Consumer complaint received 2026-03-12 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — Store credit card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
We hired XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXXXXXX to do a patio job at our home in XXXX. Our sales agent, XXXX XXXX, worked with our budget of {$16000.00} and offered various options. We chose a style, and he agreed to have the job done by XX/XX/XXXX. We paid a {$1500.00} deposit to XXXX. He then suggested a payment plan to pay the {$14000.00} balance gradually. We declined this option until XX/XX/XXXX when he offered a 0 % interest-free plan for 36 months. We were led to believe this was our agreement as discussed. XXXX visited our home to sign the agreement on XX/XX/XXXX. Work began on XX/XX/XXXX and finished XX/XX/XXXX. We were pleased with the work and wrote a positive review on XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, a XXXX XXXX agent emailed us to say we never signed the sales contract for financing through Synchrony. XXXX questioned it but signed a few days later. The payment plan details were stated as XXXX XXXX, but no APR promo information was given. We assumed it was for XXXX mos interest free as discussed. The agent and XXXX never informed us about this program change. We then made monthly payments to Synchrony through auto-payments until we had to pay off the remaining balance of about {$1300.00} to complete our 36-month payment plan. We contacted Synchrony on XX/XX/XXXX and found out we had an interest charge of $ XXXX on our {$14.00} loan. This was a shock to us! We were unaware of the change in APR and didnt register for the card or receive emails or hard copies. We disputed the charge per Synchrony 's request, but now its an APR correction dispute. We tried calling and emailing XXXX to resolve, and they initially agreed to make the agreement change to 36 mos., but now they refused to revise the APR due to potential merchant penalties. We have now informed Synchrony that we didnt have a signed payment contract until XX/XX/XXXX, about a month after job completion, and we assumed it was for 36 months, not 18 months. We hope for a fair and positive outcome for us, XXXX XXXX and Synchrony. XX/XX/XXXX Synchrony Bank : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, PA XXXX XXXX Re : Promo Correction Claim XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Acct : XXXX Dear Synchrony, I am writing to address the Promotional APR dispute and correction claim we have opened on account of XXXX XXXX changing the loan terms on our behalf without our knowledge. In XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, we believed we had a 36-month APR loan between XXXX XXXX and Synchrony Bank for our paving project. Initially, we didnt want financing, but they convinced us to get it, especially since they offered a 36-month repayment period. Our sales representative, XXXX XXXX, who no longer works for the company, had mentioned that we could get this promotion when the work started on XX/XX/XXXX. Work was completed within a few days, on XX/XX/XXXX or so, we believe. We signed on XXXX XXXX for this work to happen and for the APR of XXXX. Then on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX said they didnt have XXXX signature and sent another form to XXXX XXXX which we were unaware of. This promotion had a different APR, but we didnt notice it. We would never have agreed to this and would have paid the full amount in cash or at least paid it off within 18 months. We were completely unaware of this change because XXXX XXXX signed us up with our credit card and processed the transaction while our computer wasnt working with their online system when they came to our home to complete the sales transaction, but nothing was signed at this time according to their records of no e-signature. We never received any notices from you regarding this payment plan or emails about it. We were making minimum payments and didnt have a physical card or registered the account at all, so we thought everything was fine until XXXX, XXXX. Emails were going into a junk folder on XXXX so we never saw them from you, and thought everything was good until we went to pay the balance off on XX/XX/XXXX, which we thought would be under {$1400.00}. Shockingly, the total went up instead of down, and we had an interest balance of at least {$11000.00} more than we anticipated, amounting to {$12000.00}! We were unaware of this issue and would never have done this given the circumstances. We have excellent credit ratings and always pay our credit card bills on time. We feel that XXXX XXXX misled us into doing this, and we didnt even want to do this promotional program in the first place. I have attached evidence to this letter, which I hope will help us in our case. Thank you for your time and understanding of our tenuous situation here. Most Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Dear Synchrony Customer Care, We are writing to formally follow up regarding our ongoing case involving a Promotional APR discrepancy connected to our XX/XX/XXXXXXXX agreement with XXXX XXXX financed through Synchrony Bank. At the time of signing, we agreed to a promotional APR of 36 months. However, we later discovered that the account reflected an 18 month APR which was done in late XXXX of XXXX, a change that was made without our knowledge or consent. We only became aware of this discrepancy in XX/XX/XXXX. When we first contacted your team, we were advised to dispute the full charge of {$14000.00}. We did so, but the dispute was denied because the products and services were indeed rendered and satisfactory. To be clear, our concern has never been with the quality of the work performed by XXXX XXXX ; our issue is solely with the APR agreement that was submitted and processed. XXXX XXXX has attempted to assist us in resolving this matter. Since the original sales representative is no longer with the company, their finance department worked with Synchronys merchant department and was initially told that they would need to refund the original {$14000.00} transaction, thereby reversing the charge so that a new 36-month promotional APR agreement could be issued. The refund documentation was completed, and we waited for further instructions. Unfortunately, we were later informed that this approach would not be permitted after all. We subsequently contacted Synchrony again and were advised that submitting an updated APR agreement ( around XX/XX/XXXXXXXX ) could reset the system and reinstate the 36-month promotional terms. We complied and waited for a resolution. During calls in XXXX and XXXX, we were told by representatives that the documentation appeared favorable and that a resolution was likely forthcoming, especially given that XXXX XXXX was cooperating fully. However, in late XXXX XXXX, another representative advised us to dispute the accumulated interest of approximately {$11000.00}. We followed that guidance as well. After waiting without communication, we recently learned that the dispute was denied and that we were deemed responsible for the interest charges. We were told a letter explaining this determination had been sent, but we never received it. The only correspondence we received was a notice that the {$11000.00} dispute had been denied by your customer service department at the front end. This outcome has been extremely upsetting and disheartening. Throughout this process, we have followed the instructions provided by your representatives and acted in good faith. We believed that, given the documentation submitted and the cooperation of XXXX XXXX, this matter could be resolved fairly. We respectfully request a thorough review of our account, including the original promotional agreement dated XX/XX/XXXX, and the subsequent documentation submitted. We are simply seeking correction of the APR terms we originally agreed to and relief from the interest that accrued due to what appears to be an administrative error beyond our control. We appreciate your time and attention to this matter and look forward to your response. Most sincerely, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

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