Consumer complaint received 2021-03-17
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
Card : Synchrony Bank -Home design. 

A purchase of XXXX was billed to my account on either XXXX XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. Synchrony has told me depending on who I speak with, one of the above dates. 

According to them at that time I had signed up for email statements which I never agreed to as we never agreed to this on any account. We have several other accounts and we have never gone with that option. 

The email address they used for statements was an account that I had stopped using years ago so I never saw and statements. Direct debit had been set up on 2 other synchrony accounts which were paid off. Due to the fact that I never saw any statements on this account I assumed that the debit was for one of the other accounts but began to realize that this debit had been going on a longer than it should have been for the other paid accounts. 

In XXXX of XXXX I called Synchrony and inquired what account and purchase date etc. When they told me it was for a purchase using Synchrony Home design card account of {$4300.00} I was completely in the dark as we have never made a purchase that high unless for a car or a home! I assured them of that and demanded they provide a description of items purchased and they claim they would look into it after I filed a dispute with them. 
They stopped taking money out of my during this time. However before receiving any info they began to take the monthly payment again. 

I contacted them again and demanded they provide to me again what items were purchased and again no answer. I started another dispute again as I told them unless they can provide to me what merchandise was purchased I would stop payment. 

My guess was this purchase was fraudulent for reasons above. 

I have some questions that I need answers to. 

1. Why when we had cancelled the Home synchrony account before this purchase was it reopened. 

2. The alleged purchase was promotional and if so why were we hit with a penalty and subsequent interest for not paying the promo on time. Accounts like this when using direct payments set up at purchase time to complete by promo expiration date? This would have been satisfied years ago. We have paid to date more then the amount of the purchase X 2. on a purchase we never made. 

3. Why did it take a year after asking multiple times with fraud department by phone and letters to receive a letter from you that the purchase could not be verified? Your most recent letter reads " unfortunately we are unable to provide you with the specific information requested, as it is no longer available. 

4. During the last year Synchrony began taking direct payments before me receiving results from of disputes? 

5. How do you expect me to continue paying on a purchase we never made on items Synchrony can't seem to find? 

I have suspended direct payments until I receive a copy of signed receipt and a description of the items purchased on that date.

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