Consumer complaint received 2020-10-04
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
This complaint is in reference to my PayPal Credit Card Acct by Synchrony Bank. On XX/XX/2020 and XX/XX/2020 I made two payments to XXXX to pay for furniture in the amounts {$79.00} and {$250.00} respectively. These payments equated to the new balance of {$330.00} on statement closing date XX/XX/2020. 

Both orders from XXXX were returned and I was awaiting a refund in full of {$330.00}. However, my PayPal credit card due date was coming up before the estimated refund date which would otherwise {$0.00} my balance. After speaking with a PayPal Chat representative, I was advised to pay the minimum payment due of {$56.00} to avoid the standard interest charge prior to the XXXX refund. I was told that this would put my account into credit after the refund if I made no further purchases but that I would be able to request the overage of {$56.00} back via a refund check. 

As can be seen on the follow-up statement on closing date XX/XX/2020 I made the {$56.00} minimum payment on XX/XX/2020, followed by the XXXX refunds of {$250.00} and {$79.00} on XX/XX/2020 and XX/XX/2020 respectively. This put my total payments & credits at {$390.00} versus the balance of {$330.00} and therefore left me with a credit balance of - {$56.00} which I was owed and that I had been advised would happen, as above. 

On XX/XX/2020 I spoke with a PayPal chat representative again who issued me a refund check in the amount of {$56.00} with Reference ID : XXXX bringing my PayPal Credit Card balance back to {$0.00} from - {$56.00} in credit. This can be seen on statement closing XX/XX/2020. I was advised this check would arrive with me within XXXX business days. 

Almost a full month later I had not received the check and on XX/XX/2020 I spoke to another PayPal Chat representative to enquire as to why I had not yet received my refund check. They assured me that it had been sent, but since I had not received it they would void the original and re-issue another. As can be seen on statement closing date XX/XX/2020 the original refund check was voided on XX/XX/2020 under the Purchases and Adjustments header in the amount of {$56.00} being added to my balance and then re-issued under the Payments & Credits header under Reference ID : XXXX. I was again advised that the new check should arrive within 7-10 business days. 

A few days later I received a check in the mail for the {$56.00} from PayPal Credit. However, I suspected this was probably the first refund check arriving late and not the second re-issued check as 7-10 business days had not yet passed. I therefore spoke again with a representative from PayPal chat as I was worried that if this was the original check, if I tried to deposit it, it may bounce and this would then incur additional bank fees for me. The representative assured me that I could still deposit this check, even though it was the original despite discussing my concerns. Due to the reassurance that I could go ahead and deposit this original check I did so on XX/XX/2020 into my XXXX  bank account. A few days later the second check arrived, which I discarded as advised, since I had already deposited the original. However, on XX/XX/2020 my XXXX bank account made me aware that the original check did in fact bounce and was returned as I had originally had concerns about, which then incurred fees to me. 

Immediately after the original check bounced I reached out to PayPal chat again on XX/XX/2020. Since I now had a balance on my credit card after making purchases I requested if it were possible for the {$56.00} to be credited to my account now instead of a 3rd check being re-issued, to speed the process up. I was advised this would be possible but that a request would need to be put in with a specific department who deals specifically with issuing refund credits like this as the chat representative was unable to do it themselves. I was advised to keep checking my account for the {$56.00} credit. I since received a letter in the mail from PayPal Credit advising me that my request had been received and that it would take 1-2 billing cycles for me to see the {$56.00} credit reflected on my account. 

It has now been almost 3 billing cycles and I have yet to see any credit for the {$56.00} refund that I am owed. The only credit that has been issued was {$20.00} on XX/XX/2020 which was an apology for the inconvenience I have had thus far, as well as the fees incurred to me by my bank due to the original check being returned at the incorrect advice of the PayPal Chat representative. When I have made any attempt thereafter to check for updates, I just kept being advised it would take 1-2 billing cycles and to wait. Due to 1-2 billing  cycles now having past, I have been dismissed and told false information ever since. Subsequent closing statement dates XX/XX/2020 and XX/XX/2020 have no evidence of the {$56.00} refund credit. 

The most recent representative I spoke to, to date, advised that the refund credit was supposedly issued on the statement closing XX/XX/2020. This is however incorrect as this statement just shows the original check being voided since I had yet to receive it at this point ( {$56.00} added to my balance ) and re-issued as a second check as explained above by the representative I spoke to on XX/XX/2020. Essentially the movement of {$56.00} being added to my balance and then credited by this representative as a means to re-issue the check on XX/XX/2020 has a net of {$0.00} on my actual balance and therefore this does not show that any credit was directly applied to my actual balance on this statement. To highlight that this is the case, my purchases on this statement from walmart.com ( {$300.00} XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX {$4.00} ) and  Kirkalnds ( {$42.00} ) add to {$350.00} which is identical to the new statement balance on statement closing XX/XX/2020. If a credit of {$56.00} had in fact been applied on this statement to my purchases then my new balance would have been {$290.00} XXXX {$350.00} - {$56.00} XXXX. However the {$56.00} was added to my balance taking it from {$350.00} to {$410.00} and then re-credited as a check bringing it back to {$350.00} and therefore there was no net change in my balance and no credit was directly applied. Furthermore the second check I did receive as a result of this was discarded as I have already explained above, as this check was received in the interim between me being advised to deposit the original check that arrived late, and the original check being returned bounced so I also have no means to cash this re-issued check from XX/XX/2020 as it is no longer in my possession. 

Everybody I have spoken to since is not able to understand that I have not yet received the refund I am owed even though I have attempted to explain the situation in much detail. I have been misinformed and no resolution has since occurred from the special request and subsequent letter I received. All in all, this entire situation has taken up hours of my time and there is no resolution in sight as it appears that representatives that havent fully understood the issue have notated my account with this incorrect information, and therefore any time I attempt to speak with future representatives they all give me the same run around and no one seems to look into this in any further detail for themselves. The conversations I have had with the PayPal chat representatives have to be some of the worst I have ever encountered. I also spoke to a customer service representative via telephone who had me on mute at the start of the conversation before he decided to answer and when he finally decided to answer continued to sigh and act as if it was too much of a problem for him. I have been unable to get in touch with anybody who cares to look any deeper into this issue for me. 

I have been owed this {$56.00} credit as a refund since XX/XX/2020 and taking into account it has now been almost 4 months I have no other option but to submit a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protect Bureau to aid in the process of having this issue resolved in a timely manner otherwise I am afraid I will never see this money again.

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