Consumer complaint received 2020-07-12
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: PA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Charged fees or interest you didn't expect

Complaint:
I purchased a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX King size, XXXX XXXX BASE and TOTAL PROTECTION MATTRESS BED on XX/XX/XXXX at a XXXX XXXX store located in XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX in XXXX, PA. Total purchase value was {$8700.00}. 

XXXX XXXX, the salesperson at the XXXX XXXX store was helpful and knowledgeable. I had already decided to purchase a XXXX XXXX XXXX and planned to pay in full. Once I decided on the model, XXXX aggressively promoted a Deferred Interest Promotion ; no interest charges if the promotional purchase balance was paid in full by the Promotional Expiration Date of XX/XX/XXXX. 

I have been in XXXX and XXXX my entire career ( +35 years ). I appreciated XXXX persistence and was sure he earns some level of commission on a sale and/or promotional sales campaigns. I decided to help him out and finance a nominal amount of {$1300.00} ; I made a down payment of {$7400.00}. I know these type of financing promotions target low to mid-income customers to entice them to purchase. 

I then setup an automatic payment to pay the minimum amount of {$37.00} over 3 years and not worry about it. I pay all of my monthly recurring bills through automatic payment from my bank or through the Payees website. I started seeing late payment fees and interest charges because the draft was not occurring on or before the exact due date, which was happening around a weekend where the payment does not hit on weekend day. Timing. I spoke to representatives at Synchrony Bank who were clearly trained to stick to a script. They were not understanding or helpful at all, not necessarily their fault. The customer had become Synchrony Bank, XXXX XXXX XXXX third-party financing arm. 

Long story short, I came to realize that my credit score was dramatically lowered when co-signing on a car loan for my son. XXXX XXXX score dropped to XXXX ( Fair ) which I was shocked by. The auto dealer quoted me a finance rate of over 18 % due to my credit! I paid for the car in full. 

In hindsight, I wish I never agreed to sign up for their Promotional Purchase. I have always had a very good credit rating. When I read the fine print on Synchronys statement, it reads : To avoid paying Deferred Interest Charges on these promotion ( s ), you must pay the entire applicable Promotional Balance by the Promotional Expiration Date of XX/XX/XXXX. 

I paid {$710.00} on XX/XX/XXXX which was the remaining applicable balance on the financed amount ( without late charges and interest charges ). I thought I honored the fine print but Synchrony continued to assess charges on my account. I then paid the balance in full including {$610.00} in interest and late charges. 

I am not asking to have the interest and late charges waived. I am respectfully asking that XXXX XXXX and Synchrony Bank please remove any derogatory information from my credit report caused by this situation. 

Thank you, 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