Date Received: 2023-09-13
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Subissue: Threatened to sue you for very old debt
Consumer Complaint: Robo calls after XXXX continues no one there this is an attempt to collect debt. Did talk to collector theatened i could lose my job. This so called debt a lost or stolen credit card was reported to sheriif and gov site identy theft. I talked to pay pal i talked to ban corp as money was taken from my checking and purchase i did not make were used illegally when my cards were stolen from my glove compartment my bank notified me and my checking mastercard debit pay frozen. the credit card when i got my statement showed XXXX dollars in illegal charges this i talked to loss and theft it was reveresed 11 months later a 3rd party bought this account is taking me to court Case Number XXXX District Court of Maryland XXXX XXXX Synchrony Bank XXXX XXXX XXXX . XXXX says I have no balance card lost or stolen. In addition i have had phone calls from robos. Can you help. 12 months ago i went throught the nightmare of identy theft and fraud now it has come right back. phone XXXX Federal Trade Commision identy theft filed XX/XX/2021 about Synchrony Bank Lawyer XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX Maryland XXXX phone number XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX age XXXX on social security, i am a XXXX XXXX state of maryland work part time as a XXXX XXXX licensed with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: MD
Zip: 21801
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-13
Issue: Closing your account
Subissue: Company closed your account
Consumer Complaint: RE : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX/SYNCB account ending in XXXX Synchrony Bank sent me a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX informing me that : " After a review of your account, Synchrony Bank has decided to close your account. The reason ( s ) for our decision are listed below : * Activity on account with Synchrony Bank indicative of high risk of failure to pay. If there is a balance on your account, it remains due, according to the terms and conditions of the account. If you have any questions, please call the phone number listed below. Sincerely, Synchrony Bank XXXX '' Synchrony never previously contacted me concerning their concern that I may be a " high risk of failure to pay ''. There was a confusion when I made a payment from a closed account of mine because my checking account was hacked and a large amount of money was stolen. The Credit Union set up a new account for me and that is what led to me mistakenly making a payment to Synchrony from my closed account. I followed up by posting a payment from my active checking account but Synchrony had already closed my account with them. Synchrony informed me that the account would remain closed and that the credit line was removed. The account balance continues to be paid timely and no payment has ever been late. In fact, after Synchrony closed my account I made a payment of $ XXXX to show them that I was NOT a risk to them. But they refused to reopen the account and said that I would have to RE-APPLY for a new account. In the meantime, my Synchrony Bank account is showing up on my credit as having been CLOSED BY THE CREDIT ISSUER, which is being detrimental to my otherwise great credit record. I am hereby requesting that Synchrony Bank OVERRIDE their computer and reopen the account as it was before they took this detrimental action against me.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: TX
Zip: 75211
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-13
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers
Subissue: Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms
Consumer Complaint: The rep from Care Credit that I spoke with before signing the agreement told me that the 24 month interest free promotion minimum premium would be less that {$70.00} per month for 24 months and as long as I paid the full {$7000.00} loan within the 24 months, no interest would be charged. XXXX, the manager advised me today that he was sorry that I got wrong information from his rep, but the min monthly payment is {$220.00} ( not under $ 70 monthly ) and there is nothing he can do about it. They record all calls at Care Credit, so I asked XXXX to review my original call with his rep and he advised me that it wouldnt make any difference, that my minimum monthly payment is {$220.00}. This is not what I was told I was getting.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: TN
Zip: 37923
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-13
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Subissue: Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged
Consumer Complaint: 1 ) They inaccurately reported information to the credit reporting companies severely damaging my ability to obtain credit for a house, car, and utility payments 2 ) On XX/XX/2023 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Threatened to sue me when it is clearly stated in my card member agreement that all issues should be settled via arbitration I have attached files showing the following : 1 ) Notification of Intention to Incur Court Costs by Filing Suit Letter 2 ) Proof of Adverse Action : Mortgage Denial, Car Loan Denial, Credit Card Denial 3 ) Arbitration Agreement 4 ) Applicable Segment of My Credit Report 5 ) Pre-Arbitration Demand Letter
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: CA
Zip: 958XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-13
