Consumer complaint received 2016-08-20
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: FL
Product: Credit card
Issue: Identity theft / Fraud / Embezzlement

Complaint:
I only took out this credit card account to pay for car repairs and this was offered to me at the Pep Boys store as a solution. I only charged {$500.00} to the card on the day I picked up my car. I have never used it for anything else. However, I began having bizarre issues with Synchrony from the moment I signed up. Their website was continuously unable to load after I had signed up, so I was never given my account number and then told when I called that I could not be given the number over the phone. The actual credit card was supposedly mailed to me but I never received it. Although I signed up with my email, I have only ever received one welcome email from Synchrony and no other type of electronic correspondence. On XXXX/XXXX/2016 and I randomly received a call from Synchrony about my payment being late. However, I was never sent any information about a billing schedule or payment due date prior to this phone call. I told them I did not even know my account number. After apologizing and paying {$60.00}, I asked to sign up for auto pay to avoid any problems in the future, but I am told that they are not authorized to do that over the phone. I am told I can only do this through their website, which when I try to use does not load. I called about the problem and was told to retry it later and still given no way to enroll in auto pay. When I still ca n't interact with their website at all later, I call again and am told I will be mailed a form for auto-pay that I can fill out and mail back to them. I expressed concern about my personal account information having to be mailed in and requested that it be sent to my email instead, but am told that they are not authorized to send emails. I have only ever been communicated with about my account after something is late and never before s payment is due. I have never been sent any form of notification that anything is due and I have been provided with different dates when I ask via the phone for the next billing date. Yesterday I received yet another phone call about overdue payments and pay {$210.00}, but strangely the only way I am allowed to pay is by providing my bank information instead of paying with my debit card as I had before. I asked for receipt of my payment to be sent to my email so I would have record of the transaction and they refused and said I could only get a receipt in the mail within 7-10 days. I called them back later to ask how much was left to pay off on the account and was informed that I still owe {$760.00} ... on a {$500.00} charge I made in XXXX ... .even though I had made 3 payments so far ( {$60.00} + {$60.00} + XXXX ). I asked for an explanation of why my balance was going up instead of down but was provided with zero information. I was also then told that I still owed {$210.00} despite having just paid it. This is extremely suspicious and needs to be investigated. I have zero record of anything relating to my account, have never received any notifications about payments, and have never seen a single statement that would explain how it is possible that I still owe {$760.00}. I do not know if the actual card I never received in the mail was sent to someone else who is adding more charges to the account or if this is some kind of fraud where they are adding random fees to my account without informing me. I want to settle the balance I should have owed based on the original amount I charged to the card I would have owed when I signed up and then close the account. I do not want to pay over the phone since they will not send a receipt of the transaction. I do not have an account on their website and do not feel comfortable using it based on these experiences. All I have been trying to do since XXXX is get my money to them on time, but everytime I call them they are " not authorized '' to make this possible. My account should have been paid off in XXXX, but they made this impossible for me to make payments.

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