Consumer complaint received 2020-05-13
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: IN
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
We made a promotional purchase of three items ( {$5300.00} total ) with Ashley Furniture in XX/XX/2018, serviced through Synchrony Bank. This promotional purchase involved deferred-interest for 12 months on one product ( {$1800.00} ) and equal payment no interest for 36 months on two products ( {$3400.00} ). When this deferred-interest financing promotion was marketed to us, we were misled to believe that we would be put on a monthly payment plan with Synchrony Bank, and that this monthly payment plan would result in paying each promotional balance in full without incurring any interest payments. The only explicit monthly payment option in our online account portal was for a minimum payment that, based on the marketing, we interpreted as the minimum to pay each month in order to pay off the balance before the deferred-interest promotion ended. However, it was actually a minimum to avoid fees but insufficient to pay off the promotional balance. The only other two payment options in their online system were " pay balance in full '' or " choose your own amount '' ; none of these three options provided to us by Synchrony included the specific amount to pay each month that would avoid deferred-interest. In effect, this misleading practice requires the customer to not only notice this deception but also calculate on their own how much to pay each month -- which is especially complicated given that individual period statements did *not* explicitly itemize how each overall monthly payment would be allocated to each of the three products. 

In addition, as part of Regulation Z ( Truth in Lending ), 12 CFR Part 1026.7 ( b ) ( 12 ) ( i ) ( F ) ( 1 )  stipulates that each periodic statement should include ( i ) the estimated monthly payment for repayment in 36 months, ( ii ) a statement that the card issuer estimates that the consumer will repay the outstanding balance shown on the periodic statement in 3 years if the consumer pays the estimated monthly payment each month for 3 years, ( iii ) the total cost estimate for repayment in 36 months, and ( iv ) the savings estimate for repayment in 36 months. In servicing this deferred-interest financing promotion, Synchrony Bank did *not* provide this required information in each periodic statement. It is worth noting that the minimum payment repayment estimate disclosed in each periodic statement was *not* 3 years or less ( i.e. it was 9 years or more ), meaning that the exception of this credit card issuer requirement as described in the Official interpretation of Paragraph 7 ( b ) ( 12 ) ( i ) ( F ) *does not apply*. 

Believing Synchrony ( the banks and associated persons ) to have made misleading representations to us ( the consumer ), we called Synchrony to resolve this issue once we noticed it, but instead were met with rude and condescending customer service by two different processing associates who threatened to hang up as we inquired about this issue. We therefore decided that our best course of action at that time was to pay our account balance in full. That is, we wanted to close our account, due to concern that keeping an account open with Synchrony risked being further taken advantage of via deceptive marketing and servicing practices. 

As a result of this misleading marketing and servicing, we paid the only explicit monthly amount listed in our online portal, leading us to ultimately pay {$920.00} above what we expected to pay : i.e., what we would have paid without incurring interest charges ( we paid {$6200.00} rather than {$5300.00} ).

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