Consumer complaint received 2019-12-24
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NV
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
Synchrony Strikes again! This is the singularly most CORRUPT financial provider EVER. 

On my Lowes account, I had a promotional balance as of XX/XX/2019 statement of {$1200.00}. My promotional balance expires on XX/XX/2019. 

On XX/XX/2019 I paid {$300.00} and per Synchrony Bank written policy, " during a billing period in which a deferred interest promotion expires, if your payment is enough to pay off the expiring promotion, your payment will be applied to the expiring promotion first before the non-promotional and other balances on your account. '' My {$300.00} payment was applied to THREE different balances, this is WRONG. Per your policy, the {$300.00} should have all gone to the expiring promotion of {$1200.00} On XX/XX/2019 - when my promotion was expiring, I paid {$900.00} and again per your policy, this entire amount should have gone to my EXPIRING promotion. 

As an added insult to injury, Synchrony CONVENIENTLY TO THEIR BENEFIT failed to include my {$900.00} payment THAT WAS POSTED IN MY PAYMENT HISTORY effective XX/XX/2019 on my cycling statement. 

By doing this Synchrony WRONGLY enriched themselves with {$970.00} of UNEARNED INTEREST. 

By violating its own written policy for payment allocation during a month in which a promotion expired, and wrongly allocating my payment, while small in dollar amount, that in effect still makes my {$1200.00} balance not paid in full, and by first telling me I would be credited {$970.00} in finance charges, again Synchrony continues to enrich itself by allowing my balance to carry over into another billing cycle and again reaping unearned interest.

My account is quite clear. I now have 3 promotional balances, and 1 posted non promotional balance, which I will be paying the non promotional in full BEFORE the next billing comes due, which I will call in and make sure the highest manager possible posts it correctly. 

Synchrony needs to COMPLETELY re-age my account, take it BACK to before the WRONGLY CHARGED deferred interest was charged. You scare the living XXXX out of me when I am told " we need to reallocate all your balances and payments '' - you have extremely creative math to the detriment of the consumer. 

I am copying this absolutely abominable, inexcusable error to the Executive Leadership at Lowes Corporation, to once  again implore them to STOP using you for their financial services. Consumers rely on the ability to make large purchases and defer any interest/final payoff. The average consumer, sadly, does not mind their statements as much as some of us, or are sadly aware of your underhanded tactics. This is an ultimate harm to the Lowes Consumer, and I am sure Lowes does not want to deter consumers from shopping in their stores. 

I have asked the CFPB before, and ask again, Synchrony Bank needs to be closely monitored for failure to supervise their fiduciary responsibility.

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