Consumer complaint received 2023-07-14
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
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. 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 at the time of purchase. This means others made decisions about those financial transactions on my behalf without authorization. While the promotions XXXX 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 " At times, WE may offer you special financing promotions for certain transactions ( special promotions ). The terms of this XXXX apply to any special promotions. However, any special promotional terms that are different than the terms in this XXXX will be explained on promotional advertising or other disclosures provided to you. 

It also states " Offers are subject to credit approval. These promotional offers may not be available at all times for all purchases. 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. When I have contacted the credit issuer about my concerns regarding the arbitrary choice of terms they selected for me ( all were either XXXX or 12 months ), their failure to disclose the terms of those promotions, and my demand that I be able to choose from the options for promotional terms that were available at the time each purchase was made, their representatives have repeatedly tried to deflect responsibility for those decisions and disclosures onto the merchants where the purchases were made. The problem with their weak, unethical attempt to shift blame is the fact that they made it very clear in the terms of the card itself that " WE may offer you special financing ... '' While one agent tried to argue with me that " WE '' meant " Synchrony and the merchants '', this would not be how Synchrony has defined " WE '' in the cards terms, where they state " Synchrony Bank may be referred to as we, us or our ''. 

Issue XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX Synchrony made the decision to close all my accounts I had established with it, using the vague excuse that reason for their decision was " Activity on account ( XXXX ) 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 their 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 XXXX 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 were will to extend 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? 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 has done this for its financial benefit. By knowing destroying my financial stability, Synchrony knew they would leave me unable to payoff the {$18000.00} in purchases that currently have and are accruing deferred interest, before the promotional terms expire, thereby earning them tens of thousands of dollars in interest they would not have gotten had they not done what they did. 

Issue 3. By denying me the right to make my own credit decisions, as is outlined in Issue 1, Synchrony was setting up the scheme they intended to carryout that's detailed in Issue 2. They've known all along they intended to create this opportunity to fleece as much money as they could from me.

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