Consumer complaint received 2019-07-05
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: FL
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:
Made an agreement offered by company to bring account current. Company now demanding additional money not requested in original agreement. 

My due date is the XXXX of each month. As I just XXXX and had been out of work, I had fallen behind on payments and had been struggling to catch up by making partial payments of whatever I could afford. In XX/XX/XXXX, the amount due was {$170.00} and I went to make a partial payment online as I had previously. When I did so, a pop-up came up with an offer of a payment plan to bring the account current. The agreement was that I would pre-schedule three payments of {$71.00} each, which would cover the past due ( {$170.00} ) and  whatever additional was needed to bring the account current. During this time I would be unable to use the account, so that the amounts paid would be sufficient to bring the account current. I assumed this offer was made because it had been noticed that I was struggling to pay but still trying. I agreed to this offer, as it seemed like a great way to get my account back into good standing, even if making {$140.00} worth of payments in a single month ( XX/XX/XXXX ) was a bit difficult on me financially. All were auto-debit, scheduled on the dates the website provided/stated they needed to be made by ( XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX ) and all have been made as agreed. 

The company has now sent an outstanding balance of {$100.00} to their collections department, claiming this was due XX/XX/XXXX in addition to the {$71.00}. This is not what I agreed to. The three payments of {$71.00} were supposed to bring my account current as of XX/XX/XXXX, and I was supposed to return to regular payments after that ( XX/XX/XXXX ). They've also slapped an additional late fee on for XXXX   's payment, bringing my total now due to {$170.00}. I am in no better place than when I started. 

Looking through my email, I now see where the following occurred : XX/XX/XXXX : I received a bill that said I owed {$170.00}, to be paid by XX/XX/XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I logged in, tried to make a partial payment, accepted the agreement to pay three installments of {$71.00} to bring the account current. All three payments were scheduled at that time for XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX. 
XX/XX/XXXX : Payment of {$71.00} was debited. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I received a bill with a minimum due of {$170.00}. I did not open this bill at the time because I knew the amount that I had agreed to was already scheduled to be deducted and assumed all was well. 
XX/XX/XXXX : Payment of {$71.00} was debited. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I received a bill with a minimum due of {$170.00}. 
XX/XX/XXXX : Payment of {$71.00} was debited. 
XX/XX/XXXX : Call from collections. 

From the XXXX bill, showing {$170.00} due, it appears that the agreement I was offered was just never applied or acknowledged by the company in any way ( {$170.00} was due XX/XX/XXXX, I paid {$71.00}, the balance of {$100.00} was tacked on to XXXX 's bill, which made for an amount of {$170.00}, I paid {$71.00}, the balance of {$100.00} was tacked on to XXXX, now {$170.00}, minus {$71.00} for a total of the {$100.00} outstanding, which they have further added a {$39.00} late fee plus XXXX 's regular payment to for a total of {$170.00}. ) The entire point of me not being able to use the account during this time was so no additional charges could be incurred so it could be brought current, and the calculated amount due to achieve this SHOULD have accounted for things like interest and late fees - that is the reason I agreed to it. I tried to do the right thing, making two hefty payments in a single month to get caught up, and they did not stand by that agreement. 

I also see now, going through email records, that I was never sent a copy of this agreement, either. The only proof I have of this agreement is where I made three scheduled payments of {$71.00} all at the exact same time ( XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX ). The fact that I did not receive an electronic copy of this agreement suggests to me that PayPal Credit is not acting appropriately. I regret that I did not screenshot this agreement, as I assumed in good faith that the company was acting in a professional manner. Contacting customer service has gotten me nowhere. Agents appear to be deliberately avoiding sending me to supervisory employees or management - I was hung up on, and then sent in a loop around their call center until I was finally sent to a dead end. 

Further investigation into my computer history did reveal several webpages that support what I am saying : one that, when accessed, says " We may be able to help '' and mentions payment plans to get caught up. The subsequent pages that were visited include " plan, '' " terms, '' " payment, '' and " success. '' The three emails of my scheduled payments mentioned above all came in at the same time the " payments '' and " success '' pages were accessed - XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation