PSA: No More Free Lunches with MF/GC and 0% Financing

  • Thread starter Thread starter NowYou'rePlayingWithPower
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Is that even legal? Seems like a back tax and bait and switch in one move :dunno:
 
Seems kinda BS to me, so I'm actually going to dump this card when I pay it off.

It was convenient if I ever wanted to make a bigger purchase, but now it's not, so I'll move on.
 
Sweetwater/Synchrony statement.

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I guess Ill be calling Syncrony again.
Had to call yesterday because I returned a pedal both to Sweetwater and Guitar Center, but I had already paid them off and now I have a surplus.
They are sending me checks for that.

I have Sweetwater, Guitar Center and Lowes cards which are all Syncrony.
My Guitar Center interest is 39% too, and I have an 825 credit score!
Looks like I will be closing a couple accounts...
 
Synchrony Bank is as shady as PayPal. I'll never own a card or do business attached to that piece of shit bank. I learned my lesson - They are the bottom of the barrel as far as lenders/cards go..
 
I wonder if this is a Synchrony decision, or GC/MF. With the 0% financing stuff, the merchant is usually covering the points on the back end. The banks weren't the ones carrying it.
 
Hopefully this doesn’t include any Syncrony promo. Just did an 18 Months promo to cover a main water line install for my house and after it was processed saw it was Synchrony. Credit scores beyond a certain point are almost meaningless. I’ve had high 7’s to 800 plus for years and it’s made no difference. My home and car insurance is the same as anyone's, the interest rates on the two CC’s I’ve had for 15 plus years are as crappy as anyone else’s. It just a complete joke.
 
Bardagh said:
Still unclear with this language whether or not they’re going to try and apply the 2% fee to balances remaining on previous interest free promotions.
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Only if the purchase was made before the announcement but will post to your account after the announcement. That’s what I get from it. Doesn’t seem like it’s retroactively applied since it’s marketed as a promotional fee at time of sale.
 
Bardagh said:
Still unclear with this language whether or not they’re going to try and apply the 2% fee to balances remaining on previous interest free promotions.
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With the language of posting it reads to me that if you apply or purchase close enough to before the effective date, to where it hits Synchrony (posts) on the effective date or just after, it will apply, even if you applied/purchased earlier. It doesn’t read like if you’re in the middle of an existing promotion. That would be a little cruel to be on your 17th month on the effective date and they hit you with 2% with one payment to go…lol
 
I have used these promotions to buy a number of things just because of the way I was doing my budget. I give myself a certain amount of monthly expense out of cash flow for music related stuff, so while it’s kind of half a dozen of this, six of that, sometimes I’d do the interest free payment thing if it was easily within that budgeted amount, almost more out of laziness to avoid messing with the budget with larger purchases that are exceptions. Adding any amount of interest makes that a no-go and, even if at some level it’s illogical since it’s not a question of “can you afford it,” I’ll make fewer purchases of new gear in the future as a result.
 
skoora said:
With the language of posting it reads to me that if you apply or purchase close enough to before the effective date, to where it hits Synchrony (posts) on the effective date or just after, it will apply, even if you applied/purchased earlier. It doesn’t read like if you’re in the middle of an existing promotion. That would be a little cruel to be on your 17th month on the effective date and they hit you with 2% with one payment to go…lol
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That’s how I read it, and you would think it should be illegal otherwise since it would be changing the terms of an already established agreement, I’m just endlessly suspicious of these cocksuckers and any ambiguous language they use.
 
Been thinking about this and I understand the outrage on just principle alone (100% agree). However, I just wanted to play devil's advocate here... If you were to finance say $6000 total after shipping and taxes at zero percent for 48 months through Synchrony and they charge the 2% fee upfront, it would be $120 added to the purchase price. Spread that out over the 48 months, and that's $2.50 per month. The lowest rate CC that I currently have is 9%. So using that rate and figuring the interest charges at 48 months, it roughly comes out to $1167 in interest over the term of the "loan" or ~$24 a month.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that while the 2% fee is a PITA and I don't agree with it, as long as you pay it off before the end of the "zero percent interest" term it's still a much cheaper option in the overall grand scheme of things when compared to using another CC with "insert rate here" over the term of the loan.
 
So, is June 24th the start date for all Synchrony card accounts? I bought a LP at GC a few weeks ago and used my Gear Card for it. I'll pay it off way before the promotional financing ends. But this fee concerns me because I use these cards once in a while and always set up the autopay to knock it out early.

I just got declined for a credit card and the letter they sent me said I had a "negative deposit balance" in my checking account. I don't know how they can even view that, but I have more money in there than the limit of this credit card and always have. FICO is 839. I called them and they said it was a mistake and they'll re-review it. But this card has a 15 month 0% intro APR and that includes balance transfers with no fees.
 
I’ve always viewed synchrony as a 2nd hand bank and hated how much they have their hands in consumer cards. I also always worry about data spills from companies like that. I don’t have anymore synchrony cards and I’ve had plenty but the fact that they’re adding promotional fees regardless of vendor makes me want them even less. They can shove their otherwise 40% interest rates. My fear is that it’s also 2% now but what’s keeping them from increasing it - it’s not like their normal interest rates are also realistic.
 
I have two Synchrony accounts. Sweetwater and a furniture store to spread the payments out on an expensive bed that I was way past due needing to replace. Both are paid off using the no interest period. No plans to use either at the moment but the 2% thing will have me leaning towards paying cash instead.
 
First Synchrony card I got was from a furniture store because the 30% discount only applied if I applied for and used that card. So I did and set up the autopay to knock it out before the interest kicked in. Haven't touched since. I wonder if I should cancel it or I can use it at that store again. Kind of need a few new sofas. But I'm not eating a 2% fee unless it gets me a much larger discount than 2%.
 
skoora said:
Hopefully this doesn’t include any Syncrony promo. Just did an 18 Months promo to cover a main water line install for my house and after it was processed saw it was Synchrony. Credit scores beyond a certain point are almost meaningless. I’ve had high 7’s to 800 plus for years and it’s made no difference. My home and car insurance is the same as anyone's, the interest rates on the two CC’s I’ve had for 15 plus years are as crappy as anyone else’s. It just a complete joke.
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Nobody's discriminating any more. It's fuck everybody in today's world. I can't even find a better paying job. The wages here have gone WAY down. People wanna pay $25 an hour and want you to have a Bachelors Degree! I couldn't live on $25 an hour.
 
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