Here's another "Read the Fine Print" story for you: Let me start by saying we own it. We freely signed on the dotted line after skimming the document and assuming we had the jist of it. All these years and we haven't learned who Assumption is the mother of. What did we sign up for? A LOWE'S/Synchrony Bank credit card.
They pitched their credit card with two years 0% interest and we ate it up. "Two years interest free? We can't lose!" Our understanding was if there was a balance at the 2 year mark, then we start paying the stupidly high interest rate. Fair enough, we'll just ensure its all paid off before that point. Fast-forward two years and that monthly auto-payment on the Lowe's/Synchrony Bank card that we kinda forgot about and got lost in the shuffle suddenly QUADRUPLES - doesn't double, doesn't triple - QUADRUPLES. Come to find out at the end of the 2 year interest free time- frame if there's a balance - any balance -, they charge the stupidly high interest-rate RETROACTIVELY. This retroactive interest has doubled our balance - and now there's a compound interest accruing on top of that! Essentially we have to pay an additional $1600 that they did nothing to earn except sucker us into. So we called Lowe's customer 'care' service to see if they could work with customers that have shopped exclusively at their stores for years now.
Again, we acknowledge that we freely and without coercion signed up for a Lowe's/Synchrony Bank credit card, we don't have any excuse for not paying closer attention to the fine print of Lowe's and Synchrony Bank's sleazy and underhanded credit card contract. But we hoped we could work something out with these companies. We called Lowe's and Synchrony Bank's customer "care" lines not once, not twice, not thrice, but five times so far with no resolution. It's the same every time: Getting bounced around the automated menu, finally talking to a human who plays the 'sympathetic ear' script and offers no resolution, then they earnestly assure you they will "escalate" and "fast track" this issue and call you back within 24 hours (their words every time). And of course Synchrony lays it on Lowe's doorstep and visa versa. You'll never guess how many times either company called back.. 0. Honestly Lowe's, I'd have more respect if your 'care' line just said "Well did you read the contract" and be done with it. But no, you run the 'sympathetic' script and just put us off, put us off, and put us off. Just waiting until we give up.
Congratulations Lowe's, you vile snakes. You suckered yet another customer and are siphoning thousands of dollars you did not earn. We'll figure out how to pay this off because we did sign up for this didn't we?
But because of your sleazeball shyster tactics more befitting of a crooked pawn shop run by ex-felons and your non-existent customer "care" that really just specializes in waiting you out, you have lost a family of customers for life. read more