Consumer complaint received 2021-09-30
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: OH
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2021, I called Amazon/Synchrony Bank at XXXX to pay off my promotional balances, as per the instructions on my account statement. The representative I spoke to was happy to help me. She told me that I could make a payment with her, at no cost, to completely pay off my promotional balances. She calculated the total amount needed to pay off my promotional balances and I provided her with my payment account information. She told me that she was allocating the payment as we were on the phone. I was happy. 
Then I got my statement and it indicated that the promotional balances had not been paid off. I called the same number on XX/XX/2021, and was told that the payment had not been allocated to the promotional balances. That representative said I would have needed to change how payments were allocated, via the website, prior to making my payment and that they couldn't do that for me at the customer service number ( even though my statement said to call customer service if I wanted to pay off my promotional balances ). I pointed out that taking my money and lying about how it would be applied is fraudulent and he agreed to submit a request for reallocation of the payment. He said it should be resolved in 5-7 days. 
Tonight I called back in and was told that they did not reallocate my payment, they refused to confirm whether any request had been made to do so. They will not apply my payment to my promotional balances. They further stated that the only way I can pay off my promotional balances is to pay off my entire non-promotional balance first. This is also a lie because I learned from my call on the XXXX that I can change the settings online to allow my payment to be applied to the promotional balance. 
As of tonight, I have requested the return of the funds I paid to be used to pay off my promotional balance. I specifically requested that they DO NOT return the amount I paid for my minimum payment due. My intention is to take those funds ( if I get them ), change the settings online, and then resubmit the funds to pay off my minimum balance. 
Based on the lies that I have been told so far, I am afraid that the request for the return of my funds was not really submitted and when I call back next week, there will be a new set of " facts '' to keep me from being able to pay off my promotional balances. Dealing with the lies is so stressful and frustrating. If I had been told the truth from the start I could have easily taken care of this and moved on with my life, instead of wasting hours of my time calling repeatedly, doggedly arguing the point to try and get Synchrony Bank to allocate my money the way I was told it would be allocated when I called the number my statement told me to call, and now filing a complaint with the CFPB. 
I should not have to do this. Companies should not be allowed to just lie to their customers, take their money, not do what they said they were going to do, and get away with it. This must be fraudulent and they should be held accountable.

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