Consumer complaint received 2015-04-03
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: TX
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Installment loan
Issue: Taking out the loan or lease

Complaint:
I purchased a chair from XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX. When I purchased the chair the salesman reviewed the financing terms with me. He conveyed that the financing was " interest free '' for 18 months, and I would be charged interest on the start of month 19. I was delivered the incorrect chair, and missed the XXXX scheduled payment because I had not received the chair yet. When I called about the chair the agent informed me that I had missed the payment and offered to set up autopay for the account. She walked me through all the information and how to setup the auto pay for a minimum of {$55.00} per month, which would have paid off the chair just prior to any interest charges. 

The chair arrived in late XXXX, after I had already been making months of payments on it through GE Capital. The loan was then transferred to Sychrony financing in XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX. I had not logged into my account until XX/XX/XXXX, thinking that it was all set up and being paid. When I logged into the account there was a {$680.00} interest charge, and a remaining principal balance of {$850.00}. I contacted Sychrony to explain, they told me that the auto pay was set up for " minimum '' payments, and that was what was debited from my account, each month they would progressively decrease XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, etc.. This was different from the {$55.00} minimum that I set up with GE Capital that would have paid off the chair. I assume that this happened on the transfer of the account since the payments to GE Capital were {$55.00} and I had not logged into the account since the agent walked me through setting it up. 

I was also told that " Interest Free '' means that the interest accrues and you are charged that at the end of the term, which I feel is very deceptive since the salesman explained i would be charged NO interest until month XXXX which was clearly false. Speaking to XXXX, then XXXX at Synchrony they offered no solution saying I had the terms of the financing on my receipt ( I was not given a receipt at the store ) and that they were listed on my statements ( I never received a single mailed statement, had I received this I would have corrected this issue immediately ). I offered to pay the difference for the chair, before the interest hit the account, but that was not accepted by Sychrony. 

This company is using deceptive practices to entice people to buy above their means. I am a victim of poor customer service, lack of understanding of their own financing programs by their employees and trusting these " experts '' to do what was in my best interest. I am a XXXX that trusted this company and its employees to guide me through financing that I did n't understand and do what was right for me. On my current salary I am not afforded very many luxury purchases, but this chair was something that I had been wanting for a long time and finally made the decision to buy, even if it meant i would be paying a little above my means. I did not want to pay over {$3000.00} for a chair, as a XXXX and on a XXXX I can not afford that. 

Please help me resolve this matter, as my efforts to contact the company and resolve this issue have not been received well. 

I am not looking to " get one over '' on anyone, I would ideally like to pay the difference in payments owed, and pay off the chair to make up for the discrepancy in the auto payments, which looks like about {$800.00} at this point ( XXXX ) over a few months. I can not afford to pay the additional interest in my current financial situation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief