Consumer complaint received 2021-04-03
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: TX
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
Account number ending in : XXXX The complaint is against Synchrony Bank. The purpose of the complaint is for committing fraud against me, lying. stealing my merchandise and money. The amount is XXXX dlls. I bought a music player ( XXXX ) back on XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX XXXX on XXXX. The payment method used was Paypal Credit which is provided by Synchrony Bank. XXXX XXXX initially had the producct for much higher price. XXXX XXXX had it roughly for around XXXX or XXXX USD ( don't remember exactly ) but he ended up making a good offer I couldn't resist. The seller ended up lowering the price between XXXX and XXXX dlls off the original price. Even though I had my doubts I felt such a good price would have made up for it ; that's why went along with it and finished the deal. Most probably it was my error for rushing into buying and now I'm paying the consequences. After the product finally arrived home I didn't use immediately and in fact I didn't have much use for it since it was only used for pleasure. Between 2-3 months later I started noticing issues with the device, but I thought it was like low battery or kind of thing since it didn't turn on. I don't have much knowledge about troubleshooting a device like this, I just notice it didn't turn on. It was acting funny and not functioning properly, so I decided to contact the seller to see if I could get a refund. The seller made so tiring for me to return the item. In fact he didn't wanted to take it, but after lots of convincing the best he could do was to refund me 50 % -60 % off the original value once I return it. I decided that wasn't proper because I paid the full amount for a functional item, not a defective one. Consequently I went ahead and open a claim with Paypal back inXX/XX/XXXX which was owned by a community bank. I provided all the required documentation and after they investigated they denied my claim saying that it was a warranty issue. I also appeal the claim afterwards where I provided proof of XXXX XXXX XXXX testing the unit and they found it defective. Paypal still denied my claim after providing this. This all happen back in XX/XX/XXXX. I should have gotten the money since then in my opinion. 
Forward to year XX/XX/XXXX, The product was never used from years XXXX since it was defective. During two years I didn't knew to whom to go with, so that's why I never got in contact with any authority who could assist me with my issue. It was my lack of information which didn't open the doors to any company which could assist me with my issue basically. In the year XX/XX/XXXX i accidentally bumped with Syncrohny Bank/Paypal Credit. They told me they could open the claim on my behalf since paypal was not owned anymore by the same community bank in XX/XX/XXXX and now Synchrony has taken over. They added that me opening a claim with Paypal back in XX/XX/XXXX wasn't an issue. They considered themselves " the new owners '' of Paypal Credit and said they all owned all member accounts. They also told me there was not limitation as far as to when I could open my claim and that they would get my money back. I went ahead and open the claim back in XX/XX/XXXX. The claim was over the phone. Synchrohny told me I had to ship the item back with a tracking to the seller so I could receive my refund. i went ahead and shipped item with a tracking, insured, plus extended tracking, etc and paid XXXX dlls thru XXXX. This was out of my own pocket thru XXXX. I also faxed the proof of delivery to Synchrony where the seller signed once it was received, XXXX XXXX proof showing the item was defective and pictures of the item as a back up. The investigation took about three months total. After the three months passed I received a denial letter on XX/XX/XXXX saying they were not going to be issuing credit back since for 'quality ' issues of the product they only allow 180 days since the date of the purchase. If they had that 180 day limitation ; why did they told me to ship it back in the first place!? I was clear with them that the item was bought inXX/XX/XXXX and that in fact Paypal ( owned by the community back in XX/XX/XXXX ) denied my claim in XX/XX/XXXX. They never inform about the 180 day rule until they close my dispute with no help whatsoever. Once I received the denial letter on XX/XX/XXXX I called Synchrohny and spoke with a million of customer services representatives. Also, spoke with managers to discuss the decision on the letter and I was basically begging them to listen to me. They were also lying saying that they never told me to ship the item back, so I started reading to them the three letters where they in fact told me to ship it back. They shouldn't have people like this working at all. In the present I don't have the money nor the product as it was stolen by Syncrohny and XXXX XXXX. Finally, i want to include that the amount of XXXX was financed for 2 years and I finished paying that debt in full. The money ended up coming from my own pocket to cover that debt. This has taken over my mind causing a lot of anxiety and worrying to the point I feel depressive. I trusted this company during the dispute process and during all the time I had been with them just to end up noticing they just play me. If I knew this nightmare was going to happen I would have never gotten involved with this shady company. I have all documentation necessary to prove the case.

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