Consumer complaint received 2024-10-14 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: LA

Complaint narrative:
In XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX I enrolled in a 0 % interest for XXXX program with Synchrony Bank XXXX In XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX, I received a paper statement with a charge for {$1.00} to receive paper statements. The email notification of the unrequested charge went to my junk mail, and I was unaware of the charge until it appeared on my statement. I immediately called, and the charge was reversed. However, this was only the beginning. 

Although the charge was reversed, they applied a late fee since I only paid the same amount at the same time that I have paid for the past two years. Because I was under the assumption that the issue was resolved when they reversed my late fee, I did not bother to check the following statement, which I now had to check electronically since they forced me to sign up for electronic statements to avoid incurring a monthly paper statement charge. The email reminders were being sent to my junk mail, and it wasnt until I decided to randomly check the account that I noticed the late fees that had accrued from the paper statement charge. 

I called last month and reluctantly paid the late fee, again thinking the issue was resolved. Then, this month, I was informed of additional late fees. The entire electronic system is flawed. They never should have forced the {$2.00} charge for paper statements. I use electronic statements with other vendors that offered discounts and whose monthly payments do not fluctuate. They send email notifications with no mention of amount or due date. They force you to log into their account, which takes time, to view the statement. You are unable to view a statement by phone, so now you have to wait until you are able to use a computer. 

In fairness, there was one prior mishap with Synchrony that was correctly resolved for the same account. Due to the delay in receiving a portion of the product, I was charged for the purchase of the items that I took home with me that day. I quickly paid off that portion of the purchase, and when the remaining portion was charged, I saw that the promotion date was reduced to 24 months. That issue was quickly resolved, and the original deadline was restored. 

Because of {$2.00} that they charged without my knowledge, I had to pay late fees and interest. I have lost confidence in their ability to resolve the issue without further penalties and have elected to pay off the remaining balance, forfeiting the remaining months of 0 % interest. I am beside myself that this stems from an unrequested {$2.00} charge that they have scammed at least {$75.00} in late fees and interest from me. Despite the remaining balance being a financial setback for me, paying it off along with the new late fee is worth it to end the continued scam.

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