the actual amount I am owed since we live in reality. 

I noticed that I had strange charges on my statements for every single month I had been a card holder, with the charge increasing as the card balance did. Because the charges were initially unknown to me, rather than call the number listed on them, I directly contacted the Synchrony Bank Fraud Department on the night of Friday, XX/XX/XXXX ( PST. Saturday the XXXX in EST where CFPB and Synchrony Bank are located ) For any other consumers reading, I do live in a state where phone calls only require " one-party consent '' to record audio. This means the only person who needs to know about the ongoing recording is the person doing the recording. Please look up your state laws but I encourage you to record your calls if it's legal to do so. In some states you must have consent of 2 people on the call, which means a company like this must be informed of recording and then can hang up on you in retaliation. 

I recorded this interaction and notified the representative before launching into my issue. She refused to help as the charges " came from the bank, '' told me she would have to transfer me to customer service. ( Hmm, so Synchrony is the fraudster? ) I reiterated that they were fraudulent and unauthorized, and after her debating with me the meaning of the word fraudulent, I told her I'd like to talk to a supervisor to have the issue resolved. She was very happy as this let her get rid of the call. 

Surprisingly, rather than pull the old " send the caller back to the queue '' trick, she did transfer me to an Account Manager who seemed understanding and friendly, but told me she could only access the past 3 months of my account ( super strange, if true -- not only are you an Account Manager but you're part of the fraud department, and can not see all history on a card!? ). She said she'd be putting in a refund and cancellation request for those 3 months ( at this time I've seen nothing to confirm this ) but advised me to call the number on the statement during their business hours to see about a full refund. I thanked her and ended with some nice words as she did seem like she wanted to help. I notified this rep at the beginning as well that the call was being recorded, and no push back on her end. 

My first call to their " Card Security '' department on XX/XX/XXXX, their automated system told me the calls " may be recorded. '' When the representative answered the phone, I did begin by letting her know I was recording on my end. She then disconnected the call. Seems sketchy, yes? That is the type of behavior you'd see from those technical support scammers, not from a legitimate business. 

I called back immediately while continuing my recording. The representative that picked up this time, I asked him, " Is it true that these calls may be recorded? '' His response was, " Yes, for training purposes, we do record them on our end. Is there a reason you are asking? '' To which I said, " No, just curious. '' I could tell he was looking for a reason to disconnect the call, and because I'm protected under state law I saw no reason to be honest when answering that particular question from this dishonest company. 

That representative did promise that they'd be crediting back {$520.00} ( a few dollars short of my total, but not enough to debate over ) and cancelling the " subscription '' effective today. He said within a week I should see the refund. I ended the call by asking him why they are permitted to record on their end but not the consumers. He said all he knew was they used it for training purposes but he wasn't allowed to speak about any other reasons. Interesting. 

Summary of Charges : - {$20.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$19.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$19.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$18.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$18.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$18.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$65.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$63.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$63.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$61.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$78.00} on XX/XX/XXXX - {$82.00} on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX : {$530.00} My recordings are available to CFPB upon request. Synchrony Bank certainly already has them.

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 monetary relief