Consumer complaint received 2024-06-08 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Charged too much interest
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: WA

Complaint narrative:
We applied for a Crate & Barrel Synchrony credit card in XX/XX/2022 to pay for a couch, which included a promotional no interest 24 month payment term. The total balance was {$4200.00}. The monthly pay-down amount to cover this calculate to {$170.00}. We setup autopay on the account for {$180.00} so this would be paid off one month early ( in 23 months ). My understanding at the time was that autopay included both the {$180.00} that would go against the {$4200.00} promotional balance and it would autopay the full balance of any additional charges to avoid interest.

We also setup paperless statements at this time as well. 

In XX/XX/2022, we made another purchase on the card and noticed the month after that we were being charged interest. We called Synchrony Financial and they indicated that the account was only auto paid for {$180.00}, not the full balance that included the XXXX purchase. At that time, we made a XXXX payment to pay the full balance. We asked the Synchrony rep to ensure that with the combination of the XXXX payment and the {$180.00}, that we were still on track to pay down the {$4200.00} on time to avoid paying any additional interest. We were instructed at that time that we were still on track. 

Today I logged into the account and noticed that we had been charged over {$2000.00} in interest charges during XXXX, plus interest in XXXX and XXXX. Our auto payment of {$180.00} continued. 

Because of the guidance we received by Synchrony Financial in XX/XX/2022, we believed this would not happen, and were upset that we were clearly misguided. We do NOT check the statements regularly, and there were NO email communications about the promotional time period ending and that we were in danger of being charged interest that would be 50 %!!!! Of the total amount we purchased in XX/XX/2022. The only email communications we received were that a monthly statement was ready. There was communication on the statement itself, but as stated previously, we did not even think to open this as we believed the Synchrony rep everything was on track and we did not have to worry. 

After realizing this, we called Synchrony financial. We explained the situation and that we were advised by their representative at the time that we would not be paying any more interest with our autopay set up. 

Synchrony Financial questioned why we would rely on their representative, and why we were not checking the statements. Further, they said they had no mechanism at all to help us - not even a reduction of the interest amount. They said it was OUR FAULT that we relied on what their representative had told us and they did what they were supposed to do in terms of communication of what was happening, by putting it on the statements. 

We are extremely upset by the misguidance we received by the Synchrony representative ( who had all the information at the time needed to provide us accurate advice ), by the lack of notification via email ( or regular mail ) that the promotion was ending and we were about to be charged interest that made up 50 % of the initial purchase, and for Synchronys unwillingness to provide any sort of remedy for the situation. Further, stating that it was impossible for them to provide a remedy.

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