Hi all,
So back in mid-March I was doing some online shopping in the very early hours of the morning, and found a great deal... too great of a deal. I used my PayPal Mastercard for the purchase of around $150. I received an order confirmation that was slightly strange to me - just didn't seem 100% legit. Roughly 2 hours later, I started thinking about it and did some googling and discovered that the website might be a fake/scam site.
I immediately (within 2 to 3 hours of the purchase) called Synchrony and told them, and that I wanted to stop the charge or whatever. They told me it was too late... ? Already? But they started the dispute process or whatever. And I guess there's some thing about it taking 60 days, and they said something about investigating, etc.
After more research I was certain the site was a scam. There were some grammar issues here and there, and they had copied many of their policy pages directly from popular retail websites which made it look realistic at quick glance.
The fake website claimed you will not be charged until your item ships. The website advertised a 30-day money back guarantee. So, after 2 days of no shipment email or tracking info, and realizing it was a scam, I emailed them that since they offer a 30-day money back guarantee that I want my order canceled and my money refunded. 2 more days later, they emailed me and said that my item was out of stock and my order voided and money refunded, that they don't charge until items are shipped, and that if I had been charged I will be refunded and that the money should be back on my card in a week. It never happened, of course.
At some point in there, I called Synchrony a second time to be sure that some process was taking place, since I had received zero communication about the issue from them. No emails, no calls, no letters; nothing! The rep assured me that it was in dispute, so I would not be charged interest on the purchase (I saw that on my last statement also - that the charge is in dispute and not charged interest on it.) and they were investigating and they would notify me if they needed any additional info.
A while later, I received a letter in the mail with a form to fill out about the dispute but the form was only for disputes involving items that I had actually received. Damaged items, items not matching description, etc. Stuff like that.
I called Synchrony a third time and was again assured that they were investigating, etc. I told her the form they sent doesn't apply to me, and I told her that the scammers had sent me an email claiming to have refunded my money. She told me to fax the emails to Synchrony. I got slightly annoyed that I was being asked to fax something in 2019 and that there was not email option. I mean, I don't own a fax machine...
It costs something like $7 to fax 3 pages at Office Depot. Eventually, I found a free fax service online maybe a week or so later and managed to fax the emails - I guess... I couldn't put my CC number on the pages, etc., obviously so I assume they would find my account by name and email.
Again, I have heard nothing else and nothing at all from Synchonry on this issue. I suppose I can only wait but it's kind of annoying that this process isn't better and smoother. I guess I will learn not to jump so fast on a great deal with some unknown website in the future, at least.
I assumed that things like this were easily handled and money refunded very timely, but I guess I was wrong. Especially being through PayPal who is pretty no-nonsense on refunding money when people are scammed, etc. But apparently Synchrony isn't as swift about it. I was also transferred to PayPal who were, of course, eager to fix this asap, but, alas, I didn't actually use PayPal on the purchase so they can't help. No way would a scammer allow the use of PayPal, for this very reason. I have put over $150 worth of time and effort into this already...
I guess i'm just wondering if anyone else has experience with this and what to expect. I don't understand why it takes so long. The merchant never even shipped my item so I should automatically get a refund, I would think... The merchant claimed that my item was out of stock, my order voided, and my money refunded, but it hasn't happened, so it seems, again, like I should have my money refunded. Yet, here I am waiting on... something... what?
Oh and the website is long-gone. Many people reported them and I reported them to the FTC and filled out a long form about it all.
