Consumer complaint received 2026-04-01 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: FL

Complaint narrative:
In approximately XX/XX/XXXX, I visited my dental provider for treatment costing {$6500.00}. At the dental office, front desk staff presented CareCredit as a financing option and described it to me as " 0 % interest '' for 24 months. At no point was I informed that this was a " deferred interest '' product, meaning interest would accrue retroactively from the purchase date at approximately 30 % APR and be charged in full if any balance remained at the end of the promotional period. The distinction between true 0 % interest and deferred interest was never explained. I signed up based on my understanding that I would pay no interest during the XXXX period. Over the following 24 months, I made consistent, on-time monthly payments without a single missed or late payment, reducing the balance from {$6500.00} to approximately {$4000.00}. When the promotional period expired, Synchrony Bank applied {$4000.00} in retroactive deferred interest to my account on the XX/XX/XXXX billing statement, nearly doubling my balance to {$7800.00}. After paying approximately {$2400.00} over XXXX years, I now owe more than the original purchase. Additionally, Synchrony reduced my credit limit after the original purchase despite XXXX missed payments. My credit limit was necessarily at least {$6500.00} when the purchase was approved, but Synchrony cut it to {$5200.00} at some point afterward, with no cause and no delinquencies on the account. This reduction guaranteed that the retroactive interest charge would push my account into overlimit status. My account is now {$2600.00} over the reduced limit. Because CareCredit is reported to all three credit bureaus as a revolving credit card ( not medical debt ), my credit report now shows 151 % utilization on this tradeline. This overlimit status is severely damaging my credit score, affecting my ability to obtain favorable terms on mortgages, auto loans, and insurance. None of the medical debt reporting protections apply to CareCredit because it is classified as a credit card. The combination of ( XXXX ) misleading enrollment through an untrained dental office that described the product as 0 % interest, ( XXXX ) minimum payments set too low to pay off the promotional balance in time, ( XXXX ) a credit limit reduction below the original purchase amount on an account with perfect payment history, and ( XXXX ) retroactive interest that pushed the account into overlimit status and damaged my credit report constitutes a pattern of predatory practices. This mirrors the findings in the CFPB XXXX XX/XX/XXXX enforcement action against CareCredit ( then GE Capital Retail Bank ), which resulted in a {$34.00} XXXX reimbursement fund after the CFPB found that healthcare providers misled patients about deferred interest terms and that CareCredit failed to oversee enrollment practices. Per my statement 's own disclosure, if I make only minimum payments, it will take 23 years and cost {$28000.00} to pay off what was originally a {$6500.00} dental bill.

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