Consumer complaint received 2023-09-01
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Charged too much interest

Complaint:
AS PROMISED, CLOSING A COMPLAINT AS DUPLICATE AND CLAIMING ITS THE SAME AS THE ONE YOU PREVIOUSLY RESPONDED TO, IN WHICH YOU FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE OR PROVIDE FACTS TO SUPPORT YOUR POSITION FOR MOST OF THE ISSUES RAISED, HAS RESULT IN THIS COMPLAINT BEING OPENED. CLOSE THIS ONE, AND I WILL OPEN ANOTHER. THIS WILL THEN CONTINUE UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY PROPERLY RESPOND TO MY CONCERNS WITH MORE THAN JUST PUFFERY AND VAGUE PR TALKING POINTS. DON'T BELIEVE ME THAT I WILL KEEP OPENING COMPLAINTS, JUST ASK XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. IT TO ME OPENING XXXX COMPLAINTS BEFORE THEY GOT THE HINT THAT I WOULD NOT STOP UNTIL THEY PROPERLY RESPONDED. THAT SAID, THIS COMPLAINT IS SPECIFIC TO MY CARE CREDIT CARD WITH SYNCHRONY BANK. WHILE IT MAY INCLUDE SIMILAR THEMES ARE PREVIOUS COMPLAINTS, IT IS NOT A DUPLICATE COMPLAINT AND SHOULD NOT BE CLOSED AS SUCH. CLOSING THIS COMPLAINT AS A DUPLICATE WILL ONLY RESULT IN NEW COMPLAINTS BEING FILED UNTIL THE ISSUE IS RESOLVED. ISSUE 1. Simply stating " We would like to stress compliance is very important to Synchrony Bank, and we follow all applicable laws and regulations '' is not evidence that you actually do. It would be no different then if I were to get caught committing an unlawful act and me telling the authorities " I have a deep respect for the law and I promise I would never do anything to violate it. '' ISSUE 2 : Regarding any obligations you alleged are the responsibility of a third party, such as " the merchant, at the point of purchase '', while its possible that Synchrony has made the merchant responsible for those obligations in the contracts it has with its merchants, in the CONSUMER Contract Terms & Conditions, the language of which Synchrony has exclusive control over, are very clear in how it defines the parties to the contract and those parties obligations. For example, in once pertinent section Synchrony declares " At times, WE may offer you special financing promotions for certain transactions ( special promotions ). The terms of this Agreement apply to any special promotions. However, any special promotional terms that are different than the terms in this Agreement will be explained on promotional advertising or other disclosures provided to you. '' In another pertinent section, Synchrony declares " Synchrony Bank may be referred to as we, us or our ''. '' No where in the CONSUMER terms and conditions Synchrony has written and strictly demands consumers comply with, are the words " Merchant '', " Provider '', " Point of Sale '', or " Point of Purchase '', ever mentioned, nor does Synchrony flat out state, insinuate, or even vaguely hint that it will or may assign any of its obligations to a proxy third party, such as the merchant. Nonetheless, if Synchrony is stating that it has employed its merchants to communicate the promotional terms which it will be applying to a transaction, Synchrony is still responsible for ensuring those it employees by hire or contract, comply with the law, and if/ when they don't the responsible party for their failure is still Synchrony. I as a consumer entered into a credit contract with Synchrony NOT THE MERCHANT. ISSUE 3 : Most transactions on my Care Credit Card were placed on promotional terms for deferred interest, however those promotional terms were selected for me and at no time was I ever presented with any/ all of the available options for promotional terms before, during, or after the transaction those promotional terms were assigned to were processed. This means others made decisions about those financial transactions on my behalf without authorization. While the promotions may seem like a benefit for me as a cardholder, each of those transactions had multiple options for promotional terms and I should have been the only one that chose which terms were right for me. In the terms that govern my Care Credit Card, it states " Please see any special promotion advertising or other disclosures provided to you for the full terms of any special promotion offered '' and indicates the possible options for promotional terms are 6, 12, 18 or 24 months with no interest if paid in full. At no time have I ever received any promotional advertising or other disclosures that would have informed me of the terms of these offers. ISSUE 4 : On May 31st Synchrony made the decision to close all my accounts I had established with it, using the vague excuse that the reason for their decision was " Activity on account ( s ) with Synchrony Bank indicative of high risk of failure to pay '', however even though I have made many attempts to get specific information on what actions they are talking about, Synchrony has failed to provide clarification. Knowing that I have done nothing to violate the terms of each card agreement between myself and Synchrony, so your actions have left me seeking justification. While they have not specifically provided me with such, now that time has passed, it is beyond clear what their intent was in closing my accounts. Allow me to explain ... As a result of Synchrony closing the XXXX accounts I held with them, my credit score dropped XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX points with the 3 major bureaus. This substantial drop caused my credit rating to drop from " Good '' to " Poor '', leading other credit providers I had relationships with to believe I had become a greater risk than I actually am, so several of them lowered the amount of credit they had extended to me, with one of them also deciding to close the account I held with them. In total on top of the amount of credit I lost when Synchrony closed my accounts, I also lost access to {$58000.00} of credit from other credits thanks to Synchrony. Add that to what Synchrony itself took away and my access to credit dropped {$110000.00}. Why is this important? Because by causing all this damage to my credit profile Synchrony has destroyed my financial situation and ironically has now made me a high risk of failure to pay. It is my assertion that Synchrony knew or should have known, how their actions would impact my credit profile and the damage they would do or were likely to do but did so anyways, solely for their own financial benefit. By knowingly destroying my financial stability, Synchrony knew they would leave me unable to payoff the {$18000.00} in current promotional deferred interest plans on my Care Credit card, before the promotional period ends, which they and/ or their network of merchants under their employ directly or by contract, selected for me without my knowledge or consent to whatever promotional terms, including the length of the promotional they felt like, without any input from myself. This means that they stand to earn {$3300.00} in interest from me that is currently being deferred, and would have been paid off before then end of the promotional period, had 1 I selected the term length and 2. they not have substantially damaged my credit with their actions. Synchrony 's actions are the very definition of " Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices ''.

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