[Jack]

I just got screwed by a Synchrony Bank 0% interest rate loan.
I had some sewer work done at my house in February.

I financed it through Synchrony Bank for 0% interest as recommended by the plumber who I have used for years.

I set up autopay to pay more than double the minimum payment so it would be paid off a month before the promotional rate runs out.

The payment was set to come out each month on the 28th. I have never missed a payment in my life.

All was fine for 4 months but then they sent me a mailer that I had to re-setup autopay on June 29th with a different system.

I assumed that my June 28th payment, being before the new system, would be taken out. Long story short, it wasn’t and now they have charged me over $1200 in interest due to a “missed payment”. It seems like this was a setup as the 28th was a Saturday and the 29th was a Sunday and I couldn’t reach customer support.

I called this morning and after 30 minutes on the phone they said they will reverse the interest charges but I haven’t seen anything happen yet on their website.

I’ll update if/when I get some actual closure but I wanted to warn to watch out for this scam – I’d also be interested to hear if anyone else had a similar experience.

[Darin]

Single data point here… Had some similar (not same, but close) issues with synchrony.

Took over 4 months for all charges and reversals and paybacks and fixes to finally hit and land, but it all did work out, but definitely not worth all the calls, hold times, emails, waiting, anxiety, etc.

Hope your situation resolves significantly faster…

[Vince]

The problem is so many finance companies and banks tout 0% interest when it is, in actuality, deferred interest with many stipulations that can knock you out of the “0%” promotion, including being late even 1 day or missing one payment or simply paying the amount on the monthly statement (which is usually the minimum) which will not get it paid off before the promo period.

Glad they are reversing for you – Synchrony makes more money on these types of fees than initiating new financing.

[Jessica]

Absolutely on par for Synchrony. I’m sorry that you were on the receiving end of it and I hope they do as they promised and reverse the interest charge.

[Tanjib]

I can tell you from my own experience, Synchrony Bank is a leech. They wait for such opportunities.

[Annie]

I was in search for mattress over 10 years ago. I was young and naive not realizing they were trying to get me to finance through a loan.

Anyhow the guy was talking to me for a while, I ended up leaving paperwork in hand saying no thanks as I didn’t like the deal.

Well guess the guy uploaded a loan interest with my information based on conversation, I never signed a damn thing.

No loan was taken out but I was so upset about it that I went out of my way to have it removed from my reporting.

I called the company inquired about it, they said I had to have signed to and I let them know my signature was then faked. It was all ridiculous.

Again, no loan, just poor taste. I figured there was some form of incentive to get interest atleast on the sales guy side.

I’ve avoided Synchrony since as I felt to me they’re in cohorts with companies. Yuck. Sorry your going through that.

[Meneses]

yes, I have a young relative who did one of those “buy now, 0% interest for 5 yrs” predatory retail purchase loans thru Synchrony for a recent (overpriced) furniture purchase ($9k!!).

They were utterly shocked when I reviewed the paperwork later & pointed out that 1) Synchrony tacked on a 2% origination fee to the loan balance that they weren’t aware of and 2) if they made just one late payment, the 0% promo rate would immediately revert to a 39.99% interest rate on the loan balance.

I’ve had them set up autopay for the minimum monthly payments & they’re now working a 2nd job to try to pay off this loan, in addition to student loans.

Hoping they will learn to thoroughly read the loan terms & avoid such predatory promos in the future. Good luck dealing with Synchrony in your own matter

[Maggie]

They are the bank behind care credit and I have had the same issue with not getting notified that there’s a balance and the promotional period for your 0% is due.

They have been good to work with in getting balance paid off and removing the interest charge.

I do believe it took 2-3 days to see it.

[Author]

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