Consumer complaint received 2019-03-13
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NV
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I went to XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX NV. I hired them to order and install 1500 sq ft of laminate flooring, minus 2 landings, and the treads of 4 stair cases, planning to tile the risers later. I took out a 0 % interest/12 month installment loan. I ordered 3 different laminates. The salesman over-ordered all the laminate, but when it came to the stairs he ordered at least twice as much, enough laminate for both treads and risers. The only product I didnt see at all were the matching bull noses for the stair laminate. The job got pushed to the XXXX hour because he couldnt get the materials when promised ( installed before my move in date at the end of XX/XX/XXXX ) but suddenly did - I mention this because its important when it comes to the bullnoses. 

The installation went fine until it came to the stairs. The installer didnt speak English very well and the salesman, XXXX XXXX, didnt communicate with him very well either. When I told him the risers werent to be tiled, he assumed the extra laminate must be for the landings. I didnt want to get him in trouble and it wouldnt look bad with the steps, thought Id just leave it be but asked for the extra install to be removed from the bill. The salesman blew me off. Next day I caught the guy having installed both risers and treads on 4 steps. I explained to him what I had planned, and he explained to me that I had to install the tile 1st, not after as I had imagined. XXXX couldve explained this to me, but frankly I dont think he was really paying attention in retrospect. I tried to get tiles, couldnt. We ran thru a bunch of potential plans, maybe just install treads until I could get tiles, stuff like that. Then I saw the bullnoses - they were not at all what I expected. If Id known what they looked like, I never wouldve ordered them. If I couldve gotten tile I might have lived with it just to get it done, but I couldnt. So I wanted different bullnoses, a flush mount, and was going to go down and talk to the owner. 

The owner refused to meet with me in person, only agreed to a 3 way call, during which XXXX lied thru his teeth ( I have proof of everything said via text message, included here ) and the owner totally backed him up. They said what I wanted was a crazy fantasy, we should just part ways and theyd kick me back a check towards the loan. He left that in XXXX hands, who then totally ignored me. So, I finally filed a dispute with Synchrony Bank in XXXX, who the loan is through. They got a response letter from the owner, who also lied through his teeth, which I can also prove, included here. In the letter he agreed to remove {$960.00} - {$40.00} for the installation of each step except for 4 he claimed were completed. Theyre not, by the way. No one from Synchrony ever even spoke with me, did not give me a chance to present evidence. They just took him at his word and decided against me - without even deducting the {$960.00} he admitted to in his response letter, which I received a copy of in XXXX with the decision. It too is included here. 

I finally had a way to contact the disputes dept because of this mail packet, so I called and has to file a 2nd dispute, to get the, to remove the {$960.00} and other items that should be removed ; incorrect and over-ordered materials, the 4 stairs that were not completed & uninstalled floorboarding. This time I was allowed to fax them my evidence, so I put together all the materials I am sending you. Text messages, billing disputes, photos of the extra materials, the unfinished 4 steps, and a page from the Nevada Attorney Generals Office as to what constitutes a deceptive business practice. There was also some questioning of the total billing itself, clear discrepancies- Ive included a copy of the two bills side by side. As you can see, I did not sign the higher bill to the left, the one submitted to Synchrony Bank. Also included is a photo of something Ive found out since - not only were the bullnoses I expected east to find, but theyre the actual matching bullnoses. In his rush to get them in time as promised, Mr. XXXX ordered bullnoses that clearly dont even match the laminate in question. I also mailed a packet containing all of the evidence, in case it came out badly on the other end of a fax machine. 

In late XXXX, I received a letter that they agreed to remove the original {$960.00} that the store owner admitted to in his response. Synchrony has handled this so badly I have a hard time believing its legal for businesses to treat people the way theyve treated me. I have very clear evidence of lies, unfinished work not admitted to if someone just bothered looking at it. Synchrony has never reached out to me once, and made it very difficult to file a dispute to begin with. Their job is to investigate and fix billing discrepancies, and Im pretty sure they never looked at any of this stuff. It was definitely discouraged to file a dispute, especially the 2nd time. I was told to not even bother by the 1st employee from that dept I spoke with. They say its all recorded, and that call took place on XX/XX/XXXX, with XXXX, employee # XXXX. I would think theyd care if they were dealing with a dishonest vendor, but apparently they dont. I had thought my only recourse left was small claims court, but a contractor who is suing the store reached out to me thru XXXX, letting me know that they were going out of business and that its be impossible to collect from them. Then I found this website. 

It cant be ok for businesses to do this to people, both the store and especially the bank behind them who couldve/shouldve fixed this situation. I believe the store is going out of business this month, XXXX. At this point however, its the Synchrony Bank I hold responsible - twice they totally brushed off my case when I clearly have one. I shouldnt have to be the one to eat the losses on this, not when they had two chances to make it right between myself and the store, when I sent them proof that the store clearly wasnt going to do it despite lying and saying they tried. Theyve handled this so badly Im still in disbelief. My stairs are bare to this day, because I cant pay for the installation until this loan is closed out. Please help me, and if you cant, point me towards the institution that can hold banks responsible for malpractice. 

Please feel free to reach out to me for any further evidence, clarification ... anything you need, at all, to help put this to rest. 
In order, I included what I sent to Synchrony Bank after filing the 2nd dispute, followed by all the billing papers, the different bills side by side ( the one I received and the one I didnt sign that they submitted to Synchrony ). I spoke with someone in the dept about the billing over the phone, I believe XXXX, possibly the same day as XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. Then a picture of the correct stairnosing and even a sloppy handwritten sheet of how many times and dates Ive called Synchrony and been blown off and told something different by everyone I spoke with. If you go as far as listening to phone calls, you can hear how bad the customer service is - no one knows anything, apparently. I was never allowed to speak with anyone in disputes until after the 1st decision when I got ahold of their # finally. No one would give it to me. Its just a huge mess, and I believe its on them at this point. They should have a duty to make sure theyre not partnering with dishonest vendors, and if someone gives them evidence that they are, that they do something about it. They chose not to. 

Thank you for your time, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX PS. I  apologize for any doubles ( I lost track at the end, and it took 4 tries to upload these, so I wanted to be sure everything was there ). That being said, if it seems like there is something missing, please let me know?

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