Consumer complaint received 2023-06-15
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: VA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX - Funds pending ( {$5000.00} ) from my XXXXXXXX XXXX account at XXXX to Synchrony Bank XXXX XXXX - Synchrony Bank restricted my High-Yield Savings Account XXXX XXXX - Funds transferred ( {$5000.00} ) from XXXX to Synchrony Bank I don't know exact dates after this, but I began communicating with Synchrony Bank back in XXXX. For the majority of the about 50 calls now that I have made to them, they have been EXTREMELY rude and disrespectful, abusive and cruel. They have generally refused to give me any information about why the account has been restricted and how to unrestrict the account. 

Only within the past two weeks, on XX/XX/XXXX, did I finally get a man ( a very awful, nasty man [ who is in the audio recording ] ) in the Fraud Department to tell me that the account has been restricted because I " committed fraud '' - although I did not. That is a very egregious accusation and it has nothing to do with the truth. When I asked him for his definition of what fraud is, he told me, verbatim, " Fraud is something illegal. '' When I pressed him to elaborate, he told me that because I am not the owner on the account from which the funds were transferred, that is fraud. In fact, to qualify as fraud, the behavior must include willful deception for personal gain. I have only transferred money from the account into which I first transferred the funds from a different bank - and all of this is known by the account owner, my mother, XXXX XXXX. I am not the owner of the account, but my mother is. I am an authorized user on the XXXX XXXX account. No deception has occurred. My mother is aware of EVERYTHING and as upset as I am that Synchrony Bank is being so criminally abusive. 

Accusing me of fraud with no true proof of fraud is fraud. Synchrony is the one committing fraud for the purpose of personal gain while they use my funds for their bottom line but refuse me access to my own money and try to tell me that I am not due the accrued interest for the passed time while they have held my funds in the High-Yield Savings Account. 

When I told all of this to the awful man representing Synchrony Bank, he told me, " I'm not going to remove the hold on your account. '' When I asked him to perform another review and to call XXXX and ask them about my relationship to the XXXXXXXX XXXX account, he would not confirm forthrightly, so I do not believe that any further investigation witll be done. His idea of an anti-solution was to tell me that the funds in the original amount need to be retracted into the XXXX account WITHOUT THE ACCRUED INTEREST that is due on this High-Yield Savings account. About {$20.00} has accrued on the original amount by now as it has been close to two months. It will be closer to {$30.00} after two months. He also told me that the " review '' timeline can go anywhere from 30 to 60 days to beyond. He effectively told me that Synchrony Bank has had success in the past with this practice of stealing people 's money indefinitely without any blowback and that they will just steal my own money forever if they can get away with it. He told me a supervisor would call me back but wouldn't be available because of travel until XX/XX/XXXX. Then, later that same day in the evening a supervisor called me and left a message to call back the main customer service line. All of this is misguided abuse. Synchrony Bank is an unlawful bank that abuses its clientele. 

If Synchrony Bank falsely accuses me of fraud, refusing to correct its error in the face of the truth and uses this false accusation of fraud as a means by which to withhold the accrued interest which I am due, Synchrony Bank is the criminal in this situation - committing fraud by falsely accusing fraud and for the purpose of withholding due accrued interest in a violation of contract terms, benefiting its bottom line while violating contract terms and refusing to payout the interest that is due. They have told me multiple contradictory things - that the money would be sent back to XXXX by Synchrony and that the money must be retracted by XXXX. Synchrony has not returned the money nor the accrued interest. Ultimately, Synchrony has done nothing to resolve the situation. 

NO ONE deserves the abuse to which I have been subjected by this very vile bank -staffed, in my experience, entirely by malevolent people who have no interest in the truth. 

I spoke to a different representative, for example, on Monday, who promised to call me back this morning, Thursday, XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX EST, but never followed up. I am literally physically sick from the abuse. This has been very distressing for a long time now. 

I am a victim of theft as it is from my perspective. Synchrony Bank has stolen {$5000.00} from me since XX/XX/XXXX and with a flagrant disregard for the law, the truth, and all basic human decency. 

Synchrony Bank is cruelly criminal. 

Please review the audio recordings here : Synchrony Bank Accuses Me of Fraud XXXX  : XXXXXXXX XXXXk XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX

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