Consumer complaint received 2018-07-12
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: FL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
JC Penny credit card Summary : The credit card company and its collection agency refuse to provide verification of the debt they claim I owe but continue to insist I make payments. In response to my inquiry, they sent incomplete information that does not show all payments made and the total due on the document they sent does not correspond to the amount they claim I owe. I have sent numerous letters and had numerous phone conversations and they still refuse to provide debt verification documents.

Details : Due to unforeseen expenses, I fell behind in credit card payments, including JC Pennys. Penny/Synchrony sent my account to XXXX XXXX XXXX for collection. See attached XXXX form dated XX/XX/XXXX ( Atch 1 ). 


I made payments to XXXX for a year, then received correspondence from XXXX XXXX, dated XX/XX/XXXX ( Atch 2 ) that my account had been placed with XXXX for collection. I did not receive any notice from XXXX, Synchrony, or JC Penney that my account had been sent to another agency. The XXXX form included a balance due that appeared extremely high and I called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to discuss this amount. XXXX rep. XXXX XXXX told me the record showed my last payment was XX/XX/XXXX ( acknowledgment of payment made to XXXX - Atch 3 ). I said I made a payment in XXXX ( Atch 4 ). I called back on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). She also said no payments had been received. On another occasion, I talked to XXXX rep XXXX XXXX who said they would get a record of payments from their client and send to me. XXXX said I should wait until he gets the information before making more payments, and that he would call me. I also talked to XXXX  XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX who told me the client had not yet sent the records ( contemporaneous notes Atch 5/1-2 ). On XX/XX/XXXX I went ahead and made a payment ( Atch 5/3 ). 


When I received the information that was supposed to verify the balance due, the package was nothing more than copies of old Pennys bills. The last Pennys bill showed a XXXX balance and payment due the previous year ( XX/XX/XXXX ) of {$950.00}, considerably less than the balance claimed by XXXX ( Atch XXXX ). No records of my payments in the interim, including payments to XXXX Business Services were provided. I contacted XXXX and was told this was all the information they had. I asked about my payments to XXXX but they said they could send me only the documents that Pennys provided. They ignored my claim that I had paid XXXX for a year then started sending notices to make a payment. 


On XX/XX/XXXX, I wrote to XXXX with copy to XXXX and XXXX XXXX - sent by certified mail - reiterating the sequence of events, that verification sent was of incomplete, and requested each to provide the documents I had requested ASAP ( Atch 7 ). 


I did not receive a response from XXXX. XXXX sent a form dated XX/XX/XXXX, stating that my JCP credit card account had been closed and returned to XXXX XXXX ( Atch 8 ). 
I received a letter from XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX, stating, " We are currently reviewing our records in order to provide you with a meaningful response. As soon as we complete our research, we will send you a letter than will explain the results of our review. '' ( Atch 9 ) I heard nothing more from Synchrony for weeks so I wrote again XX/XX/XXXX, noting that I had not received a response, and providing copies of previous correspondence ( Atch 10 ). 


Then XXXX started calling me again, after saying they had closed my account. I again wrote to XXXX XXXX, letter dated XX/XX/XXXX ( Atch 11 ) but have not heard from them. XXXX continues to call me, usually with automated phone messages to call them. When I talked with an XXXX representatives on XX/XX/XXXX, he continued to insist they had sent all the information they had. He repeatedly persisted with this argument to the point of harassment. 


Companies involved : XXXX XXXX XXXX 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

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