Consumer complaint received 2021-12-23
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: MO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card

Complaint:
In XXXX of XXXX, I purchased XXXX aligners through XXXX XXXX XXXX, a dental services provider in XXXX XXXX, MO. The total price of treatment was approximately {$5500.00}. While I was sitting in the dentist 's chair, the provider told me that I could pay for my treatment by credit card or I could enroll in CareCredit, use their service to finance the treatment and receive a " 12 month interest-free '' promotion. I chose to finance through CareCredit as a result of the promotion. The dentist 's office manager took my driver 's license, filled out the application, and told me that I was approved. I recall looking at the CareCredit web site and reviewing my information to make sure that it was correct, but I did not enter the information myself and I was given no opportunity to review the terms of the agreement. I trusted the provider 's description of the promotional period as just that -- an offer to induce people to finance through CareCredit, the same as a typical credit card may offer interest-free promotions to new customers. When I contacted my provider to get a copy of the agreement, they sent me a copy of a sales receipt that included the promotional terms in fine print. However, the printed policy contradicted what I had been told and was only provided after the transaction occurred -- it is a receipt, not a contract. 

I made payments for a year. I never received a physical card or paper statements even though CareCredit had the correct mailing address and I called them to inform them that I had not received anything after several weeks. The service rep I spoke with told me that they would send the card out right away, but it never arrived. Because I had no paper statements, and because CareCredit could not provide my account number over the phone, I made payments when CareCredit sent me a text with a link that allowed me to pay my bill without logging in each month. I did not pursue the paper statements any further and made payments as normal. 

After 12 months, the " promotional period '' ended. In XX/XX/XXXX, CareCredit added more than {$2000.00} in interest charges to my account. When I noticed the increased principal upon going to make my payment for XXXX of this year, I called CareCredit to ask why my balance had increased. The company informed me that my promotional rate had expired and that they had applied the 26.99 % deferred interest rate associated with the promotion. Moreover, the interest rate was applied to the principal balance, as if I had made zero payments over the course of 12 months. I told them that I had not agreed to that interest rate and would not have financed with them if I'd known that the " promotion '' was deferred interest instead of no interest. The company told me that there was nothing I could do and that I owed them the full balance. 

Since discovering the additional interest charges, I have called CareCredit on several occasions : twice on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. I have asked repeatedly for a copy of my agreement to the promotional terms under which they have charged interest. I have received varying answers. The first time I called, I was told that CareCredit does not store any documents pursuant to their agreements with consumers and they would need to request the documents from my dentist, which would take up to 60 days, during which I would be charged additional interest. 

Later, a supervisor told me that I agreed to the promotional terms as soon as I applied for an account, even though that application was what they used to determine my interest rate and, even if I had been given the opportunity to review the terms of the agreement prior to applying, I could not have known what the terms were because there was not yet a defined interest rate. I asked him to confirm if my understanding was correct and he told me that it was. He then told me that nobody at CareCredit had the ability to waive any interest charges under any circumstances and that I owed the full amount. 

The only other conversation of note with CareCredit was on XX/XX/XXXX. One of the customer service reps that I spoke to told me that she would file a complaint with the company on my behalf. As I understand it, that should prevent the company from charging additional interest until the complaint is resolved. However, I have not received any confirmation of the complaint and I am loath to take the company at its word. 

When I was researching CareCredit, I discovered that the CFPB investigated the company and signed a consent decree with it in XXXX ( File No. XXXX, In the matter of XXXX XXXX XXXX Bank XXXX Carecredit LLC XXXX. The decree, most of which seems to still be in effect, outlines a range of conduct in which CareCredit and its providers engaged and from which they were prohibited from engaging in the future. Both Carecredit and my provider engaged in this conduct during their dealings with me, and that prohibited conduct is what drew me to deal with CareCredit in the first place. Moreover, the decree outlines a specific procedure that providers must follow when enrolling patients in the card. Specifically, they can not enroll consumers on their own. Rather, they must ask consumers to sign up directly and provide them with a toll-free phone number to do so. Then, CareCredit must follow an approved script that explains the terms of the promotion, after which the consumer can enroll. Neither CareCrediXXXX nor my provider followed this process.

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