Consumer complaint received 2019-09-20
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: OK
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms

Complaint:
My ongoing issues are with Pay Pal Credit ( now owned by Synchrony Bank ). The problems started when Pay Pal Credit merged into Synchrony Bank ( sometime in XX/XX/XXXX ). I have a number of staggering 6-month promotional financing purchases - staggered meaning they mature on subsequent due dates ( XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX ). I also have a 24-month promotional financing purchase ( called an XXXX XXXX purchase with a " fixed '' monthly payment amount ). In my case, the purchase was on XX/XX/XXXX for {$710.00} which ( when Pay Pal Credit was actually Pay Pal Credit ) equated to {$29.00} per month. So, all of my payments have been based on this amount up until Pay Pal Credit ( now as Synchrony ) told me in XXXX that it is actually {$29.00} per month rather than {$29.00}. Anyway, any reasonable person would understand that with a 24-month fixed XXXX XXXX plan, that after 9 payments of {$29.00} ( or {$29.00} ), the remaining balance on the {$710.00} original purchase SHOULD BE {$440.00}. Instead, the balance is {$370.00}. Here is the first and biggest issue : Since XXXX, I have been making monthly payments of {$120.00} ( and now {$120.00} after Synchrony changed the minimum on the XXXX XXXX balance ). Instead of applying the {$29.00} fixed amount portion to the XXXX XXXX balance and the remaining {$100.00} towards the nearest dated ( XXXX ) promo balances, they have IGNORED the XXXX balances and applied the excess amount to the farthest dated 24-month promo balance!!!!! Please note that Pay Pal Credit originally informed me that I have to make the payment online and then subsequently call in to have them allocate the {$100.00} portion to the nearest dated items. This was fine until Pay Pal Credit became Synchrony, Since XXXX, they have not been able to resolve this issue after repeated calls - sometimes several times within a week and two times talking to supervisors. Synchrony told me they could not fix the XXXX payment allocation but only from XXXX forward ( and I have requested the allocation after EVERY payment ). As of XX/XX/XXXX, I had 3 promo purchases due on XX/XX/XXXX totaling {$320.00}. After 2 payments of {$120.00} ( due XXXX and XXXX ) and 1 payment of {$120.00} ( due XXXX ), {$300.00} of those payments should have been applied to the promo balances maturing on XXXX, leaving the remaining balance of {$24.00} ( {$320.00} - {$300.00} = {$24.00} ). Despite my repeated calls and requests for them to fix this, I have a remaining balance of {$100.00} which makes no sense ( let me note that on XXXX, it was showing {$94.00} and then mysteriously went up to {$100.00} - I will explain this nonsense in a minute under ISSUE # 2 ). They partially fixed it but not completely fixed it. That is ISSUE # 1. I am now forced to pay a much higher balance on XXXX despite my telling them how to allocate MY payments. Here is ISSUE # 2. On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a purchase on XXXX for {$100.00}. The total was {$100.00} ( eBay split the payment into {$100.00} for the item and {$8.00} separately for OK state tax ). This went to my PayPal credit as a 6-month promo balance with a due date of XX/XX/XXXX. The item was defective and I returned it. On XX/XX/XXXX, {$100.00} and {$8.00} was credited back to my PayPal account (  different than Pay Pal Credit ). However, I noticed after my XX/XX/XXXX payment, that oddly {$100.00} only was refunded to my Pay Pal Credit and the {$8.00} tax portion was still showing as a promo balance!! I called Pay Pal Credit and they agreed that they could see the {$8.00} tax portion refunded to my PayPal account but it disappeared and had not been applied to my Pay Pal Credit  account to refund the {$8.00} promo balance. After a few days, I checked to see if it got resolved. You won't believe this. So, they wiped out the {$8.00} promo balance and brought it to {$0.00}. Instead of leaving it resolved, they ADDED the {$8.00} to my remaining incorrect promo balance due on XXXX!!! It went from {$94.00} up to {$100.00}!!! When I saw the balance had gone up mysteriously, I did the math and figured out that they just moved the {$8.00} to the XXXX due balance when this refund amount that should have been applied and gone away!! I called to complain about this and talked with a supervisor. I AGAIN mentioned that I should only owe {$24.00} ( rather than {$94.00} ) on my XXXX promo balance and that the {$8.00} should have been refunded to my credit account rather than sneakily moved to the XXXX balance. He promised to resolve this and said he fixed it while on the phone. Unfortunately, instead of applying it towards my XXXX balance where it was incorrectly applied, he adjusted a different ( further dated ) promo balance due on XX/XX/XXXX!!!! Here is their trick : They apply everything to the furthest dated balances EVEN IF YOU ASK THEM TO ALLOCATE YOUR PAYMENTS TO THE NEAREST DATED BALANCES!!! I make an online payment and call after to ask them to allocate it to the nearest-dated balance ( 6-month promo balance ). They don't do it! They instead reduce the far-dated ( 24-month promo balance ). They pulled the same trick with the {$8.00} balance by pretending to refund it but deceptively and cleverly adding it on to my XX/XX/XXXX due balance!!! This is seriously deceptive, unfair, and possibly abusive.

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