Discount Tire Credit card My Synchrony rant

[dareo]

I like to keep a Discount Tire credit card mainly for rebate purposes and also to utilize the 0% for a few months. I used it for the latest snow tire/wheel purchase on our Kia Carnival, on black friday. Paid 1/3 of the bill 3 days later. Today i get an email saying my payment is past due, that i should have paid by Dec 23rd. I called their number and had to battle the automated menu before they connected me to an individual with a bit of an accent. They told me i had paid too early! Purchase+3 days=too early and now you owe a $28 late fee! I explained that is not how credit cards work and they are "fixing it" now.

How can you pay too early if there is a balance on the account? Then they disregard the payment? My Synchrony is a little shadey folks. Keep tabs on that company if you use it. If i wasn't paying attention they would have filed a late payment on my credit report in addition to the late fee.

 

[Jim_Truett]

They did the exact same thing to me too. They also cut my credit line in half without warning or explanation last year, and I have an 800+ credit score. I won't be bothering myself with using that card anytime soon.

 

[blufeb95]

So you haven't made a payment in like over a month and now it's late, sounds like you didn't pay attention to when the billing cycles and and when the statement dropped and that this is in no way Synchrony's fault, they either sent you an estatement or a mailed statement shwoing you what was due, if you paid the previous cycle it doesn't count as this months payment.

 

[dareo]

So you haven't made a payment in like over a month and now it's late, sounds like you didn't pay attention to when the billing cycles and and when the statement dropped and that this is in no way Synchrony's fault, they either sent you an estatement or a mailed statement shwoing you what was due, if you paid the previous cycle it doesn't count as this months payment.

I charged the tires Nov 26, paid Nov 29th, they wanted a payment Dec 23rd. This is not how its supposed to work.

 

[bullwinkle]

I've used them for rebate purposes-but I never trusted them enough to not try something, I always paid it off in full at the first bill.

 

[blufeb95]

this is something I found online, your daue date is 23 days after the billing cycle ends so it sounds like it ended on November 30th, so you paid for the previous bill cycle and now it's late because you didn't pay attention to your statements.

 

[dareo]

View attachment 82555
this is something I found online, your daue date is 23 days after the billing cycle ends so it sounds like it ended on November 30th, so you paid for the previous bill cycle and now it's late because you didn't pay attention to your statements.

View attachment 82555
this is something I found online, your daue date is 23 days after the billing cycle ends so it sounds like it ended on November 30th, so you paid for the previous bill cycle and now it's late because you didn't pay attention to your statements.

The lady said i paid one day early, and moved the payment date for me. Still seems dumb to let me pay a large payment, then not regard that payment. Card had no prior balance of course.

 

[Andrew1972]

I just pay cash and don’t play the 0% games.

 

[The_Jeff]

What holes.

Wife lost our Citi card a while back, so we reported it lost/stolen, and they immediately cut off my online access, because ?

Got a replacement card after ten days, but to set up online banking I had to request a password in the mail, they delayed, futzed around. Then I was only allowed to pay $500 online for my first payment because "they didn't trust me".

Well golly gee I wound up with interest due that month, and because they do some two-month averaging scam, I had interest the next month too!

These bankers just sit around boardrooms rubbing their nipples conjuring up more fine print to screw over the working man.

 

[Rand]

just pay 100% then they cant F it up.

That company IS total scumbag .. they find some way to charge you their 30% interest if you dont do anything wrong they still screw with you.

Had a bestbuy card(same CC company) that my 9 months same as cash ran out in the middle of a billing cycle 2-3 weeks early.. so they tried to charge me the accumulated interest from the 9 months. (but it was only 8.25 months from charge date... figure that out. IIRC I owed around 50$ on 2k of BF deals that I resold for 3k. I paid off a different CC that had interest.. etc..
this was 15 years ago. Finances are different now

anyway I use the DT card but pay 100% a week after I get the tires.
since I'm moving away from using DT for any of my tire needs it will soon not matter.

 

[ATex7239]

You mean they don’t actually want to let you borrow their money for absolutely nothing and tried to charge you - stocker!

Seriously though, I used them for furniture once. I step up all the payments for the exact the due date and paid the loan off two months early. Cancelled the card immediately after repayment.

If you’re going to play with snakes better use a long stick.

 

[Shel_B]

What holes.

Wife lost our Citi card a while back, so we reported it lost/stolen, and they immediately cut off my online access, because ?

Got a replacement card after ten days, but to set up online banking I had to request a password in the mail, they delayed, futzed around. Then I was only allowed to pay $500 online for my first payment because "they didn't trust me".

Well golly gee I wound up with interest due that month, and because they do some two-month averaging scam, I had interest the next month too!

These bankers just sit around boardrooms rubbing their nipples conjuring up more fine print to screw over the working man.

That is very different than my experience with Citi. When I called them to report my card lost, they immediately canceled my old card, gave me my new account number so I could continue to make online purchases, and sent a new card that reached me in five days. My online access never changed ... the entire process was quick, seamless, and handled in a friendly, courteous manner.

