Consumer complaint received 2017-12-29
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
Deferred Interest Charges Dispute with XXXX XXXX XXXX : We purchased furniture from XXXX XXXX using 3 different credit cards as the amount of total purchase was around {$15000.00}. We used a personal credit card and 2 XXXX XXXX credit cards issued by XXXX XXXX ( which offered no interest for 24 months with a Deferred Interest promotion ), one under my name and one under my wife 's name. We paid off the personal credit card and set up monthly installments for the 2 XXXX XXXX cards to make sure no payments were missed to prevent the Deferred Interest charges. My wife 's card was set up correctly with enough monthly payments each month to pay off the card before the Deferred Interest promo expired. Unfortunately my card was set up for minimum monthly payments and I was getting electronic statements. I was receiving monthly emails on payment upcoming and the amount that will be withdrawn from my account and since it was a consistent message in each email I paid little attention to those as the payments were being made on time being pre-authorized withdrawals directly from my bank account. In XXXX XXXX, I noticed the email indicated a very high balance along with the minimum payment due in the email I received. This prompted me to log in into the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX website ( the card is provided by XXXX XXXX ). Once logged in, I noticed an interest charge of YTD for {$4500.00}, which blew me away!! I immediately called the XXXX number provided on the card to find out what was going on and was informed that my promotion had expired on XXXX XXXX and since the full payment had not been received I was being charged the full interest of around 29 % for the full term and have also been charged additional interest for the 2 months on top of the deferred interest. I shared that I had not received any notification or fore warning that my full payment is coming due and was told it is in the billing statement and they dont send anything else. I indicated that I have been on pre-authorized payments for the whole 2-year period and have not missed a single payment but was not aware on when the full payment was coming due. After an entire day of calls with several layers in customer service, I continued to receive the same response that they will ( and rather the statement was no one will be able to help me ) not be able to do anything and it is in my best interest to pay the whole balance due along with all the deferred interest charges to prevent further bleeding. I contacted the XXXX XXXX  store and was connected with the accounts department who seemed to be willing to look into this and approached their Regional Director to discuss the issue. After a day they got back to me and said there was nothing they could do either. I shared the fact that my billing invoice indicated an estimated shipping date of XXXX/XXXX/XXXX for the furniture and that my payments should have started in XXXX and this would have allowed me to still be within the promo period but I was told that is not how the payments work. I was charged several months prior to receiving the entire furniture thus shortening the period I had to pay off, while also creating confusion on the dates, since the invoice had XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. 

There was not a single attempt made to contact me to make me aware of the promo coming close to an end nor was any information provided in the emails I was receiving. I contest this fraudulent means of duping innocent consumers and having them pay a hefty price at a rate unheard of 29.99 %. 

My original amount owed was {$6800.00} and after 2 years of payments with not a single payment missed, I am sitting on almost {$7000.00} as of today.

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