Consumer complaint received 2021-10-03
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: AZ
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased/ordered a GE and two XXXX refrigerators from Lowes. I subsequently canceled the GE order, and my account was credited. In XX/XX/XXXX the XXXX refrigerator ( Invoice # XXXX ) was delivered to my house damaged. I then called the Lowes Manager and was offered 10 % off the XXXX refrigerator if I accepted the damaged refrigerator. However, when I went into Lowes to return the other XXXX refrigerator ( Invoice # XXXX ), I discovered that the manager gave 10 % off the less expensive XXXX refrigerator that was not delivered. The Lowes manager then researched the error and refunded the correct amount of XXXX. I was told the initial 10 % discount of XXXX processed over the phone for the wrong XXXX refrigerator may take a couple of days to process and the return refund issued on XX/XX/XXXX was for XXXX, XXXX less than the amount I actually paid on XX/XX/XXXX. No receipt was available for the phone credit of XXXX. I then left the store and called the Lowes credit card company, Synchrony Bank, to pay my credit card balance in full as I have always done with all of my credit cards to avoid paying interest. I explained the situation and asked if the 10 % phone credit of XXXX was reflected on my account, and I was told no. I explained that I wanted to pay the balance in full and asked if I overpaid my balance due, would Synchrony Bank send me a check, or would I have to use up the credit by buying something else at Lowes with my card? I was told they would not send me a check. Based on the information provided to me on that call with Synchrony Bank, I then subtracted the credit amount of XXXX and the returns that I had just made in store for XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX from the balance due and confirmed that once the credit was reflected on my account that my balance would be considered paid in full with a XXXX balance. Months later, during covid 19, I received a Synchrony Bank collections notice for the disputed credit amount. I spent hours on the phone explaining the situation and they noted my account and said it would not affect my credit while they sent it to their back office for review. The issue was not resolved and in XXXX of XXXX I spent many hours explaining the situation and sending purchase receipts with no success. I tried contacting the Manager at Lowes but did not receive a returned call after multiple attempts. I could not go to the Lowes store to resolve the issue due to Covid-19. Finally, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a phone call from the store manager who researched the issue and informed me that the credit was indeed issued. I then called Synchrony Bank and was informed that they closed my account. I asked them if the credit was reflected on my account, and they said it was received. I was very upset that I was given misinformation when I called to pay the balance in full initially on XX/XX/XXXX, and that in multiple subsequent phone calls and correspondence that no one informed me that the credit was actually reflected on my account all along. This wasted over 20 hours of my time and impacted my credit. They waved the interest and fees associated with the balance and I immediately paid the remaining balance of XXXX in full on XX/XX/XXXX. They again told me that all their notes were being sent to their back office so they could make sure this did not hurt my credit. I recently called Synchrony Bank to request that they remove this from my credit file. I was told that my account was still active and that I would receive a card in 7-10 days. I told her that my account was closed and explained the situation and how it impacted my credit. She continued to tell me that there was no problem with my account. I asked to speak to a supervisor, who confirmed my account was closed and that she would send her notes of the situation her back office. I asked if I could speak to someone in the back office and was told that was not possible. I have no confidence that the back office will give this fair and equitable consideration to correct my otherwise perfect credit score. Please assist me in getting this misunderstanding exaggerated by Covid-19 resolved. Attached is a pdf of the purchase receipts and the notes from my XX/XX/XXXX call to pay the balance in full for XXXX. I also created an XXXX spreadsheet to reconcile the purchases, returns and discounts ; and to further notate the XXXX balance due calculation that Synchrony Bank helped me determine on XXXX. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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