Consumer complaint received 2022-11-11
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: OH
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Store credit card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
This is my letter to Synchrony Bank I would like to talk to you about Synchrony Bank and the people that handle your phone calls for your clients. I may be wrong, but I FEEL like I am experiencing a very unfair situation. I went to Value City XXXX with enough cash to purchase the furniture I got that day. However, I was urged by my salesman to put it all on a credit card. I told him, I had the cash. Of course, this is a decision I made. 

I was told I would be able to pay it back with no interest as long as I paid it back within the " Promo '' balance pay period. And that if I didn't pay it off within that time period, I would be charged interest. I was fine with that, so I signed up. What I didn't understand ( and this is my fault ), was that if I didn't pay the full balance by that time, I would incur " RETROACTIVE '' interest ( again, probably my fault for not reading the entire slew of terms and conditions ). 

However, I continually paid more than the amount due on my account every month with your company proceeding to increase my credit limit. I never went over my limit and continually paid, on time, more than what was due. I eventually paid down about 1/3 of the bill when one of these cute little " Promo '' balances became due. I thought oh well, Now I will need to begin to pay more because the interest will " BEGIN '' accruing. Still unaware that I would be charged a huge amount of retroactive interest. 
When I saw the new balance, I almost had a XXXX XXXX. 

I called your company and was met with very rude, overseas, obstinate customer service. I asked a couple of them ( because I called a couple of times ) was there anything I could do. I was told that I could " pay my bill using a bank account ''. As if I didnt know that. 

Each time I called asking if there was anything I could do to change this situation, no one would listen to me. And I definitely wasnt rude or challenging. 
I work very hard for my money, and I try to do everything to pay my bills and keep my credit right. When this lovely " retroactive interest '' kicked in, I hadn't received a commission check in 3 months because my sales were down as an XXXX XXXX, and I had no other income. 

Since then, I have acquired two more jobs so now I have three jobs in an attempt to keep a roof over my head. I don't have a husband or family or anyone to help me with bills and now I will be paying three times what this furniture cost, which also happens to be five times what its worth, when I nearly had it paid off, on time. 

The kicker was when your company proceeded to close my account even though I was still paying, on time, which, as I'm sure you know, DINGS my credit. 

So, I signed up for your credit card I didn't need, got hit with retroactive interest, was treated like XXXX by the people that answer your phones, I still have to pay for this, AND your company decided best practices were to also close my account and DING my credit? I feel like " predatory lending ''. 

I haven't used the credit card in about a year AND I was thrown over my limit to satisfy your retroactive interest anyway. It was tantamount to your company saying to me, " Let 's go ahead and FINISH her ''. 

I understand my role in reading what I sign up for, but I don't understand their decision to make their final move. And believe it was very unfair and more so " UNNECESSARY ''. I mean, how did closing my account BENEFIT Synchrony bank?

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