What the heck is going on with Synchrony?

[Anonymous]

We're all of the people effected so far, did they also have all their TU inquiries deleted for a while?

Because mine disappeared for a week or so, and then came right back. I'll be checking my accounts multiple times a day until this blows over. I don't make $100,000+ per year though, or say that I do, and I also don't have any 'crazy' limits on any of my 5 accounts. If any of those things are linked. I also don't have any AU's on my accounts. 

[ohreally7654]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'd like to post an update. I called CareCredit last night and spoke with a rep that was genuinely willing to help. I finally got that "ONE" out of TEN. He couldn't see anything 

in particular, so he got the Fraud Prevention department on the line. She was also nice and forthcoming. I flat out told  her that I had spoken with several reps and all of the

secrecy behind these letters is giving me grief. I asked, "Can you just tell me if it's a request for a 4506-T?" She said, "I'm looking at your account. NO, IT'S NOT A

REQUEST FOR A 4506-T. They want to verify your ssn. All you have to do is fill out the form and fax or mail it back. You don't have to send anything in with it, but I am not

sure if you have to get it notarized or what not. I can't see the actual form to know that. But I can safely tell you that it's not a request for your tax return transcript."

So I guess everyone that's getting these letters are getting them for different reasons because she went on to say that "Some people will get them for ssn verification

and some will get them for address verification."  So it just seems as though it's random methods of verification that they are doing. We again will see once they get

here because  I am curious to know what is in there. Is it just a form that's filled out and that's it? Just wondering...Also, she told me that, because I do have multiple

accounts, to just put the last 4 digits of the account number on there and the names of the cards and that once they clear the CareCredit block, they can go in and clear

all of the other blocks. So that's all the information I have right now. I hope this helps. 

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Thank you so much for sharing this with us.  It sounds like your accounts will remain intact once you are able to complete the verification.  You are fortunate, and hopefully this gets resolved soon for you.  Your post made me think to call and ask for a supervisor.  Finally got someone to tell me that it's income verification they're sending me. SO, the dreaded 4506-T, obviously.  I am going to drag this out for very close to the 30 day period they give us to send the form in, as, by the 1st of August I will be in a position to pay off my remaining credit card debt.  Once that happens, it will not affect me to close my accounts with Synchrony, as pretty much all of my accounts  are 'replaceable' with others and i'll no longer have a need to worry about utilization.  Had this not happened, I would probably not have thought so long and hard about an alternative way to get out from under the remainder of the credit card balances i have (I'm still paying off a few closed accounts that have been killing my utilization). 

So, I guess, Synchrony, you have done me a favor.  But you have completely shot yourselves in the foot as a company with all of this negative PR, not to mention all of the other customers who've been unfairly negatively impacted in multiple ways because of these shenanigans.  This whole thing has been handled very poorly all the way around. I will be a little sad to lose my Amazon and Care Credit accounts, but I refuse to give them a 4506-T and in general, I really don't want to do business with them again after all of this.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

...I haven't even gotten STARTED with them and they already shut me down...

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Hoping for the best outcome for you, Maddy. This sentence makes me think your situation may be a little different from the others.

Since you mentioned your Synchrony accounts are all new and you are just getting started with them, yours may well be a basic verification issue that should have happened before they sent you the cards. They may also be verifying you because you applied for multiple Synchrony cards in quick succession.

This may not be the same scenario for the person who has had their Synchony cards for 5 years, for example.

Still hope it all works out for you. I hope all those who are receiving letters will report back once they have received the letters and let us know more information.

[Anonymous]

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@ohreally7654 wrote:

Synchrony, you have done me a favor.  But you have completely shot yourselves in the foot as a company with all of this negative PR, not to mention all of the other customers who've been unfairly negatively impacted in multiple ways.

This whole thing has been handled very poorly all the way around. I will be a little sad to lose my Amazon and Care Credit accounts, but I refuse to give them a 4506-T and in general, I really don't want to do business with them again after all of this.

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+1000.

Very sorry you are going through this, ohreally.

Action items

One thing I might suggest that others did when the Comenity situation was happening. Pipeguy and a few others let the merchant partner of the credit card know what was happening. For example, pipeguy was a very good customer at Caesar's Resorts and his Total Rewards Visa was shut down right after Comenity granted him a very nice APR reduction.

One would think that a customer who merited an APR reduction would be in favorable eyes of the lender and would not be shut down a few days later, but that is exactly what happened.

He spoke with Caesar's Resorts executive team and I believe several other myfico members did as well, and gave their opinon about how Comenity's actions were reflecting poorly on Caesar's Resorts overall.

Other myfico members contacted J Crew and West Elm CEO offices and let them know that the way Comenity was handling situations impacted their decision on whether to continue to be a regular, very good customer of those stores.

Now, I understand that any small handful of customers is not necessarily going to make a dent in a bank such as Synchrony's bottom line by doing this. I also understand that lenders can close anyone's card at any time. But I think that often taking action results in greater empowerment, and also greater visibility of the issue to others.

