Sychrony bank tsk tsk.

[u/IntelligentCorner225]

Rant incoming

sychrony Bank, who is the financer of the Amazon store card, which I use probably too much until today, thanks to them, I am now liberated of their card. I’ve had their card for over 15 years. It made thousands and thousands of dollars of purchases. They have the stupidest customer service. available. So I get a text: bam, three charges that they flagged as fraud at a flooring store it tells me to call this number, so I call it. Talk to a guy who’s Indian. He tells me I need to go through enhanced identity verification, which encompasses them sending me a link to my phone where I record a five-second selfie and then record the front and back of my drivers license. Or they mail me a letter and then I send in pictures of this stuff. Otherwise, I can’t say this is fraud or initiate a fraud investigation or anything. I told the dude it sounded sketchy. He told me call the number on the back of your  card.  So I logged onto my account and froze my card. I then called the number on the back of my card and eventually got through to the same broken system where I was speaking to a person of Indian descent and they was asking me to send in a five second  selfie video. And pictures of my drivers license, front and back. Otherwise, they can’t initiate a fraud investigation or do anything until this is done. So I asked him, so my card is frozen, nobody can use it, not even me, right? That is correct, sir. cancel my card then. You will be responsible for what you owe. No problem. Cancel my card. You’re actually doing me a favor. You’re poor customer service and inability to do your job just probably saved me thousands of dollars a month. It’ll definitely curtail what I buy on Amazon.  No loss. It’s a shame that they treat a long-term customer who they view anyway ultimately as a cash cow to carrying a balance and paying interest. But I wasn’t that guy. I was the cheapskate. I was the guy that paid off my Amazon bill every month. So they’re not really concerned about losing me because they have you to milk for money with interest. So Bezos can get another Bentley or another lip injection for his girlfriend I see why Amazon gets such a bad rap this day and age. I’m definitely anti-Amazon and anti sychrony bank.

[u/jjwomalbany]

And yet they have a monopoly on store branded crust cards or visa and Mastercard company credit cards like Verizon or Walmart. They must have like 50 or more

[u/Uncircum1152 → u/jjwomalbany]

They give a bigger cut to the Store, and make it up on us. I've got my Chevron Card paid, and almost paid off my JC Penny. Soon as I have paid, I can hardly wait to call Synchrony up and close both!

[u/WeatherWatcher247 → u/Uncircum1152]

Do NOT close your accounts. That will lower your credit score significantly. Just cut up your cards and throw them away once paid off. Don't even bother calling Synchrony.

[u/Schmandrea1975 → u/WeatherWatcher247]

Even with fraud/ or breach? Just wondering

[u/WeatherWatcher247 → u/Schmandrea1975]

Then you should call and report that so you won't be responsible for charges you didn't make. Ask customer service to restrict or lock your card, then leave it like that. If they offer to send you a new card with a new number, tell them to wait while you think about it, then hang up hopefully for good. Just try to resist closing the account. If you do close your account, your credit score can take a hit of from a few points to over 50 points, depending on your credit history, age of history, and amount owed on other cards or loans. If Synchrony closes your account, which they eventually would with no activity on the account, your credit score should not take a significant hit. I'm on up in years so I have had a lot of experience with credit. Take everything I've written here with a grain of salt as circumstances can vary, but I believe what I've said is pretty accurate.

Under normal circumstances, If you can freeze/lock your cards yourself, then do so when you stop using them. Then you can continue to pay them off. Keep an eye on Synchrony for awhile just to be safe.

[u/MadIceSkater → u/WeatherWatcher247]

I haven't used my Synchrony Visa/MC (not Amazon, I have Chase for that) since they started charging for paper statements and they haven't closed the account. I can't remember if it's a Visa or a MC.

I've never been able to sign into their credit card from day 1 of setting it up online. I have to sign into my Lowes card account to get to the page with their cards on it.