Consumer complaint received 2020-05-28
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Personal line of credit
Issue: Problem when making payments

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2020, I spent hours on the phone correcting OVER A YEAR of late fee errors on my account from incorrect late charges that were caused by my billing date being incorrect, unbeknownst to me. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was assured by phone customer service agents that -- 1 ) The information on my account that my due date had been changed a year ago and could not now be changed again under a previous credit servicing company was incorrect ; and 2 ) That I could immediately change my current due date to a later due date, effective XXXX, 2020. 

On that last call in XXXX, I was asked by Synchrony 's phone customer service team to provide which payment date I would like to switch to. I indicated the XXXX of each month. I was told that this would take one ( 1 ) billing cycle to go into effect, and that I could expect my XXXX payment to remain due on XX/XX/2020. I was also told that my XXXX payment would change to the new date of XX/XX/2020. 

At this point, I considered the matter closed. However, on XX/XX/2020, I discovered that the due date change had NOT been made, and that my payment statement for XXXX remained XX/XX/2020, which was incorrect.On Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted PayPal Credit/Synchrony to notify them of this error, via online live chat service. 

Despite seeing the notes in the system that my payment for XX/XX/2020 should have been due on the XXXX of the month, the first agent simply said, Well, the last attempt to change the payment date didnt go through, so I cant do anything. I can only enter it again which means the change isnt effective until XX/XX/2020. When I asked why this could be changed now, the agent said it was because I changed my payment due less that a year ago, which was the same incorrect information I had corrected back in XXXX. When I explained that this was incorrect, the agent did nothing. I then asked to be transferred to a manager, which was even worse. 

Operations Manager XXXX XXXX came on the line and was completely unhelpful. I kept explaining that all of these issues had been handled back in XXXX, and I simply needed the XXXX payment date changed, and she kept repeating that the payment wouldnt change until XXXX, which was not what I had been told earlier. She said that that PayPal didnt need to inform me about the previous rejection of the XXXX change in the system, and that she could not make the change now. So my payment now couldnt be changed for nearly 2 months because of an error on PayPal/Synchronys Banks part. Ms. XXXX was utterly unhelpful. She simply kept quoting back the same incorrect information that I had already corrected a month prior. 

I work overseas, so calling into customer service is often a great inconvenience for me, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. To find out that my customer service payment due date change was rejected with no notice given to me, and that when I call or live chat in to correct it, that nothing can be done, is extremely unprofessional. At the very least, I should have been notified that the change was rejected in XXXX. I could have easily accidentally missed my XXXX payment thinking it was for the XXXX, totally unaware that absolutely nothing I had requested had been done. Further, why was I even asked for a new due date on XX/XX/XXXX? What was the point? 

Due to this conflict, on XX/XX/2020, I drafted and faxed a formal complaint to Sychrony requesting the following : 1. My XXXX payment date corrected to XX/XX/2020, as I previously requested and agreed to on XX/XX/2020. 
2. That in the future, I am notified of any system rejections or changes to my account in a timely manner. 

On XX/XX/2020, I received a boilerplate " non response '' letter from XXXX XXXX, Corporate Specialist at Synchrony that addressed absolutely none of the issues or concerns on billing that I raised in my XX/XX/XXXX letter. The text of this absolutely outrageous response from XXXX is attached. Ms. XXXX made no effort to correct the XX/XX/2020 billing date, and essentially acted as if she didn't even read my request. 

In light of this poor customer service response, I have decided to file a complaint with the CFPB to warn other consumers to stay away from PayPal Credit Services, as managed by Synchrony Bank.

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 non-monetary relief