Consumer complaint received 2024-10-10
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL (FL)

I opened a credit card with Lowes in XXXX (? ) during a store purchase. I never received the card in the mail or any account information about the account opening. The initial purchase at Lowes was for approximately {$360.00}. Because I had not received the card I forgot I opened the account until I began receiving text messages that my payment was late ( I believe this was in late XXXX or early XXXX ). I was traveling in XXXX, so I called the credit card company to pay and see if I could get a courtesy reprieve from the fees. The representative indicated that she would remove the fees and I paid the balance- {$360.00}. I did not plan on using the card again for the foreseeable future and assumed the balance was XXXX and would remain this way until I needed to use the card again. In XXXX, I began getting calls about the account, these were voicemail messages. On XXXX XXXX, I called and spoke to a rep. She indicated that the new fee of {$14.00} had been charged. When I explained that these fees should have been resolved during the initial call she indicated that only the late fee had been removed. I explained that my understanding of the initial call was that all fees were addressed. I also told her that I still have not received the original credit card and was not receiving any emails about the account. I discovered later that they had been going to a spam filter. These companies want to save money by only using email, should be required to send initial account opening statements to the customers address before establishing an " all '' digital relationship. THIS IS MY FIRST COMPLAINT. Requiring customers to only have a digital/email relationship should not be " required '', especially for financial relationships where customers are most vulnerable and fraud is at the highest in years. 

After much discussion and debate, she indicated she would submit a complaint on my behalf. I asked for a copy of the complaint be sent to my email account and ironically she indicated she could not do this. I indicated that I would submit my own complaint to the Consumer Protection Bureau. I also asked for a copy of the " recorded '' conversation for my records and was told she could not provide this either. 

I ended up paying the balance of {$14.00} online at their website and asked her to close my credit card account. She indicated she had closed the account but I suspect they may attempt to compound the interest fees on the XXXX interest fees for additional fees. 

I understand that Credit Cards make billions of dollars on fees but I have always been diligent about paying off my credit and have a generally high credit score ( over XXXX ). Synchrony bank representatives mislead me into believing that my initial call had resolved my account and the company took advantage of this to charge additional fees. THIS IS MY SECOND COMPLAINT. I was mislead into believing the account was resolved and there was no ability to be aware of the situation. As a protection by the email carrier ( XXXX ) the emails were treated as SPAM and there was no way to know this until text communication revealed it after it was too late. The company did nothing to resolve the issue and misinformed me of the status of my account during the original inquiry. 

I still have not received the Lowes credit card ... Good riddance