Consumer complaint received 2019-05-15
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2018, my husband and I went to Pep Boys to buy eight new tires for our two vehicles because Pep Boys was having a promotion of buy two tires, get two free. Upon  arrival at the store, there was also a promotional sign stating that if you applied for the Pep Boys   credit card and were approved, you would get an additional 15 % off your purchase that day. The manager of the Pep Boys also informed us of the credit card promotion when payment was being discussed. My husband and I each applied for the credit card. Both of us were approved. I purchased the tires for my vehicle on my newly approved credit card and my husband purchased tires for his vehicle on his newly approved credit card. I asked the manager of the store how we would get the 15 % off the individual purchases and he informed me that the credit card company would take the 15 % off. About a month and a half later, after receiving the first statement on my credit card, I called the credit company that had issued the card from Pep Boys, Synchrony Bank, to ask how/when the 15 % off would be applied to the purchase. The representative at Synchrony Bank informed me that it could take up to 3 billing statements for the 15 % to be applied to purchase and to pay the minimum payment until i saw the statement credit applied. In the beginning of XX/XX/XXXX I still did not see the 15 % come off on either my husband or I 's statements for our credit cards. I then called Synchrony Bank again and a representative told me she did not know which promotion I was talking about and that there was no record of a promotion like what I was describing existing. The representative at that time suggested I call the Pep Boys store I made the purchase at to get more information about the promotion and to call back. I then called the Pep Boys I made the purchase at and the manager could not remember this credit card promotion either. I then went online and found the Pep Boys flyer from the time frame of my purchase ( https : //blackfriday.com/ads/black-friday/pep-boys/2 ) and realized that I was wrong about the promotion being 15 % because in the flyer it stated 10 % ( up to {$50.00} ) would be paid as a statement credit. I then called back Synchrony Bank and a representative informed me that in order to be eligible for the promotion I needed to have registered for the promotion by a certain date in XX/XX/2018 and the promotion only applied to purchases that were over {$490.00}. Even when i gave this representative the link to the above mentioned flyer, she told me that this was a Pep Boys promotion and had nothing to do with Synchrony Bank. This representative refused to give me any credit to my statement for the promotion.There is clearly either false advertising or a hidden requirement for this promotion. I never received any material in the mail or via email regarding the requirements the representative stated. I was also given conflicting information from representatives at Synchrony Bank from XX/XX/XXXXto XX/XX/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