topic Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure? in Credit Cards

Lowes/synchrony account closure? Late/NSF?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 23:22:50 GMT

I had a payment due August 2, 2021. It was declined as insufficient funds, but then the payment was drafted 2 days later on August 4, 2021 successfully.

I found out today, they closed my account stating that 1 insufficient fund decline was the reason.

I have never missed a payment on any credit card ever. Infact I have another synchrony credit card as well.

Why on earth would one payment 2 days late make them close my account. Why won't they reopen it either??

Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure?

dragontears — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 19:47:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I had a payment due August 2, 2021. It was declined as insufficient funds, but then the payment was drafted 2 days later on August 4, 2021 successfully.

I found out today, they closed my account stating that 1 insufficient fund decline was the reason.

I have never missed a payment on any credit card ever. Infact I have another synchrony credit card as well.

Why on earth would one payment 2 days late make them close my account. Why won't they reopen it either??

Unfortunately a bounced payment is worse than a late payment in the eyes of most lenders. It is common to have AA happen in this type of cases. There is not much that you can do except move on and don't let the mistake happen again.

Sorry for the closure

Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure?

Yasselife — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 20:35:12 GMT

@Anonymous , @dragontears is correct; I've seen many members getting AA for this reason. On the positive side I'm sure you will be more careful with the current lenders you have a relationship with, and in the future. Wait a year and try Synchrony again, they are more forgiving than bigger banks.

Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure?

ambivalent — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 21:36:57 GMT

Maybe they are tightening up? I was late on my Lowe's card last month. I informed them in live chat I would be about 3 days late and after I paid it off, my balance was lowered to $110, with $103 in trailing interest balance. I paid that and am waiting for my statement to cut in a few days to see what their next move is. I'd had the acct on autopay for over a year, but had increasing balances (with no late payments) on other cards. Did (or do) you have high balances elsewhere?

@Anonymous wrote:
I had a payment due August 2, 2021. It was declined as insufficient funds, but then the payment was drafted 2 days later on August 4, 2021 successfully.

I found out today, they closed my account stating that 1 insufficient fund decline was the reason.

I have never missed a payment on any credit card ever. Infact I have another synchrony credit card as well.

Why on earth would one payment 2 days late make them close my account. Why won't they reopen it either??

Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure?

Duriel — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 22:35:07 GMT

Was it actually NSF or a bank error? If the former, you're probably out of luck.

Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 22:49:21 GMT

@ambivalent wrote:
Maybe they are tightening up? I was late on my Lowe's card last month. I informed them in live chat I would be about 3 days late and after I paid it off, my balance was lowered to $110, with $103 in trailing interest balance. I paid that and am waiting for my statement to cut in a few days to see what their next move is. I'd had the acct on autopay for over a year, but had increasing balances (with no late payments) on other cards. Did (or do) you have high balances elsewhere?

OP's situation seems to be a bit different from yours, @ambivalent. You submitted a late payment; OP submitted a timely payment that was rejected by their bank.

Rightly or wrongly, credit issuers are extremely sensitive to rejected payments. They view it as akin to (say) paying for goods at a supermarket with a bad check. It's viewed as an integrity issue, whereas late payments are viewed as more of a reliability issue and therefore (relatively) less unforgivable.

Think about if you were a landlord. Would you be happier with (i) Tenant A, who gives you a heads up that their rent payment will be a few days late, and who then pays up; or (ii) Tenant B, who hands you a check on time for their rent payment, but then when you go to cash the apparently legitimate check, it gets returned for insufficient funds.

Assuming the payment wasn't rejected due to an error on the part of OP's bank, OP's out of luck here, and probably out of luck with Sync for at least the next 12 months, but will hopefully be careful not to repeat this mistake going forward.

Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure?

Loquat — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 23:05:59 GMT

It definitely sucks OP but not something that is uncommon. Some lenders are more forgiving (think Discover and maybe even a credit union or two) and some lenders, are you're finding out now, aren't.

Is it fair or wrong that they do it...well that's a matter of perception and who is on the business end of the adverse action. The best I can say is don't get discouraged...this happen. We've all made some sort of mistake at some point and those who haven't eventually will.

You're going to get 2 different points of view from your post. One will be that of my own, where folks just let you know that things happen, don't let it get you down, and obviously be a bit more careful in the future.

The second set of comments will be, Synchrony is the worst, this is why I never have an account with them, they should be cast into some dark place in the world, etc. Those folks and their comments aren't right or wrong either...it's just their perception and they're entitled to it as well.

Take from both sets of comments what you wish, form your own opinion and perception, and proceed with caution going forward.

Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 23:11:56 GMT

@Loquat wrote:
The second set of comments will be, Synchrony is the worst, this is why I never have an account with them, they should be cast into some dark place in the world, etc. Those folks and their comments aren't right or wrong either...it's just their perception and they're entitled to it as well.

I haven't seen anyone make this argument in this thread and for good reason: the argument would simply be wrong. All lenders take a very dim view of bounced payments, and account closure is a very common response. This isn't something that's remotely unique to Sync, and so it wouldn't make any sense to cite Sync's AA here as "evidence" that Sync is uniquely bad.

There are very valid reasons to criticize Sync (just as there are different, valid reasons to criticize other lenders) but this isn't one of those reasons.

Re: Lowes/synchrony account closure?

W261w261 — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 15:31:12 GMT

This potential account-wrecking problem can be mitigated by setting up overdraft protection on your bank account **and then 'forgetting' about it. DO NOT fall into the trap of regularly using it. Just keep it there for insurance against this happening again. Also, when setting up payment for a new card or changing account info on an existing card, double-triple check the numbers, or try a one-time push to make sure things will go through.