Customer Review
- Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2021First, I mainly got this card to build my credit and also because Amazon did away with the 2% cash back on gift card recharge.
The card itself is fine and I'm happy with the fact there's no annual or monthly fees and only 10% interest if I should need to wait to pay it off
HOWEVER, after the first month with the card I payed the balance in full which was reflected in both Amazon and Synchrony's site, but I want aware they hold your available balance for basically 2 weeks, leaving the card to be unusable even though you have an available balance.
I called customer service and was immediately met with the rudest most condescending woman I've ever spoken to who informed me that whatever you pay off from the previous month will be held by them for up to 10 business days.
I've NEVER HEARD OF THIS before so I asked why they do this and she said it's because your bank gives you 2 weeks to dispute a charge and they need to make sure the payment is not just paid, but that period where you could dispute your payment has passed.
This MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER! So, I told her it doesn't make sense because I put down a deposit of $X for the secured card, the deposit being a sign of good faith AND A SAFETY NET FOR THE SYNCHRONY because should I choose to default and not pay, they have the right to take the money I deposited.
So, I asked why they need to wait for the window with the bank to close when if they wanted they could pull from that security deposit (THE WHOLE POINT OF PUTTING DOWN A SECURITY DEPOSIT!) and she said that's just what they choose to do and if I had any questions it's all in the terms & conditions.
I don't sign ANYTHING I don't fully read first and I told her I'd like to know where it says in the terms that they're going to hold my money after making a monthly payment until fully cleared from the bank.
20 minutes later she arrogantly points out where it states "synchrony may hold funds."
That's it. So now, I have a large security deposit on this card which I use to make my purchases here and basically Max out each month and then pay off entirely when due, yet deposit my SECURITY DEPOSIT they actively choose to accept your payment and then hold your available usable balance until the window for dispute closes which means I can only use the card for 2 weeks out of the month.
I think this is ridiculous and deceptive in the language and most likely I'll be pulling my account because this is unacceptable.
I could understand if I had bad credit and was just given this card with no security deposit out of pocket, but to hold funds when you have my security deposit and my payment?
This is why I hate banks and I should have known better with synchrony.
Also, this really hasn't done anything for my credit score. If anything, my score is lower now.
I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN AMAZON! I have been a loyal Prime Member for more years than I can count and every day it seems like there's something else they're messing up or screwing me over on. It's a shame because I love their site and the benefits of Prime, but if they keep doing business with people like this and continue to screw up orders, lose orders, clearly advertise a delivery window that then gets bumped to the next day or worse, I may have to rethink my membership.
