Consumer complaint received 2025-10-21 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Confusing or misleading advertising about the credit card
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to dispute an interest charge of {$1700.00} applied to my CareCredit account on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I opened CareCredit account to pay for {$5200.00} in dental services on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

By that time I needed an urgent care to do a tooth extraction and get an implant. After they told me about the cost of this work, they offered me such a great deal to open a credit card with no interest at all to pay this bill. They presented it to me that there will be no interest at all for 12 months, and all I have to do is to make payments on time. No one, not even a single person, dental office worker or CareCredit representative havent even mentioned absolutely ANYTHING ( verbally or written ) about deferred interests, what exactly it means, and that failing to pay the full balance by the end of the term would result in retroactive interest being charged from the purchase date. 

What I thought I was agreeing to and what was presented to me : 12 month no interest, and then you pay interest on the amount you havent paid yet starting from the date when promotional period ends. That sounded fair for me and that was the ONLY reason why I agreed to open CareCredit account. 

After I signed the contract at the Dental Office they gave me a Customer Copy document which I will attach as well. There was written 12 month deferred as a promo code and under promotional terms : If the promotional purchase balance is not paid in full by the end of this promo period, interest will be imposed from the date of the purchase. How clear does it sound for customers? How was I supposed to know that I will have to pay interest not only for the amount I still owe after 12 months ( which was XXXX $ ), but also for the amount which I already paid ( XXXX $ ) at that moment? 

During the year I made consistent auto-payments and acted in good faith, believing I had nothing to worry about. I thought I will pay out the rest of the amount I owe after promotional period ends, and when I opened my account to check how much do I still owe, I couldnt believe my own eyes! I was owed XXXX $ which is even more than the original number! 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Synchrony Bank added {$1700.00} in interest at a rate of 32.99 %, backdated to the original purchase date. 

First, I thought it was a mistake and I tried to dispute this transaction online and via the phone. I asked them to waive the interested charge or postpone it because their company didnt explain properly all promotional terms. I offered them an immediate payment of the amount I owe ( XXXX $ ) to settle misunderstanding, but they said no. And when I told a customer representative that they failed to explained me all promotional terms, he said that I had to call them first and ask about the terms. Well, how about people at the Dental Office? Arent they responsible for that? I thought it was their job to explain me all the terms, not only to sell it by all means necessary. 

So now I feel like Im being scammed. Ive been paying my card for over a year only to figure out that now I owe even more than I originally signed up for. That is unfair. CareCredit and their provider XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX office didnt explain about deferred interest process. Otherwise I would complete the full payment BEFORE promotional period was over. Its not 0 % interest, it is just postponed interest charge with a ridiculous rate 32.99 %. That is a total rip off and naive people like me get caught by misleading offer no interest for 12 months

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