Consumer complaint received 2022-08-19
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
The account was initiated on XX/XX/XXXX at approximately XXXX XXXX, due to an emergency with my cat at the XXXX XXXX XXXX. We had been quoted by staff at the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX the emergency costs could be as much as {$3000.00} which would be a huge burden to our family. The XXXX XXXX had advertisements for Care Credit so we completed an application from my cellular phone while in the waiting room. The application stated there would be no interest for a specific period. At no point did I see anything about " credit protection '' services which would not be something I would take because this is protection for someone who could lose their job and not be able to make a payment. I have been at my job for more than 20 years. 
After receiving the first statement in XXXX of XXXX my husband made our first payment. We did not notice there had been an additional charge added to the account for credit protection. In XXXX of XXXX, we had a family emergency that landed my father in the hospital and after 12 grueling days he passed away. My husband noticed there were charges being added to the bill which he called Syncrony Bank, the servicer of Care Credit. They explained all the charges to him however they refused to cancel the credit protection. Today, XX/XX/XXXX I called Syncrony Bank, the servicers of Care Credit and asked about the credit protection services. The representative explained I would have needed to " opt-out '' at the time I applied for the credit, and then went on to explain this is serviced by a third party and I would need to be transferred. The process was very convoluted and I can see how many people get stuck with this charge. The representative did cancel the credit protection for me, but refused to back-date or remove any other fees. I asked how I can escalate this or contest this and they said it was impossible. I explained that requiring someone to " opt-out '' is a hidden predatory credit tactic and they didn't have any response. I have attempted to resolve this with the credit company/bank . This predatory measure needs to be resolved. A customer, who is in a difficult situation when applying for emergency credit, is not going to be in a clear state of mind, and would not be thinking they need to " opt-out '' of something in order to proceed. This is a much more serious matter than just my personal expense of {$100.00} in credit protection fees added to my account. Additionally, it is not clear how my payments have been applied to my account with the fees. There is supposed to be interest-free on the care credit if paid within x amount of time. It can be seen on the statement they have applied different buckets to the charges and started to charge interest on the credit protection services which is absolutely unacceptable. My statement dated XX/XX/XXXX shows {$1.00} in interest charged from the credit protection services balance.

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