Consumer complaint received 2021-04-19
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NJ
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
Most recently, on XX/XX/2021, XXXX of my creditors, Synchrony BankXXXX XXXX, submitted the second unauthorized payment withdrawal to my personal bank account, which is through XXXX. Supposedly, the recurring payments were authorized via telephone, but I did not agree to have these payments withdrawn at this time, nor did I agree to the recurring nature of these payments. I did contact Synchrony Bank on XX/XX/XXXX to discuss reaching a settlement agreement with this card, and my other card ( XXXX & XXXX XXXX XXXX that I have through their bank. During my telephone calls with Synchrony Bank that evening, I was told that any and all agreements would be mailed out to me before payments would be extracted from my XXXX bank account, however, I have never received any correspondence which would clearly outline a settlement payment agreement amount and/or payment schedule and frequency. On the other hand, I have received normal paper statements from Synchrony Bank for both of my credit cards with them. Those paper statements ( XX/XX/XXXX closing date ) do not show any settlement verbage ; they do show my Total Minimum Payment Due and Past Due Amount, which differ from the amounts withdrawn from from my personal XXXX  checking account on XX/XX/2021 and XX/XX/2021. Ironically, the Synchrony BankXXXX paper statement does not show any recent payments being credited to my account. The amount of the last two unauthorized payment withdrawals are {$290.00} each, totaling {$590.00}. Furthermore, upon review of my XXXX  credit report, I noticed that Synchrony Bank has charged off both of my credit cards ( XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX with them. It appears they charged off my XXXX XXXX account on XX/XX/XXXX of this year, but I never received any correspondence, verbal or written, that such action would take effect, or that such action has taken effect. Now, when attempting to call Synchrony Bank to discuss us creating a tangible and workable payment arrangement or settlement, I have had no success in reaching an actual customer service representative to talk to. After an unreasonable amount of phone transfers and delays, their system tends to reject my calls entirely by simply terminating my calls. Finally, once I was able to successfully log into my Synchrony Bank online account, I noticed that they have already scheduled a payment for XX/XX/2021 in the amount of {$300.00}, although XXXX is turned off. Furthermore, they suggest that the XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX payments were agreed to by phone. I definitely did not discuss making today 's, XX/XX/2021 payment by phone. Likewise for the XX/XX/XXXX payment. Undisputabily, I definitely have not agreed to pay a random future amount of {$300.00} on XX/XX/XXXX of this year. Usually, the payments I make to my creditors rounded to whole dollars plus zero cents. Although I do owe Synchrony Bank for two credit cards, I believe it would be professional and morally sound for them to discuss any amended agreements with me before illegally withdrawing funds from my personal bank account. A brief, clear, written outline of such modification would allow me to accept and plan for payments to them. In addition, it would eliminate the bank overdraft fees that I incur when credit card issuers ( illegally ) decide to submit random payment withdrawals to my personal bank account. As I stated during a similar issue with a different credit card issuer, I do not schedule payments through XXXX, regardless of the type of payment arrangement in effect. I submit each payment manually through the respective company 's website shortly before the due date. As a result of Synchrony Bank 's unethical practices, I am seeking full restitution of all monies that they have withdrawn from my personal XXXX XXXX  account since XX/XX/2021. I am seeking to have all future payments paused until I have a current, and agreed upon, payment schedule or settlement.

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