Consumer complaint received 2023-06-19
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
01. XX/XX/2023 - I made an on-line purchase for 4 pairs of men 's shorts - total cost : {$86.00} from JC PENNEY . 
02. I waited patiently for 3-4 weeks, but the purchased goods never arrived at my home. 
03. Following the " Track your shipment '' information provided by the seller 's delivery agent ( XXXX ), we discovered the shipment had been sent to a non-existent address. 
04. Notwithstanding this, XXXX records indicate that somebody ( neither me nor an authorised representative of mine ) came in and signed for the package. We have no way to know who this was. 
05. XX/XX/2023, I called JC PENNEY Customer Service, to ask for their help tracking down what happened, who the package was delivered to, and why. JC PENNEY Customer Service advised they could not help- I needed to contact their delivery agent, XXXX. 
06. XX/XX/2023, I attempted to reach XXXX - but XXXX offers an IVR system only. I attempted to lodge an on-line complaint/query, but the " system '' rejected my efforts, advising that only the sender ( JC PENNEY ) could initiate such a complaint/query. 
07. XXXX XXXX, I again called JC PENNEY Customer Service XXXX and advised that XXXX would only accept a query from JC PENNEY ; they would not talk to me as the addressee. JC PENNEY Customer Service response was that they could not help me. 
08. XX/XX/2023, with no obvious other path open to me, I then lodged a " purchase dispute '' with SYCHRONY BANK, the issuer of the JC PENNEY credit card. 
09. XX/XX/2023, I received a letter from SYCHRONY BANK, indicating they misunderstood the issue to be a missing refund, and asked me to submit the refund receipt.

10. XX/XX/2023, I wrote back to SYCHRONY BANK, advised them that they had misunderstood the " purchase dispute '' - there was no missing purchase refund with a receipt I could submit - the dispute related to non-receipt of the ordered merchandise. 
11. XX/XX/2023, I received a 2nd letter from SYCHRONY BANK, confirming that a purchase dispute had been opened, and the {$86.00} was temporarily suspended from my balance due, pending results of investigation. 
12. XX/XX/2023, I received a 3rd letter from SYCHRONY BANK, advising that " We have been advised by the merchant that the merchandise has been delivered, '' the claim was rejected, and the {$86.00} was now released back into my account as an amount due and payable. There was no acknowledgement that I had not received the goods, nor any apparent investigation to assess to whom the merchandise had been delivered. 

In my humble opinion, this rejection of my purchase dispute without any apparent attempt to ascertain why XXXX released the merchandise to somebody ( not me ), especially when the address for delivery was not a valid address, is not good enough. 

It's my belief that XXXX JC PENNEY 'S delivery agent, made a mistake. At a minimum, somebody should have called me, or written to me, when the invalid address was noted. 

Accordingly, at this point, I am not intending to pay for goods not received. I am nearly XXXX XXXX XXXX, with an impeccable record of paying all my bills and credit card balances. But in this case, I feel JC PENNEY 'S response has been insufficient/inadequate. Hence, my lodging this complaint here...

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