Consumer complaint received 2025-01-04 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
My XXXX card statement is very confusing. Each bill is at least XXXX pages long. When you make a big purchase on XXXX the order total XXXX be charged on the same lump sum but shown on your bill as how each item shipped ( which could be separately ) The only way I can pay off the various " lump sum '' expiring balances and have the payment applied correctly is to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and have them allocate the payment. I have asked multiple Customer Service Representatives if I can do this myself via an online payment and have always been told I need to call to have the payment applied correctly. It also states this on the actual bill. 

I have used this card to make purchases using the deferred interest option. I did so with a purchase that was to expire XX/XX/year>. The total expiring was {$1700.00}. The items were broken up on my bill as XXXX different promotional balances that all had the XX/XX/year> expiring date. 

I called on XXXX and spoke to XXXX who when asked what I was paying I said multiple times, the " expiring deferred interest promo balances '' that are expiring XX/XX/year>. The bill states on the first page what the total of expiring balance will be which in this case was {$1700.00}. I asked XXXX to apply the payment to my account and to allocate it to what was expiring. I waited XXXX minutes on hold for her to do this. I asked when she came back on the line if she needed me to read off all of the lines that were expiring so that we could be sure they were correct. She said, no, she had gotten them all. I wrote down on my bill that I was paying the total of {$1700.00} as the payment that would come out of my checking account. 

I received my next bill due XX/XX/year>. At that time I realized that XXXX had shorted my payment the previous month by {$600.00}. I did not realize this until I went to pay my next bill on XX/XX/year> via phone. At that time I had {$180.00} expiring on the next batch of deferred interest promo balance. I asked the Customer Service XXXX XXXX to make a payment of {$780.00} which was the next expiring amount as well as the {$600.00} short and also asked for credit for the now {$330.00} in interest that my account now had posted to it because the previous month 's payment was not applied correctly. She advised that she would allocate to the expiring amount as well as what the remaining was. She advised that she would submit the request for the credit of interest charges to the " back end department '' but it XXXX take XXXX to XXXX billing cycles for this to be reviewed and/or changed. 

I received my next bill due XX/XX/year>. I now had interested charges of {$360.00} and my credit was still being reviewed in the " back end department ''. XXXX Customer Service Representative that I spoke to all told me they could not credit or make any changes to my account when the " back end department '' was reviewing my case/account. 

I was told on XXXX by XXXX a XXXX, that it is my responsibility as a consumer to be able to read my bill and to pay it correctly. It didn't matter that the Customer Service XXXX didn't apply the money correctly XXXX, I should have been able to figure it out. 

On the bill that was due XX/XX/year> there is a line on page XXXX of my XXXX page bill that says " Miscellaneous adjustment- {$560.00} '' but it was added and then removed. When I called to ask what this was the Customer Service Representative could not see this or explain what it meant. Also, " back end department review '' was done. They could do nothing with the interest charges that remained. 

Each bill states " If your account has a Deferred Interest promotional balance and you would like a payment to be applied to a specific promotional or non-promotional balance, call Customer Service at XXXX, no later than XXXX days after the transaction date of your payment as shown on your statement, to learn what options XXXX be available. " I have now paid {$370.00} in interest fees in 2024 all because the original Customer Service Representative did not apply/allocate my payment correctly.

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