Consumer complaint received 2020-07-26
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: KY
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
This complaint concerns my TJX Rewards Platinum MasterCard. In early XX/XX/2020, I received a text alert from Synchrony Bank regarding suspicious activity on my account, asking if the charges were mine. In all, there were 4 charges : XX/XX/2020, Sams Club, XXXX, KY ( {$820.00} ), XX/XX/2020, Sams Club, XXXX, KY XXXX {$840.00} ), XX/XX/2020, Sams Club, XXXX, KY ( {$840.00} ), and XX/XX/2020, Sams Club, XXXX, KY ( {$840.00} ). I immediately responded to the text indicating that the charges were not mine. Shortly thereafter I was on the phone with Synchrony Bank about the charges. Since then, I have spoken to at least 3 representatives of the Synchrony Fraud Solutions Team to answer any questions they had about the fraudulent charges and offer any additional information I thought may be helpful to the investigation. Yet, Synchrony denied my claim. When I called to ask why I was told that I supposedly failed to complete and return an affidavit that was sent to me in a blue envelope, via regular mail. I explained that I had not received any affidavit from them, and that if I had, I would have completed and returned it. They re-opened my claim and told me they'd send another affidavit. I never got one, and my claim was denied a second time. Again, I called to ask why and was told I failed to return the affidavit. I asked if the affidavit could be emailed or faxed or sent with a tracking number to ensure I received it, but for reasons that were not explained to me the answer was no. I was told it would be mailed once again. I never recieved it. My claim was denied a third time because it had been determined that I authorized or benefitted from the transactions. I was shocked. How in the world could this have been their conclusion? I called to ask for the basis of this conclusion and was not provided one. Instead, they offered to re-open the investigation yet again and send me another blue envelope with an affidavit. I should point out that on this occasion, unlike the others, they refused to reverse the charges in question pending their investigation. I asked for a reason and they would not provide one. As of the date of this complaint, I have yet to receive an affidavit or any other form from Synchrony Bank to be completed and returned. Therefore, I prepared my own affidavit and faxed it to Synchrony Bank on XX/XX/2020. I have filed a police report regarding the fraudulent charges on my credit card, and I provided a copy of the report to Synchrony Bank with my affidvit. As I stated in my affidavit, the police officer told me there was a crime ring whereby credit card numbers are obtained via the " dark web '' to buy gift cards at Sam 's Club through the store 's app, and that there were 30-40 other victims he was aware of. This explains how the charges could be made without my physical card ( which I never lost and never had out of my possession ). The officer even told me he would talk to Synchrony Bank about this and allowed me to provide his name and number in my affidavit. One more bit of information, which I did not include in my affidavit but did share with at least 2 Synchrony Bank representatives, is that I only use my XXXX XXXX card at Sam 's Club because it is the only one stored in the app, which I use every time I go there because you can scan your items yourself and skip the line. All of my purchases for the last 2 years are stored in the app. I offered to provide records but they were not interested. To my great disappointment, yesterday I recieved a letter from Synchrony Bank dated XX/XX/2020 denying my claim yet again. The reason for denying my claim is that I " did not provide any new information and/or reason to continue to re-open '' my fraud claim. This does not make sense! I have no idea what new information they are looking for!! The way they have treated me is inexcusable, and it has resulted in a lot of stress as well as a declining credit score. My score is still " excellent '' but has gone down 18 points because of this large balance on my credit card. FYI, the card number to which the unauthorized charges were made was cancelled during my first call with Synchrony Bank about the unauthorized charges. I cut up my card and recieved a new one. I cancelled that card during my last call with Synchrony because of the way I've been treated. I hope you can help. Thank you.

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