Consumer complaint received 2026-03-13 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Problem with rewards from credit card
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
I applied for a Guitar Center credit card issued by Synchrony Bank after being encouraged to do so by a cashier at a Guitar Center store. At the time of the purchase, the cashier told me that by opening the credit card I would receive rewards points worth approximately {$100.00}. I was specifically instructed to wait a couple of months and watch for an email containing the reward. Over the following months, I regularly checked my email, including my spam folder, but I never received any email or notification about a rewards certificate. I also searched online for information and asked another Guitar Center employee about it a few weeks later. I was again told to be patient and that the rewards email would eventually arrive. When no email ever appeared, I contacted Synchrony Bank through their online chat support. At that time, I was told that I had no rewards points on my account. The representative later explained that the {$100.00} reward had actually been issued as a certificate included in my XXXX credit card statement. I was never notified by email or any other clear alert that the reward was placed in my statement. By the time I learned this information, it was XX/XX/year>, and the reward certificate had already expired on XX/XX/year>. When I called Synchrony Bank to request that they honor or reissue the reward certificate, they refused. I believe I was misled by the Guitar Center cashier and by the way the rewards program information is presented. I was told to expect an email notification, but instead the certificate was placed only within a credit card statement without any clear or prominent notification. This made the reward very easy to miss. The reward also did not appear anywhere obvious in the Synchrony account interface when I logged in ; it was only accessible within the downloadable statement documents. This lack of clear disclosure and notification effectively hid the reward certificate and prevented me from using it before it expired. The {$100.00} reward was a primary reason I agreed to open the credit card at the time of purchase. Had I known that the reward would only appear buried within a statement without any notification, I would not have opened the account. I believe this practice is misleading to consumers and does not make the reward information reasonably accessible. I am requesting that Synchrony Bank reissue or honor the {$100.00} reward certificate that expired on XX/XX/year>. Why was my reward certificate not sent to me in an email as I was told? Why is the reward certificate and points not clearly indicated when I log into my account? Why was I not reminded of the rewards expiration date? What was I not told that the rewards points expired? I escalated the call and was told they can not do anything about this. I believe their policies to be poor and that they did not make acceptable effort to follow the practices of the CFPB.

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