Consumer complaint received 2023-03-31
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: DC
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I opened a Care Credit card account with Synchrony Bank in XX/XX/XXXX to finance a medical procedure, XXXX XXXX  XXXX. I paid on time, more than monthly minimum of {$110.00}, using Autopay for XXXX transactions. I chose to pay {$75.00} on a weekly schedule. The Autopay schedule ended after my XX/XX/XXXX payment, unbeknownst to me. Two payments ( XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX ) did not go through, apparently, and I received a letter in the mail dated XX/XX/XXXX that explained as much - " due to number of dishonored payments on this account '', Synchrony has decided to close your account. 

I immediately went to check my account online and saw that the AutoPay schedule had expired and I was indeed two payments ( two weeks ) unpaid. I paid {$150.00} to catch up and reactivated the AutoPay schedule, which only goes out XXXX transactions. I should be paid off the account by XXXX this year but I couldn't schedule out that far when I first initiated the AutoPay schedule. 

I checked my credit report and noticed that the closure was present and my score suffered due to the decrease in credit available. Because of the late hour, I reached out through Synchrony 's site to text an agent. I wanted to get this resolved as soon as possible. I've been working on building my credit for over a year and had no idea that in two measly weeks so much damage could occur.

There were two agents that assisted me, one a supervisor who I was transferred to after requesting to speak to someone else. They both, never rude and quite professional, said there was nothing they could do. Once closed, the account could not be opened. I argued that my account was wrongly closed. They stated that they could " close any account for any reason ''. The first agent told me not to worry that they had sent a message to the credit bureau to not rate me negatively, advising me to simply apply for another card and that I would be approved quickly and that my credit limit would be restored with no problem.

Everything seemed so strange, do banks actually work this way? Why could they not restore my account that they so brashly closed? If I apply for another credit card, I get dinged. And what if they don't approve me?

Why didn't I receive notification about my missed payments. I'm signed up to receive them. The supervisor said both payments were returned and that a letter was sent to me about this. I did not receive these letters. Also, my bank statements do not support these claims because 1. The sole account that I use for AutoPay was above {$200.00} for all of XXXX - there is no reason for their to be a returned payment on two {$75.00} transactions ; and 2. There were no NSF fees or notifications from my bank.

Now, I don't trust Synchrony and question their integrity and whether what they suggested for me will legitimately remedy my situation. I feel insecure as their customer, it seems that they have unverified versions of the truth and have shady practices. And, now I have to pay off an erroneously closed account.

I am so concerned about my credit because I am in the process of trying to better my standing in order to get an apartment -- - and this incident could not be more inconvenient.

What's more is that the letter says the decision was based on review of my account... but review of my account would show that out of 32 on-time payments, only 2 failed to go through due to the AutoPay schedule expiring. I feel that they did not review my account fairly. I feel that they do not value me as a customer. I've actually paid {$300.00} a month for several months although the minimum is {$110.00}. Even the extra payments did not account for anything. I request that my account be reopened due to egregious and unjust action done on the part of Synchrony Bank.

I've attached : ( 1 ) the Synchrony webchat between me and the two agents ( 2 ) the letter I received in the mail about this account closure which I find amazingly abrupt - mind you, I missed the XX/XX/XXXX payment and the closure letter was dated XX/XX/XXXX!!!!! 
( 3 ) my bank transaction statement to show the balance of my account would not return {$150.00} worth of charges at ANY TIME in XXXX

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