Potential paths to action

Some people may choose to voice their opinion to merchant partners about Synchrony singling out customers with a good track record for a freeze, and then sending their sensitive tax and financial information to a 3rd party data collector.

Others may choose to express their opinion via social media, or via online reviews.

I think it is wise to do whatever you think fits your situation and whatever you feel comfortable with.

It would be different if Synchrony were freezing accounts due to concerns about the credit health of certain cardholders. That's not an issue that merchant partners can or should be concerned about, as it's Synchrony's decision. However, we are talking about people with solid payment histories and years of relationship with both the lender and the merchant partner.

I'm simply saying that it's not a bad idea to increase awareness with our merchant partners, and other consumers in general, of what is happening.

Increasing awareness can be very helpful

Perhaps by doing so, we can inform others of the types of behaviors that Synchrony chooses to engage in.

It may help someone.

The whole thing is a shame and is unnecessary when you are talking about solid customers who have shown a positive payment history.

[Anonymous]

So....mine are locked too

I went to pay for something with the marvel card and it was denied

Tried to login to every account i have with them and they are all frozen


So....say i dont call till next week for whatever reason.....how exactly am i supposed to pay my bills?

[ohreally7654]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@ohreally7654 wrote:

Synchrony, you have done me a favor.  But you have completely shot yourselves in the foot as a company with all of this negative PR, not to mention all of the other customers who've been unfairly negatively impacted in multiple ways.

This whole thing has been handled very poorly all the way around. I will be a little sad to lose my Amazon and Care Credit accounts, but I refuse to give them a 4506-T and in general, I really don't want to do business with them again after all of this.

---

+1000.

Very sorry you are going through this, ohreally.

Action items

One thing I might suggest that others did when the Comenity situation was happening. Pipeguy and a few others let the merchant partner of the credit card know what was happening. For example, pipeguy was a very good customer at Caesar's Resorts and his Total Rewards Visa was shut down right after Comenity granted him a very nice APR reduction.

One would think that a customer who merited an APR reduction would be in favorable eyes of the lender and would not be shut down a few days later, but that is exactly what happened.

He spoke with Caesar's Resorts executive team and I believe several other myfico members did as well, and gave their opinon about how Comenity's actions were reflecting poorly on Caesar's Resorts overall.

Other myfico members contacted J Crew and West Elm CEO offices and let them know that the way Comenity was handling situations impacted their decision on whether to continue to be a regular, very good customer of those stores.

Now, I understand that any small handful of customers is not necessarily going to make a dent in a bank such as Synchrony's bottom line by doing this. I also understand that lenders can close anyone's card at any time. But I think that often taking action results in greater empowerment, and also greater visibility of the issue to others.

Potential paths to action

Some people may choose to voice their opinion to merchant partners about Synchrony singling out customers with a good track record for a freeze, and then sending their sensitive tax and financial information to a 3rd party data collector.

Others may choose to express their opinion via social media, or via online reviews.

I think it is wise to do whatever you think fits your situation and whatever you feel comfortable with.

It would be different if Synchrony were freezing accounts due to concerns about the credit health of certain cardholders. That's not an issue that merchant partners can or should be concerned about, as it's Synchrony's decision. However, we are talking about people with solid payment histories and years of relationship with both the lender and the merchant partner.

I'm simply saying that it's not a bad idea to increase awareness with our merchant partners, and other consumers in general, of what is happening.

Increasing awareness can be very helpful

Perhaps by doing so, we can inform others of the types of behaviors that Synchrony chooses to engage in.

It may help someone.

The whole thing is a shame and is unnecessary when you are talking about solid customers who have shown a positive payment history.

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Thank you so much, humu, I really have appreciated being a part of such a supportive and educational community.  I love the idea of increasing awareness of this issue and bringing this to the attention of the merchants associated with these cards. I'm sure they would love to be made aware of the fact that Synchrony's actions could be potentially harming their businesses.  I know that, for example, I will now be doing all of my grocery shopping at Target with my Red Card, versus splitting it between Target and Walmart.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this.  Awareness is often times the key and catalyst to change.  Thank you for your thoughtful post and suggestions.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So....mine are locked too

I went to pay for something with the marvel card and it was denied

Tried to login to every account i have with them and they are all frozen


So....say i dont call till next week for whatever reason.....how exactly am i supposed to pay my bills?

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So sorry this happened to you. Are you going to call? I know I sure would.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So....mine are locked too

I went to pay for something with the marvel card and it was denied

Tried to login to every account i have with them and they are all frozen


So....say i dont call till next week for whatever reason.....how exactly am i supposed to pay my bills?

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You can probably pay by phone, or push payments from your bank account.

[Creditplz]

Smh.... The people at Sychrony are really on my nerves!! My accounts are still locked... If they give me BS tomorrow again they can keep those cards. V

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So....mine are locked too

I went to pay for something with the marvel card and it was denied

Tried to login to every account i have with them and they are all frozen


So....say i dont call till next week for whatever reason.....how exactly am i supposed to pay my bills?

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Any clue as to what brought it on? Number of accounts? Utilization? Recent new accounts? etc