Consumer complaint received 2018-08-30
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: MN
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
JC Penny XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX FL XXXX To whom it may concern : I am writing to see if you would be willing to make a " goodwill '' adjustment to your reporting to the three credit agencies. In XX/XX/XXXX, I had a vehicle stolen from me which caused me to use my credit cards to pay for lawyers and costs to the loans. I was able to make payments, but was very extended on my credit. In XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted your team to see if I could work out a payment plan which would reduce my monthly payment. We agreed to this and while on the phone, I was required to make the first agreed to payment on the plan. I continued to make these payments only to get a letter stating that you sent my account to collections and charged it off. I was very confused as I didnt understand why this happened as I made the payments. The person I spoke with told me that I didnt make the original statement payment, so this is why you did this to my account. She told me that it is not her issue and that I should have understood the agreement. I asked her why they didnt require me to make the minimum monthly statement payment and she told me thats not their role. I explained that I wanted to avoid a lot of negative impact to my credit which is why I called, she told me this is not the purpose of the plan and its not your problem. You can pull the recorded calls to validate this and also pull the original one which I did ask if I needed to make the payment on the statement and the person told me no. I am working to get a loan to consulate my debt and these late payments are preventing me from doing this at this time. I am unable to purchase a home all because I tried to work out a deal with you to reduce my payments. 

Because of my exceptional payment history over the last 3 years, I would like you to consider removing the negative payments from my credit report. At the time of the late payments, I was a victim having my car stolen and extending my credit. I also am a victim of being given incorrect information by your team. I did call into your team each month and provided updates and it was not a positive experience. I did everything I could to ensure JC Penny/XXXX didnt have a negative impact when it was all said and done. I am avoiding filing for bankruptcy and would like to continue to build my credit. I say that not to justify why the payments were late, but rather to show that the late payments are not a good indicator of my actual credit worthiness. I hope that JC Penny/XXXX is willing to work with me on erasing this mark from my credit reports. I finally started working with a specific rep in your recovery team who was positive and amazing. To remain a victim of the theft of my car is heartbreaking as I cant get a consolidation loan or even purchase a home. 

I have been a very happy customer in the past and hope to continue a long relationship with JC Pennys/XXXX. With todays credit industry so competitive, I know how important it is to maintain good relationships with customers. I look forward to your reply.

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