Consumer complaint received 2019-02-27
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:
PayPal credit has been actively unhelpful and negligent in handling a 3rd part ( XXXX ) credit obligation setup on my PayPal account. On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a purchase via XXXX for an item for which I opted for XXXX 's " 12 Easy Payments '' offer totalling {$2400.00}. As a result, this XXXX " Credit '' was rolled into a Paypal Credit account, ( I had no Credit account with Paypal prior to this XXXX purchase ). From the beginning, this arrangement has been riddled with misinformation and lack of transparency. I first contacted Paypal Credit after reviewing my first Paypal Credit statement on XX/XX/XXXX indicating that my XXXX purchase was being charged interest from the moment I made the purchase of XX/XX/XXXX ( {$5.00} incurred during the 5 day statement period ). This is not what I had believed my terms to have been, so I attempted to contact Paypal Credit regarding my concerns. Initially, I was redirected by a representative to XXXX for more information regarding terms ( because, I was told, this was something that Paypal Credit only administered and had no other info ) before being bounced back to Paypal Credit and a new representative who informed that, yes, Paypal is in fact the administrator to contact on this item. It was at this point in time that I was made aware of the interest calculation being applied to my account ( accrued daily from the time of purchase ). Eager to get this item paid off due to the terms that I did not feel comfortable with, I made a payment on XX/XX/XXXX to clear off as much of the balance as possible. I was told that there was nothing Paypal could do and that I had consented to the terms as outlined. Up until this point, I can say with sincerity that while I was a bit surprised by the reliance on fine print to explain what I had initially thought was a simple purchase and promo offer, I would not characterize my interaction with Paypal as negligent. However, every interaction following my next call with a Paypal Credit representative the following week on XX/XX/XXXX I would now characterize as negligent. It was on this call on XX/XX/XXXX, now made aware of the interest terms that apply to my XX/XX/XXXX charge, that I explicitly requested a dollar figure from the support rep that would close out this balance and obligation. I was informed by the rep of that amount total ( {$470.00} ), and authorized that payment over the phone. Since that date, I have since received my newest statement dated XX/XX/XXXX with the line item still listed and a partial balance remaining on the item in question. After talking with one representative on XX/XX/XXXX, who was totally unaware of the terms as they apply for a 3rd party offer such as mine, I was misinformed that I was not being charged interest on my item and told that I misunderstood the terms. I knew this to be incorrect ( I had already paid a total amount to Paypal beyond the purchase amount, so this was indisputable ), so I requested that I be transferred to someone more knowledgeable of this transaction type. After explaining the situation to the Supervisor,  I was informed that the payment made with a service rep over the phone on XX/XX/XXXX was not applied in a way that would fully cover the total balance due. I informed the supervisor that I explicitly requested that that be done, and that the rep unequivocally confirmed that to be the case. I asked whether the interest incurred since that payment could be waived given the clear error. She said it could not be waived. I then asked how could I confirm that any new payment I were to make would be properly allotted so that the balance would clear. She informed me that Paypal Credit is unable to provide any documentation that confirms this action, and that as the supervisor that this would be done correctly. I informed her that I would be contacting any and all consumer protection bureaus regarding what I considered to be negligent behavior and mishandling of my account ( by providing me with incorrect or misinformed information in nearly every interaction I've had with Paypal Credit since the account was setup ) that has cost me interest incurred with no acknowledgement of error. She responded that it was within my right to do so, with no other acknowledgement.

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 monetary relief