Consumer complaint received 2020-10-27
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: GA
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: Overcharged for something you did purchase with the card

Complaint:
I have contacted Synchrony Bank multiple times regarding a fraudulent {$100.00} debit from my personal bank account that was made 1 day after I called in and spoke with a representative to pay off my balance on my Care Credit account. This month, a payment in the amount of {$1400.00} was received, as well as an additional payment of {$130.00} which I made via phone on XXXX. On XXXX, I saw that the amount of {$130.00} was debited from my account, as well as an additional amount of {$100.00} from Synchrony Bank. I called Synchrony Bank to find out why there was an additional {$100.00} taken from my account, and the representative stated that they did not show an additional payment was applied to my account, even though my bank had debited my account for {$230.00}. I said that it was taken from my bank account using the same debit card information that was provided, yet it was a separate transaction, and the agent said that there wasn't anything in the system that showed that an additional payment was received. 


I contacted my bank that day, and initiated a chargeback for the {$100.00} that was not authorized, and my bank issued a conditional credit to our account. We also requested a new debit card as a precaution, assuming our debit card was compromised. We rarely use our debit card, mainly making ACH transfers for payments on accounts. 


Today, I was notified by the bank that there was a reply from Synchrony Bank dated XXXX stating that I did authorize the {$100.00} payment, using the same debit card information that was provided. I attempted to contact the person who sent the letter to my bank to explain how I owed the additional amount, since my account was paid in full on XXXX, which is prior to the close of the statement. The phone # that was on the letter was answered by the voicemail of a " XXXX '' and not " XXXX XXXX '' who sent the letter to my bank stating that the chargeback was not valid. 


I left a message for " XXXX '', and then attempted to get some resolution through two customer service representatives this afternoon. This evening at XXXX XXXX EST, I spoke with " XXXX '' who stated that she was an account Manager, and explained the same situation as I had with the other representatives. The agent then stated that I needed to send proof that the money was taken out of my bank account, and I explained that the process for disputing a charge from a merchant originates from the bank and is sent to the merchant, which is Synchrony Bank. 


The burden of proof is on your business to show that I owe the {$100.00} that was NOT authorized to be debited from my bank account. As of today, nobody has been able to show proof that there was any reason for this second debit to occur, and your account manager that I spoke with this evening stated that she couldnt even locate anyone in your system with the name XXXX XXXX. 


I sent a secure message to Synchrony Bank with the above information that is included in my complaint, along with proof of the debits from my bank account. My bank has requested that I submit further proof that the charge was not authorized, which will be easy to prove since the one payment that was made for the amount of {$130.00} was the only amount authorized, and once that was made, the account had a XXXX balance. I have never been treated like this by a creditor over a fraudulent charge that THEY initiated, and refuse to resolve.

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