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-13
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Subissue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Consumer Complaint: Opened up an account with XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, NY Purchased 2 carry on luggage bags. Was immediately approved. Purchased luggage and 2 other items for a total of {$170.00}. Card arrived roughly 10 days later. Tried activating the however I couldn't. Tried calling numerous times and was bounced around from dept to dept. Their customer service team is the worst of the worst. Turns out the reason why I couldn't activate the card was because it was already used internally by someone in their own office charging items even before my card was activated in the amount of {$140.00} in XXXX CA no less. We have not been to CA in 30 years and have XXXX intention of visiting in the future. Tried to resolve this numerous times. Have contacted compliance and the XXXX of XXXX XXXX - crickets. They just don't care. Demanded they close my account and they in turn hit us with a late fee even though we have proof payment was made many days before however they intentionally posted it late to shake us down for more money. Please help. These people are animals. I have spent many hours worrying about my credit and who has my information and when will it be compromised again. I have stellar credit and am worried about what the future holds in case I try to buy a car or home. Clearly, they don't care about it's customers.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: NY
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-12
Issue: Fees or interest
Subissue: Problem with fees
Consumer Complaint: Paypal is engaging in predatory lending. I have XX/XX/XXXX and since I paid 2 days late, they are charging a {$41.00} late fee. This is predatory and CFPB needs to address
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: NY
Zip: 108XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-12
Issue: Problem when making payments
Subissue: Problem during payment process
Consumer Complaint: JC Penny credit card I have promotional rates in some purchases, but everytime that I buy something new without a promotional, all my payments goes directly to pay my promotional balances, and I need to call all the time to Alocate the payment to the none promotional, in other words, JC Penny, always alocated my payments on my balance with 0 % interest, so the balace with interes start accumulate. Not sure if exists a rule that they need to put my payment on the high interest first then the 0 %?
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: IL
Zip: 60608
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-12
Issue: Fees or interest
Subissue: Charged too much interest
Consumer Complaint: Dear Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) : In 2023 year-to-date, I have been charged {$79.00} in interest charges by Synchrony Bank through the Amazon Store Card. However, it was my understanding that by paying the " Total Minimum Payment Due '' plus the sum of " non-promotional purchases '' by the " Payment Due Date '' that I would avoid interest charges. Somehow over the last 3-4 months my understanding was different from the policies and processes that Synchrony had put into practice. My primary complain is focused on : The difficulty of accessing clarity and customer support from Synchrony Bank, which further obfuscates opaque, misleading, and predatory language, policies and processes that harm consumers by surreptitiously adding interest charges to their accounts. This is in spite of some consumers intentionally trying to avoid interest charges by making the adequate payments on a monthly/regular basis. In the following complaint, I document my experience trying to resolve this issue, which I believe is likely faced by dozens of thousands of Americans ( if not more ). Today, XX/XX/XXXX, I called Synchrony Bank and specifically its Amazon Store Card division. From the very beginning, the process to get in touch with someone who could actually explain the charges was difficult. First, the " live chat '' option on the Synchrony website was a chatbot who provided no useful information other than repeating snippets of policy. When I was connected to a live agent ( called " S '', shorthand for XXXX if I recall correctly ) via chat, they too continued to repeat similar snippets of policy such as " The non promotional balance should be paid in full to avoid interest charges ''. This was even in response to my request for a line by line explanation of each interest charge that had been added to my account. This clearly was not going in any meaningful direction and thus I asked for a phone number through which I could speak with an agent. I was provided the number : XXXX. On this line, the automated system asked me for an account or credit card number. Recall that the Amazon Store Card provided by Synchrony Bank is by nature focused on e-commerce purchases and thus a physical card is unlikely to be needed. Moreover, on their website, even when logged in, there is no easy place to find such information ( account or credit card number ). After being unable to provide that information, they requested my Social Security Number and I provided it. However, they were unable to find a match and I thus requested to speak with an agent. Finally, after initially calling the number at XXXX XXXX EST, I was connected with XXXX at XXXX XXXX EST. XXXX informed me that since my matter