Consumer complaint received 2023-07-24
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: MD
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
I had a PayPal Mastercard credit card issued through Synchrony Bank that I could no longer afford to pay. I enlisted XXXX XXXX XXXX to help consolidate my credit card debt and work out a payment plan to pay off my credit cards. Everything was fine for years, and I slowly paid off my debt. In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, I received a notice that the aforementioned card was paid in full, and it would take up to 45 days for it to be reflected by the credit reporting agencies. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I called XXXX XXXX XXXX to inquire about the status of my account, after noticing withdrawals continued in XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX. They had continued to pay Synchrony Bank after my account was paid in full, and the bank had accepted these payments for my closed account. This had not happened with any of the other credit cards. On that same date, XXXX XXXX XXXX called Synchrony on my behalf to see what was going on. They had received extra payments of {$88.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. I was told that Synchrony recognized their mistake, and that I would be receiving a refund from them soon. 

Months passed, and I did not receive anything from Synchrony. In the meantime, I had forgotten about the refund. I called XXXX XXXX XXXX first, and they gave me the Synchrony number to call and how to explain my issue to them. On XX/XX/XXXX I called Synchrony myself for the first time to inquire about it, I told them I had never received anything from them since the paid in full notice a year ago. They apologized and told me they would reissue and resend the check in the amount of {$260.00}. I assume the extra {$2.00} was for interest on my balance. 

I was given a 4-6 week timeframe, so I called again on XX/XX/XXXX. I told them I never received anything, they apologized and said they would reissue and resend the check again. On XX/XX/XXXX I called for an update and was told that my account did not show any refund and that I was owed nothing. The representative became argumentative when I questioned why I had been told differently the other times I called. I was basically lied to by the previous representative, who had never issued anything. I asked to speak to manager, I was put on hold for a while, and eventually told to call back tomorrow because they were all busy. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called Synchrony again, this time the representative said they could see the refund and that it had been cancelled for some reason but could not say why. They put in an escalation request, and I was able to speak to a supervisor. I was told they would put in a request to reissue the refund check since I had never received it. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX to see if the check had been sent out and was told the request was approved, and I would have to continue waiting for it. After giving the check enough time to arrive, I called on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX, and after a lot of back and forth, I spoke to a supervisor who apologized and said they would reissue and resend the check yet again. 

After another 6 weeks, on XX/XX/XXXX, I called once more because I had not received any mail from Synchrony. I asked for a manager almost right away this time, and I explained everything I am writing here. I asked every question I could think of as well, and was told the only time a request to reissue the refund had ever gone through was on XX/XX/XXXX, and that it was denied the very next day, on XX/XX/XXXX. This means that almost everyone I spoke to was lying to me when they assured me the refund was being sent out or on its way. On this most recent call, I was also initially told that the check had been received and cashed. When I asked who cashed it, they said " treasury '', but they could not provide any details or proof of receipt, and eventually backtracked saying they couldn't confirm if I had received anything or if the check was ever cashed, only that the funds were sent to the bank 's " treasury ''. 

At this point, they sounded very confused by Synchrony 's own internal notes and/or policies. They said the only course of action left was to open a dispute and to wait 2 billing cycles in order to receive a response, which is what I have done. However, I do not feel confident that it will be resolved in my favor at all, especially after being told so many different things by so many different people over and over again. There has to be some accountability for the dishonesty of the representatives I spoke to, and with how Synchrony handles their overpayments. There seems to be no oversight, and from what I understood, the debt now owed to me has been erased without explanation even though I have continuously asked for a refund. I have no way of knowing whether anything was ever actually sent to me at any point, but it does not appear so.

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