Consumer complaint received 2021-11-08
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX @ approximately XXXX XXXX., I contacted Care Credit 's Customer Service ( XXXX ). Care Credit was used to pay for dental expenses with XXXX XXXX XXXX. Due to the pandemic and falling behind on my payments, Care Credit closed my account. I first requested Care Credit to stop the ACH automatic withdrawals from my XXXX checking account ending in XXXX. This request would stop the automatic payment of {$62.00} due on XX/XX/XXXX and payments thereafter. I disclosed to customer service of Care Credit, that I was rated XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and Unemployable by The Department of Veterans Affairs ( I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX, after serving in The XXXX XXXX ) I went on to disclose that a BVA judge gave me a retroactive date back to the year XXXX, which meant, I should've been receiving free dental care from The Department of Veterans Affairs from XXXX until present. As a result, I was in the process of submitting dental expenses/bills and medical bills I have incurred, that should've been covered by The Department of Veterans Affairs . Care Credit is one of the bills I was preparing to submit, to have The Department Veterans pay my outstanding balance. The representative advised, they would stop my ACH automatic withdrawals for XX/XX/XXXX and thereafter. I also requested Care Credit to send me a detailed statement, which would show my card was used to pay for dental treatment. I would then submit this to The Department of Veterans Affairs. The customer service representative advised, they would honor the request and I should expect to receive the statement within 7 to 10 business days. I thanked the representative for their assistance. 

On Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX, I reviewed my XXXX checking account balance, as I always do to check for discrepancies and to stay within budget and I noticed an ACH withdrawal in the amount of {$62.00} posted on XX/XX/XXXX from Synchrony Bank, which is the bank Care Credit uses. I immediately logged into my Care Credit account/Synchrony Bank Account and noticed the {$62.00} payment posted to my Care Credit/Synchrony account on XX/XX/XXXX. I did not authorize this payment. I requested the automatic payments to be stopped and I am sure Care Credit received this request because I received the detailed statement I requested in the mail, several weeks ago. I immediately initiated to speak with a representative via Care Credit 's online chat, to have documentation of why they withdrew money from my account without my authorization ; however, the chat representative informed me, I needed to contact their Internal Dispute Customer Service. I requested the phone number to this department and the representative gave me the number ( XXXX ). On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, at approximately XXXX XXXX., I did as advised and contacted CareCredit/Synchrony Bank 's Dispute Department and spoke with a female representative. I explained to her in detail, the aforementioned. The representative informed me, they have been experiencing technical issues, which may have been the reason my ACH request to stop automatic payments did not go through. The representative offered her apologies and stated she would transfer me to customer service, when I inquired about the {$62.00} refund back to my XXXX checking account. The dispute representative advised me, she would explain in detail to the customer service representative, the issue, so I would not have to explain everything again. I thanked her for assisting me and was transferred. A male representative came on the line, stating he was aware of the issue and stated that I would receive a check within 7 to 10 business days, for the {$62.00}. I inquired of the representative, why could the {$62.00} not be placed back into my XXXX checking account, the same way it was taken without my authorization. I did not want to risk the check being lost or stolen, especially during times like these with a lot of scamming going on during the pandemic. The representative informed me, that was information from their supervisor and manager. I requested to speak with a supervisor. The representative transferred me to a supervisor and another male representative came on the line. I inquired of him, the same question. The supervisor informed me, it was their company 's policy to send a check. I expressed this not being acceptable to me, because Care Credit/Synchrony Bank should be able to issue a refund the same way they took money out of a customer 's account. The supervisor showed no remorse and was unapologetic. Care Credit/Synchrony Bank has a history of this. It was several years ago with this same company, they charged over {$600.00} to my Care Credit card, signing me up for a security/fraud program with their company, I did not authorize. They had to end up re crediting my account for all that money they charged. How ironic, this company continues to commit fraud against their customers and charge extremely high interests, which prevents a customer from ever paying off their account. I regret my dentist office, XXXX XXXX XXXX, encouraging me to get this card for dental treatment. I needed to submit this complaint for others to be weary of Care Credit. If I had to do it all over again, I would've never gotten this card. Having this card has hurt my credit score, more than helped it. No matter how hard I have tried to pay it off. Care Credit 's high interest and deception, keeps you in debt with them.

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