dealt with the Amazon Store Card that I had to call a different number : XXXX. I asked her to connect me and she did. At XXXX XXXX EST, I was connected to XXXX. I explained to her that it was my understanding that by paying the minimum payment and the sum of non-promotional purchases that I was avoiding interest. We went through a convoluted exercise of discussing account balances, non-promotional balances, promotional balances ( including deferred interest rate balances and equal monthly payment balances ). I explained to her my understanding and my process of adding the minimum payment to the sum of all non-promotional balances from a statement. I emphasized that I had a track record of regular payments that I thought were interest-avoiding and thus this was a surprise to me : to have seen not only this last statement 's interest charges but that I had accumulated more than a nominal amount in the last year. It is worth noting that " adding the minimum payment to the sum of all non-promotional balances from a statement '' is not a trivial task. Although the minimum payment is included at the top of billing statements, account holders are not informed of what goes into that number in their statements. Furthermore, adding all " non-promotional purchases '' requires going transaction by transaction to filter out any promotional purchases and create a running sum of each non-promotional transaction. For a regular XXXX customer, this could mean sifting through dozens of transactions, each of which is printed in similar monochromatic text, which partially describes the order/transaction and in some cases can be quite lengthy. A reasonable person could easily miss or misclassify a transaction since promotional transactions are only differentiated by a single line of all caps text that describes the promotion. This line sits below another line of all caps text that describes the transaction source. Hence, the burden is placed on consumers to sift through their billing statements section by section, line by line in order to surmise what the appropriate, minimum payment would be in order to avoid any interest charges. As you may already infer, this is a burdensome process imposed on consumers that can be very beneficial to Synchrony and XXXX. XXXX products increase consumer spending on XXXX. All the while, tedious manual accounting, easily prone to human error, can lead to erroneous interest charges that benefit Synchrony Bank financially. In XXXX, I find it suspicious that a partnership between Synchrony Bank and XXXX that offers these consumer credit/lending products does not provide account holders with something as clear, simple, or intuitive as an " Interest Saving Balance '' on their billing statements or account homepage. In Exhibit A, I show that XXXX XXXX, which also provides an XXXX credit card and also provides XXXX payment options, does clearly provide account holders with an " Interest Saving Balance ''. Since XXXX is most likely highly involved with these credit products and the user experience off XXXX, I find it likely that Synchrony Bank and XXXX are aware of this XXXX XXXX feature and intentionally do not provide to consumers via Synchrony Bank. I suspect that they do this because it is financially lucrative for account holders to NOT know their interest saving balance. I suspect that it is their hope that even when consumers intend to make payments that avoid account interest, that they may inadvertently miss a transaction or line of text that will allow Synchrony to charge the consumer interest. However, the buck does not stop there. Even if, an account holder of the Amazon Store Card through Synchrony Bank, makes a payment meeting or exceeding the " Interest Saving Balance '' ( which is not provided to them ) there is still a chance that the payment may be misapplied with respect to the intention of the account holders. That is, if it is the intention of the account holder to make a payment that allows the account to avoid accruing interest, the funds may be applied to " promotional purchases '' instead of " non-promotional purchases ''. By misallocating these funds, with respect to the intentions of the account holders, Synchrony Bank benefits financially by allowing interest to be charged on any remaining non-promotional balance. Apparently, in order to correctly allocate payments, Synchrony bank has created a process with little visibility that requires account holders to call in, specify, and confirm where they would like to see their payment applied. This " notice '' is hidden in a small light, blue box in the middle of the billing statement. As a light blue box in a corner, it does not demand any sense of urgency. Hence, I was not aware of this footnote until I spoke on the phone with XXXX and the supervisor/account manager I later spoke with, XXXX. Before I go into the details of my conversation with XXXX, I would like to emphasize that this is yet another manual process beyond the transfer of funds ( i.e. making payment ) that obfuscates the payment process and outcomes in a way that diverges from the intentions of consumers and benefits Synchrony Bank handsomely. A frustrating conversation with XXXX ensued after going through the aforementioned and learning about the hidden and opaque " gotchas '' that Synchrony Bank uses to collect interest from account holders. In order to resolve the situation, I requested that the interest charges be waived given my ( 1 ) track record of on-time payments, which I assumed were and intended to be in full ( " avoiding