Consumer complaint received 2015-08-24
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: APR or interest rate

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I visited my dentist for dental procedures. Prior to this visit, I contacted the office and relayed my dental issues and lack of dental insurance. I believe that I was informed of an interest free loan option to pay my fees on that phone call. The terms of the loan were not described in any detail on the call, nor were they verbally described in any great detail during the dental office visit. Based on these conversations, I was under the impression that I was signing up for an interest-free loan. I was in a great deal of pain and trusted my dentist not to enroll me in a product that would cause me financial duress. I likely did not give the paperwork more than a cursory glance because of these conversations and the trust I placed in my dentist. I trusted my dentist not to put me in a position of financial duress. 

In reality, I signed up for a deferred interest product with a substantial interest rate. Moreover, I was charged a {$2.00} fee every month in which I made minimum payments ( referred to as a " minimum payment fee '' ). This fee was never explained to me at the dentist 's office. Late fees were also never discussed. 

I enrolled in an automatic payment option and electronic statements so that I did not have to review any paperwork or worry about late fees for any missed payments. As a result, I thought my account was on autopilot and did not review statements for more than a year. At some point between XXXX XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed that my account balance nearly equaled the initial amount of the dental work despite my having made monthly payments since the procedure. 

I visited the CareCredit website to review all of my statements. Upon review, I discovered that I have been charged {$14.00} in " minimum payment fees '' and {$250.00} in interest XXXX the interest was charged in a two month period ). My initial balance for the procedure was {$870.00}. My account balance at the time of the first interest charge was {$600.00} and I was charged {$240.00} in interest that month alone. 

On Monday, XXXX XXXX at approximately XXXX I contacted Care Credit and requested that they remove all of the fees from my balance. My request was refused despite speaking with a manager. I then paid my balance in full in order to avoid additional outrageous interest fees. 

I contacted the dentist and discussed my issue with them. Upon request, staff at the dentist 's office provided me with a copy of the paperwork that I signed to enroll. Nowhere on this paperwork is the phrase " credit card '' written. The word " card '' is only shown in " office instructions '' not in the language directed at the patient. While the paperwork does mention that there is 23.99 % APR if the balance is not paid in full by a specified date, it also states that " if the APR is variable, the APR will vary with the market based on Prime Rates. '' The document does not state whether the APR is, in fact, variable. Moreover, it is unclear from the document how the APR is to be applied. The first interest charge of {$240.00} exceeds 23.99 % of the total initial balance of {$870.00} and far exceeds the balance at the time it was charged ( {$600.00} XXXX. The second interest charge XXXX {$18.00} XXXX is inexplicable. The only mention of CareCredit is the logo in the upper righthand corner of the document. Nowhere on the document are " minimum payment fees '' or late fees mentioned. 

More than a year after making monthly payments on my initial {$870.00} balance XXXX totaling hundreds of dollars XXXX, my final balance was {$810.00}. 

I was deceived into making a horrible financial decision because of the trust I placed in my healthcare provider. Had I been fully aware of the terms of the product, I would have made a different decision and likely borrowed money from family. CareCredit used my dentist 's position of trust and employed the dentist 's staff like sales agents to sell a credit-based promotional financial product.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief