Consumer complaint received 2018-03-24
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CO
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
I made an online payment of {$32.00} on XX/XX/XXXX on my PayPal XXXX XXXX account, administered by XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, UT XXXX, XXXX. I made a copy of my online payment receipt ( copy attached ) and also received a payment confirmation email ( copy of text from attached ). 

The due date for payment on my PayPal account is the XX/XX/XXXX of each month. I have NEVER had a late or missed payment on this account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a payment past due notice email ( text from attached ) from Synchrony asking if I knew that I'd missed my XX/XX/XXXX PayPal account payment. 

Please note that I was informed by customer service that all of my telephonic communications with Synchrony would allegedly be recorded. 

I immediately called in and the male customer service agent ( name unknown ) was stubbornly resistant to what I was telling him, so I demanded to speak with a supervisor. I talked with a female supervisor ( name unknown ) - she explained that there was an apparent internal payment processing error - my payment did not go through on XX/XX/XXXX. The payment confirmation on the receipt I had saved was " XXXX ''. I was told that the late fee charged to my account would be waived ( which it was ) and that the next month 's statement would reflect the late fee removal and would also reflect my normal minimum amount due. 

The supervisor then put me on hold and when she came back, there was a loud buzzing noise on the line, disruptive enough that the call had to be ended. I guess this is their way of deflecting angry customers. I went online immediately after the call and made a {$32.00} payment for XX/XX/XXXX ( on XX/XX/XXXX ). The Late fee had already been removed. I made a copy of my online payment receipt ( copy attached ), which this time had a payment confirmation number other than " XXXX ''. I also received a payment confirmation email ( copy of text attached ). 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made my normal monthly payment of {$34.00} on my PayPal account - however, the new monthly statement did NOT correct the minimum payment due amount, which was listed as a ridiculous {$100.00}, even though the late fee charged had been removed. I assumed that Synchrony had not yet gotten around to properly adjusting my account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received another past due notice email ( copy of text attached ). I immediately called in, agent XXXX was resistant and I again demanded to speak with a supervisor. A manager named XXXX came on and, after 50 minutes on the phone, told me that he could not/they ( whomever they are ) would not reduce the minimum amount due because I missed the XX/XX/XXXX payment. I explained that the XX/XX/XXXX payment did not make it through their system due to THEIR processing error, not due to any fault/negligence of mine. XXXX said he'd file an internal consumer complaint and that it could take 30-60 days to process. Also told me that my payment history ( no late or missed payments ever ) would not be considered by the complaint handlers. He said I should check back XX/XX/XXXX for status of the complaint. I told him if not resolved, I would take several actions, including but not limited to, forwarding this matter to my attorney and filing complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the XXXX XXXX XXXX where XXXX XXXX is headquartered in XXXX UT, the Colorado Attorney General 's office and by also possibly notifying the news media outlets both in XXXX UT and locally in Colorado of this outrageous situation. 

Who knows how many other PayPal/Synchrony customers have been affected in a similar manner. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made my normal monthly payment of {$34.00} on my PayPal account - however, the new monthly statement STILL did NOT correct the minimum payment due amount, which was still listed as a ridiculous {$100.00}. I assumed again that Synchrony had not yet gotten around to properly adjusting my account On XX/XX/XXXX I received a robocall at about XXXX XXXX which spoke of the " missed payment and past due amount '', captured by my answering machine. I immediately called XXXX at XXXX XXXX and spoke with agent XXXX, who informed me that the extra {$38.00} they were charging to my account could not be removed because " I missed the XX/XX/XXXX payment '' When I demanded to know why this could not be fixed, she told me that it had " cycled out '' and that there was " nothing we can do ''. My reply was that this was completely unacceptable and informed her of the actions listed above that I was taking. She also told me that the internal consumer complaint supposedly previously filed by manager XXXX had not yet been processed, since it was still inside the 60 day maximum window. 

I also told her I did NOT accept this situation and, adamantly, that I would NOT pay Synchrony extra for their mistake - I ended the call. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received another past due notice email ( copy of text attached ).

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a robocall captured on my answering machine from Synchrony alluding to a " past due amount ''. I did not respond to it, since the 60 day maximum complaint processing window would not be reached until XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I received a certified letter from Synchrony, dated XX/XX/XXXX,  threatening me with ... '' incurring additional fees and finance charges due to nonpayment ''. ( copy attached ). This letter listed a different address than the payment address : XXXX XXXX/Pay Pal XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX FL XXXX. Contact Phone number is also different in this letter : XXXX. 

I am beyond exasperated, having spent hours attempting to get Sychrony to reverse their very wrong interpretation of why my payment was mishandled by their payment processing system and to demonstrate that I was IN NO WAY responsible for their internal error and refuse to pay any kind of penalty to them for their mistake. Not to mention all of my time wasted in initiating the above-mentioned consumer complaints. 

Firstly, it is my contention that I, in good faith, made an account payment on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Secondly, it is my contention that, upon learning of Synchrony 's XX/XX/XXXX processing error, I IMMEDIATELY made an online payment to rectify the situation. 

Thirdly, I unequivocally state that I WILL, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, pay any kind of penalty to Synchrony for an error that was entirely due to an internal problem they had!

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