Consumer complaint received 2023-06-27
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I received an emailed letter on XX/XX/XXXX from Lowes that my XX/XX/XXXX {$30.00} payment had been denied. ( However, that letter ended up in my " spam '' file, so I didn't see it until XX/XX/XXXX, so I immediately made a {$40.00} payment and started to investigate. I was stunned. I called Lowes customer service, basically to get frustrated for a sundry of reasons : A poor connection due to the head set of the rep. I spoke to overseas, an answer that had no explanation, and I hung up in frustration. Then I got a message from XXXX XXXX that the account had been closed. I then went through another frustrating " session, '' asked for a manager, who told me that " when a customer 's payments are returned twice in 12 months, account is closed. '' Again, I checked my bank account. ( Somewhere along the way I had also made a {$50.00} online payment that also was " reversed, '' " returned, '' or whatever the nomenclature was that was used. ) I had ten times the amount of those payments in my account and could not find any payment being presented to my bank from Lowes. This led to me calling AGAIN ( keep in mind that every number I call leads to the same call center. Also, I have at least 3 accounts with Synchrony, the bank that funds Lowes ; and I have never had a problem or a late payment. And I make all my payments from same bank account online. ) I made another call, albeit futile, to customer service and was now told that payments made on XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX were returned due to " Stop Payments. '' I explained what a " Stop Payment '' is to rep., and asked if they are sure that these payments didn't go through due to a " Stop Payment, '' as this was contrary to the information I had received previously, and all they could say was " Stop Payment. '' After giving a phone payment ( which went through with no problem ) and continuing to get nowhere regarding how to resolve this problem, I asked for an address, email address, etc., to present documentation from my bank so that Lowes could correct THEIR mistake as my bank and I did NOTHING wrong. I also couldn't check my Lowes account online to reinsert my bank information in case there was an error on account number, etc. Although since I had the account for many months, my bank info. never changed, and up until this point all payments went through fine, the option to check my information on my account was no longer available. I am unable to retrieve any information on account other than to key in " make payment '' and " payment amount '' ( showing last 4 digits of my checking account. ) ( Did someone key in the wrong " code '' when posting my payment or incorrect account number when getting payments back? I don't have any idea, but it's not due to anything MY BANK OR I DID! ) Finally, on XX/XX/XXXX I spent {$14.00} to fax to the number given to me for " Payment Research Department '' documentation from my bank explaining ( first, regarding what I was told problem was about returned or denied payments ) that payments were never presented and there was plenty of funds on those dates to cover said payments, then I reached out to my bank to please document the fact that a " Stop Payment '' was never placed on Lowes Synchrony, and THERE WERE NEVER PAYMENTS PRESENTED TO MY BANK. Yesterday, XX/XX/XXXX, I took a deep breath and called Lowes Customer Service AGAIN to find out if there was any " movement '' or status on their end since I had faxed my documentation a week prior. I spoke to someone who was more helpful than the previous reps I had spoken to, however ; other than telling me that I was given an incorrect fax number ( she figured out after at least XXXX minutes ) so XXXX knows where all my documentation went last week ) and that there was nothing stating that anything new had happened on my account ( I'm paraphrasing ) and that " she takes calls like mine all the time ; adding that many customers are frustrated for the same reasons I am of getting their accounts closed for no fault of theirs ', and it is impossible to straighten out ; '' and also that " they too have more than one Synchrony account and Lowes is the only one they have problems with ... '' ( I am paraphrasing, but almost verbatim. ) To summarize, my hands are absolutely tied because the Synchrony/Lowes company is not only inept, but there are absolutely no " mechanisms '' for customers to resolve anything. Every phone number leads to an untrained, inept, call center who can't even give proper addresses to send important documentation to.

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 non-monetary relief