 

[blupupher]

My issue is they cancel the card on me and don't tell me. I only use it to buy tires, so there are times I don't use it for quite a while and apparently if not used they cancel it, and never let you know that.
Last month I went to get some new tires on the Santa Fe, and card was denied saying not valid, even though expiration date was still valid.
Went to reapply for a new card and would not let me because they said I had a current account. After about 30 minutes and 2 phone calls, it got sorted out ("old" account end up reactivated). Store rep said this happens all the time. He gave me an additional $50 off purchase because if it (as well as the $60 instant discount, $40 Discount Tire mail in rebate, and 0% finance for 6 months for using the card).
Had a similar issue about 18 months ago when I went to get tires for my kids car, but ended up with a new card (the one above that I had issues with).

I did notice a similar issue as the OP with payment this time though.
With the 0% for 6 months, I set up autopay to get it paid off in 5 months.
To get an even payment amount, I made an initial payment of ~$175 the day after purchase.
Even though the payment processed in 3 days, the credit to the account did not show up for almost 2 weeks (when the current monthly period closed).
How the heck do they take payment, but not credit the account for 2 weeks? It is like they are working 40+ years ago and manually processing each payment at the end of the month.

I just pay cash and don’t play the 0% games.

But it is more than the 0%.
They often run other promos, such as instant/mail in rebates for using the card (but usually require a purchase of 4 tires, sometimes it is 2).
I saved $150 off this latest 4 tire purchase, as well as getting the 0% interest for 6 months, just by using the card (in addition to the $70 manufacture mail in rebate, but using the Discount Tire credit card is not required for that).
I think I got an instant $40 or $60 off the purchase of 4 tires on my kids car last time.

Sometimes I pay the entire balance off at once (I did on my kids car), other times (like this time), I pay it off over time because it costs me nothing except a few minutes of time to set it up (really no more time than to do a single payment).
If one chooses to pay more by using cash, that is fine, but I personally like saving money.
Unfortunately sometimes there are issues with some companies that can be a bit of a headache, but still worth it to me.

 

[MNgopher]

Sounds like the OP had no idea what the billing cycle is on his card. Not the banks fault if you don't understand what that is... Yes, you owe a minimum balance each month - regardless of whether you stared to pay something off if in the previous cycle when you carry any balance....

That being said, not surprised to hear what bank is involved. They took over a longer standing account I had, made it next to impossible to access any useful features, slashed the balance available, and eventually closed the account that I stopped using due to their terrible customer service. Other than the closure of a long standing account, I was not sad to lose their services...

 

[Aredeeem]

My only experience with Synchrony was 3 years ago when they issued a credit card to someone using my name (with a new phony address so I wouldn’t get statements). Scammers bought 10 gift cards at $100 a pop. They're the worst in my book.

 

[Hermann]

Haven't used a Synchrony product since they got involved with Amazon. They recently became the PayPal Credit overlord. Haven't used it for 6 or 12 months interest free purchases since Synchrony took over. You just kinda feel dirty after dealing with them.

 

[dareo]

Sounds like the OP had no idea what the billing cycle is on his card. Not the banks fault if you don't understand what that is... Yes, you owe a minimum balance each month - regardless of whether you stared to pay something off if in the previous cycle when you carry any balance....

No, i did not know the billing cycle dates. I only use it to buy tires and pay it off either in one shot or a few months.
I ended up timing everything perfectly to have this happen. Purchase near end of month, wait 3 days but not 4, then their statement balance comes out without taking that large payment into account. I can't say i am blameless but i can say their system sucks to let something like this happen. They also did not send any email notifications that a payment was due until yesterday, 6 days after it was, in their opinion, due. Just one email "Hey you have a payment due in december still" would have got me on the site making another big payment.

Anyway, they removed the fee and processed my 2nd payment. So once again, i have my perfect record of never paying CC interest or late fees intact.
I can't say i recommend Synchrony but i will put up with stuff like this for rebates.

 

[MNgopher]

I'm just going to say it: If you need your credit card company to send you a reminder your bill is due or outstanding, good luck. They did send you a reminder - its called your credit card statement.

Being responsible means when you get your statement, you look at it, review it, and then act accordingly. All of this would be moot had the OP actually reviewed their statement which would have still showed a minimum payment due since the payment made was credited the previous cycle.

Credit Card companies live on the fees and interest generated by these cards. Think about that and then wonder why they didn't send you a reminder.

And while this particular bank is one to be avoided, this would be same scenario with ANY other credit card issuer in the same circumstances.

None of this is the credit card companies fault.

 

[dareo]

There was no previous billing cycle, the card has not been used for over a year. zero balance. They took my money and then asked for more the next day for the same brand new balance.

 

[Shel_B]

There was no previous billing cycle, the card has not been used for over a year. zero balance. They took my money and then asked for more the next day for the same brand new balance.

Maybe I missed this, but did you make your payment online or by mail?