interest '' ), and ( 2 ) the predatory nature of Synchrony Bank 's policies, processes, and customer support procedures. I was told by XXXX that they could not waive the interest charges. I, then, asked to speak with a supervisor. At XXXX XXXX EST, I was connected with XXXX who identified herself as an Account Manager. I explained the situation to her and she also worked with me to understand the balances, interest charges, and reasoning behind them. We identified a misallocation for a month and that interest charge was waived. In the other two cases, XXXX notified me that the interest charges could not be waived because the payments I had made did not meet the threshold to avoid interest. I explained to her that I always made payments with the intention of covering the minimum amount needed to avoid interest. I also emphasized that it was very tedious and burdensome to expect users to call in after payment in order to validate that their payments were being allocated correctly. I informed her that I was not happy with the outcome, that my issue/complaint was not resolved, that this was a predatory practice, and that I would be filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX I get the feeling that she was not able to do much more to help because of corporate policies that promote this type of predatory consumer exploitation. To understand the magnitude of this practice, consider a number of statistics : - XXXX has at least XXXX XXXX Prime subscribers in the XXXX ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX ). - In XXXX of XXXX, XXXX attracted XXXX XXXX visitors ( XXXX, XXXX ). - It is estimated that the XXXX marketplace has over XXXX XXXX active users worldwide. - Synchrony Bank has more than XXXX XXXX customer accounts and financed {$110.00} XXXX in sales in XXXX. - As of XXXX, it has been reported that they " offer over XXXX store cards and credit cards, and according to its website, they service more than XXXX XXXX active customer accounts '' XXXX revolutionized e-commerce and in many ways catalyzed the adoption and growth of Buy Now, Pay Later ( BNPL ) products through its partnership with Synchrony Bank. E-commerce and Financial Lending Services have become inextricably tied together and marketed as " win-win partnerships ''. However, these " win-win '' partnerships can very much come at the cost of consumer purchasing power and choice as well as leave consumers reeling after being exploited through surreptitious policies that charge and collect interest and other fees. I hope that my experience can at the minimum lead to new policies and procedures at Synchrony Bank that safeguard and prioritize consumers. In the long-term, I hope that the CFPB, and/or congress, can create new regulations that require ( 1 ) a clear line-item balance that informs consumers of the payment they would need to make in order to avoid interest charges or any other additional fees, and ( 2 ) lending companies ( loans, credit cards, XXXX, etc. ) to provide clear allocation requirements, processes, and options at time of payment, especially if a misallocation could lead to interest charges. Thank you respectfully for your time, work, and advocacy, XXXX XXXX NY Resident References : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: NY
Zip: 10011
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-12
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Subissue: Unable to receive car title or other problem after the loan is paid off
Consumer Complaint: The account in question was charged off in the amount of {$12000.00} and is reported as being 100 % paid off however I hav not received a 1099c in order to file with the IRS or the title to my vehicle.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: GA
Zip: 30224
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-10-04
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2023-09-12
Issue: Getting a credit card
Subissue: Card opened without my consent or knowledge
Consumer Complaint: My credit was ran on XX/XX/23 by Synchrony Bank in the amount of {$15000.00} with out my permission. This is a violation of the Fair debt collection practices act 15USC 1692 C a. I found out about this fraudulent transaction on XX/XX/23 after receiving harassment letters in the mail. This is another FDCPA 15USC 1692 B 4 5. Following with numerous phone calls, voicemails and txt messaging multiple times per day. FDCPA 15USC 1692 D 5. The worst part about this is my business phone was used to create this credit. This phone number goes to my employees and it has been extremely embarrassing causing me XXXX ship and humiliation. FDCPA 15USC 1692 C 3 b. Not only have they been harassing my work place where I conduct business to feed my family. They sold my information to third party credit reporting agencies. Which is a complete breech of privacy and I never gave anyone consent to hand out my personal information. FDCPA 15USC 1692 C a. The mail has been going to my home in Florida where I have family staying and now they a long with the mail carrier can see that I supposedly have debt through this Care credit card. Which is another breech of my privacy and is another embarrassing situation. Ive also been denied credit through my business do to this transaction being on my credit report costing me thousands of dollars in loose.
Company Response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
State: FL
Zip: 33470
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2023-09-12
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A