Consumer complaint received 2023-12-04
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: PA
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
I have disputed my account balance since XX/XX/2023, during which time Synchrony has done an abysmal job of communicating clearly. Because of their failure to make themselves understood, this dispute has gone on far too long and has become far too complicated, particularly given the small amount in controversy. 

Since the last time I used the account for a purchase, in around XX/XX/2023, my minimum monthly payment had been {$190.00}. 

On XX/XX/2023, I paid ( via my bank account, as usual ) {$190.00} toward my next regular monthly minimum payment. Even after several days, the payment had not posted to my account, so I sent a message on XX/XX/2023, to advise of a potential problem with the payment. 

Synchrony issued a temporary credit of {$190.00} while it investigated the missing payment, which within the next few days apparently was processed and was posted. At that point, they reversed the credit and debited my account {$190.00} to offset it. This brought us even. It was a wash. Synchrony received the amount duein a timely fashion, I addand the temporary credit was reversed. That should have been the end of this. 

On XX/XX/2023, I became aware that my minimum monthly payment had increased by {$35.00} to {$220.00}. My account statement dated XX/XX/2023, gave no explanation for this increase. There was no late payment fee listednor should there have been because my account was current at all times. The only transactions on the statement were those that I have already described. 

I wrote back that day to request an explanation for this increase. In what has become an agonizingly consistent theme, the reply ( from XXXX XXXX. ) was utterly incoherent : Please note that the minimum payment due will increase on your account when there is a late payment or interest charge. Our records indicate the transaction made on XX/XX/2023, XX/XX/2023 in the amount of {$8100.00} ad {$7100.00} was placed on an Fixed Payment promotion which means you will be charge [ sic ] interest at a lower rate of 9.99 %. 

That gibberish, of course, failed to provide any explanation for the payment increase, so I replied, in an increasingly angry fashion, to demand a response that actually made sense. XXXX XXXX wrote back, listing the transactions Ive already described here and saying, [ We ] have charge [ sic ] back total of {$190.00} on XX/XX/2023 to offset the temporary credit that we have applied. This charge back was considered standard balance that cause [ sic ] your minimum payment to increase [ emphasis added ]. 

That language quite literally enraged me ; the chargeback was a wash that shouldnt have affected my minimum payment. Not even by a XXXX. XXXX replied that Synchrony would investigate the matter and advise me when theyhad reached a conclusion. This was on XX/XX/2023, the same day that I did precisely what I was required to do under the terms of our agreement : remit the undisputed balance due of {$190.00}. 

On XX/XX/2023, I wrote back, angrier still, because a more-than-adequate time for such a simple matter to be resolved had transpired with no explanation for the increased payment. XXXX XXXX replied to indicate that Synchrony needed an additional XXXX to 14 days. 

On XX/XX/2023, I became aware that Synchrony had charged me a late fee of {$30.00}, and I demanded that they reverse that charge immediately consistent with the terms of the credit card agreement. They acceded to that demand, and XXXX XXXX replied that, now, theyd need as much as 60 days to resolve the matter. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I saw that Synchrony had, once again, incorrectly calculated my minimum payment, charging me {$220.00}. I wrote immediately to contest the increase and to advise that I would only be paying the undisputed amount of {$190.00}. I received a reply from XXXX XXXX that was nothing but boilerplate ; I dont even grace it with the term reply because it did nothing more than to evidence that XXXX hadnt even read my message. 

The response to my e-mail complaint about her unresponsivenessthis time from XXXX XXXX an apology that the response could not be more favorable. Once again, this was not responsive, and I expressed that fact in a reply stating that the problem was not an unfavorable response, but no response at all. More gibberish from XXXX prompted a demand that the matter be escalated to a supervisor immediately. 

That never happened. The next event was me becoming aware on XX/XX/XXXX, that Synchrony had imposed another late fee, this time ( inexplicably ) in the seemingly arbitrary amount of {$41.00}. I wrote to complain about the fee and the long delay in the resolution of the matter, demanding that the fee be reversed ; XXXX XXXX responded shortly thereafter. She said that the investigation had concluded and that she was attaching the resolution letter previously sent to you. She did not attach anything, nor had I previously received anything. She also refused to refund the late fee. I demanded a refund and an explanation of Synchronys conclusions by the close of business on XX/XX/2023, indicating that I would take appropriate legal action if they failed to respond. 

On XX/XX/2023, XXXX XXXX wrote that the late fee was being refunded As a courtesy. She also attached the resolution letter referenced by XXXX. It was dated XX/XX/2023, yet I was seeing it for the first time. That hardly matters, though, because ( as seems typical ) the letter offered no resolution : Your payment has been applied to your account balance as requested. The change will be shown on your next billing statement. What does that even mean? What about the minimum payment increase and the amount allegedly past due? Not a word of explanation. 

I replied that, because Synchrony had failed to provide an explanation by the close of business on XX/XX/2023, I would file this complaint on the morning of Monday, XX/XX/2023. Over the course of the weekend, I received a message from XXXX stating that the matter was being escalated to the corporate office, which would contact me within 7 to 14 days.

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