Consumer complaint received 2022-07-21
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: TN
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
Dispute in response to a letter received from Synchrony Bank about closing my Synchrony XXXX  and JCP Mastercard accounts as well as my 7 other Synchrony accounts that I have. 

We refinanced our home at in XXXX and asked for bill payoffs in the process ( including my Synchrony XXXX for {$3900.00} and JCP XXXX for {$5800.00} ). The checks for the credit accounts ( other than the old mortgage ) were overnighted to us via XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ( holiday weekend ) to mail to the creditors. The payment on both of my Synchrony accounts ( XXXX & JCP ) were both due on XX/XX/XXXX which we did not pay. This was because we closed on the XXXX and knew the balances were going to be paid in full based on the previous month ( XXXX ) statement. We thought that Synchrony would have received the checks directly from the lender before the end of the month. Immediately after the missed payment date. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email notification that my credit limits would be lowered on both accounts significantly ( Synchrony XXXX by {$5800.00} and JCP by {$2000.00} ). I thought this was a bit excessive for the first time missing a payment for an account that I had since XXXX. 

On Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I called and spoke with a representative on both accounts alerting them that I had the checks from the lender to pay off the balances and that I was mailing them to Synchrony to pay off those two accounts. The representatives said they could take the payment over the phone, and they took the information and processed the checks. However, on XX/XX/XXXX ( XXXX ) and XX/XX/XXXX ( JCP ), I was notified by email that the payments were reversed on both accounts. 

After that reversal of payment, I called JCP to let them know I was going to mail it again, but the representative said they would take the information again and resubmit as a phone payment. The did this for the JCP account and it was reversed a second time. My wife suggested to me that we should mail the checks because the obviously could not be processed that way and she took the checks to the post office that weekend on XX/XX/XXXX to mail them. My wife then contacted Synchrony on XX/XX/XXXX to let them know that she mailed the checks and to notate the account. Knowing the checks would take days to arrive and be processed, the representative stated they would expect to receive the checks in 7-10 days.

I logged in to see if the payments had been received/applied on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX about XXXX XXXX  It showed that all 9 of my Synchrony accounts including the last three being opened just 2 months ago in XX/XX/XXXX. We called that morning and spoke with another rep who notated again that the full payments were mailed on Monday. She stated to us that the payments should not have been processed via phone payment if it was a third-party check. She stated that she could not do anything about closed accounts and had to transfer us to a manager. We explained the situation to the manager noting that the whole point was for us was to pay down some debt with Synchrony which was about {$10000.00}. She informed us that Synchrony has the right as the bank to review an account and make the decision to close it. She stated that Synchrony reviewed the accounts- with a missed and reversed payment, they decided to close the account ( s ). We totally understand the right of the Bank to do this, but this situation warranted a review by Synchrony for the reason for the reversed payments ( taking a third-party check by phone payment ). Especially considering we have never had a reverse payment and you know a check was coming for the full amount on these two accounts.

We asked the manager to have the previous recorded calls reviewed and a complaint filed on this issue. If the first representative would not have suggested taking the payment over the phone, we could have sent the checks overnight to you if that were required by Synchrony. We did not know what your policy was relative to a third-party check but that is why we called first. The manager stated that there was nothing she could do and that accounts are not re-opened. 

We are just in total disbelief that a Synchrony would close all my accounts instead of just focusing on the two with the reversed payments especially when I have been in contact with you about the full payoffs. All my other accounts were in good standing and paid accordingly. We called back later that afternoon on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke with a different manager and was told that the complaint review process may take months up to two billing cycles. We are at a total loss as to how this happened so quickly and with a creditor that I have not had a negative payment history with over the previous years. The lowering of the total credit limits was not ideal, but we were ok with that because we knew the balances would be paid in full. However, to find out that Synchrony closed all my accounts was a huge shock to say the least. This decision not only limits my familys ability to buy needed things for our household, but it is one that could damage my credit majorly by the closing of all nine accounts at once which is huge part of my credit.

Finally, I received an email notification that the mailed payments have been received/applied for the JCP and XXXX XXXX accounts as of XX/XX/XXXX both showing a {$0.00} balance.

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 non-monetary relief