Consumer complaint received 2019-07-18
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: TX
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
I recently applied for the Paypal Cashback Mastercard which was offered to me through promotional emails I received ( I have an active PayPal Credit account with Paypal ). I ended up applying for the card via an electronic application as I was impressed by the rewards offerings and was approved the same day. I received the Paypal Cashback card with no problems a few business days later and when I signed into my online account, it also showed I had an active Paypal Cashback card. I unfortunately do not have dates for the application or for when I received my card in the mail. I never received email confirmation of my accepted application nor are there any documents online that I have access to showing when they sent me the card. 

As of today, XX/XX/2019 when I was checking my account activity, which I tend to do every few days to ensure there are no fraudulent charges, my account had been changed to show I have a Paypal Extras Mastercard which is a completely different card with a different rewards structure that I never applied for. 

To try to resolve this issues, I used the online chat option to attempt to speak with a chat representative on why my credit card account had been changed to a card I never applied for. They claimed that I had always had an Extras account for an Paypal Extras Mastercard instead of a Cashback account for the Cashback card I currently have in my possession. They then went on to try to convince me to just use the Extras account anyway and there is nothing they can do. When I told them that was unacceptable and I just want my account changed back to the card I applied for, they claimed to transfer me to an account manager. The account manager said they needed time to investigate and then the chat abruptly ended from their end but the chat prompt claims I ended the conversation. 

I then reached out to the customer service phone number on the back of my card to talk with a representative over the phone instead. I explained the situation to a Synchrony customer representative and they said they would reach out to an account specialist to see how this happened and what could be done. When they got back with me, they said the account specialist confirmed there is nothing they can do and that I would have to reach out to PayPal for any assistance with this or to confirm the application I submitted.

So as recommended, I reached out to Paypal customer service and when I spoke with a customer representative, they claimed they have no control over any Paypal Cashback or Extras account and that they have no records of applications on their end. I was then advised to reach out to Synchrony customer support for any credit card account issues.

At this point, I was hearing conflicting information from both Paypal and Synchrony customer support. I called the customer support number from the back of my card again and requested to speak directly to an account manager to find out what is going on. I get in contact with an account manager and they tell me that I have an Extras account and also claimed that the electronic application I submitted was for the Extras card and not the Cashback card. I told them that I applied for the Cashback card through an email sent from Paypal specifically for a Cashback Mastercard and the physical card sent to me was in fact a cashback card. When I requested to have a copy of the application sent to me, they refused saying that because its an electronic application, the accountholder is not privy to this information and that I have always had an Extras account. The manager essentially would not answer my questions on how something like this could have happened or offer a solution to change the account back, instead they continually tried to convince I have always had an Extras account and credit card when I have proof otherwise. 
From everything I experienced and was told, I believe this may potentially be a consumer fraud situation and I don't want this to affect anyone else who has applied for a Paypal Cashback card to then have their accounts changed without permission to a card they did not want or apply for.

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