Complain about a product or service

Discover Card

Just Can't Say Good-Bye

Discover • Balance transfers • Cancellation problems • Delinquent accounts

For customers determined to dump Discover, we suggest not wasting time on the phone. Instead, just mail the following to the address on your most recent statement:

Date

Dear Discover:

In Re: Account number xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

The above-captioned account is hereby closed, effective immediately. No further fees or charges will be honored hereafter. Further, you are hereby instructed that I do not wish to be contacted by you regarding this irrevocable cancellation of service.

Very truly yours,

Signature Name, address, etc.

Neil of Seattle (2/26/04):
I recently obtained a copy of my credit report to find that a Discover Card account I thought I had closed two years ago was not closed. I called a number I found 1-800-347-2683 to close the account. When I explained to the person that answered that I wanted to close the account she called up my account and passed me onto to someone else. I explained to the woman that I thought the account had been closed over two years ago. Seeing it was still open, I wanted to close it.

It took me over 10 minutes to get it closed as the lady was clearly in their customer retention or marketing department and would not do it. She kept asking me questions e.g. what other cards do you have, what are the interest rates, what are the annual fees, did I know Discover Card had a new card with no annual fees, that they had a new gas card, etc. To each question I politely stated that I did not want a marketing pitch, I did not want the credit card and simply wanted to close the account. (Note: At no time during the whole conversation was I rude, raise my voice or swear at the person) Although she was not rude per se, after I answered the same (i.e. just wanted to close my account) for four or five questions the lady said I was not listening to her.

I told her I'd heard what she had said but she was not listening to me, the customer, and I wanted to speak to a supervisor. She did not acknowledge the request. I then asked for her name, she did not acknowledge the request. At this point, I took a deep breath and said something like "OK this is going nowhere, what do I need to do to get this account closed?" We went through a long conversation about the account, where she went on about why I should keep it open (even though I didn't use it),why it was good for my credit, etc. She kept asking me "so you are prepared to pay higher interest and annual fees on other cards". Once I said "yes it's fine with me", that appeared to be the trigger where she actually stopped and did what she needed to do to close the account.

I have been in client service businesses for many years and have never lodged a complaint about anyone. This was the most aggressive attempt I have ever experienced of a company trying to keep an account open. I felt that it bordered on harassment and that the woman, although she did so in a polite tone, was insulting me by her actions and among other things, making statements like "I don't know why you want to keep your other accounts when Discover is free." It really is none of her business. I'm assuming this tactic is what Discover's customer services are teaching their teams. I find it highly objectionable and want to know if there is anything that can be done about it?

If their objective is to keep customers, don't they know understand that these strong arm tactics do the opposite? Not only will I never use Discover again, but I'm so annoyed, I took this time to write a complaint. This is like telemarketing in reverse (i.e. I called them). Can anything be done? I realize no-one got hurt and this is probably a silly complaint, but it really was quite unbelievable. I'm sure other people have, and will have to, experience this.

PS: Another thing I found quite amazing. I have not received a statement from Discover since I thought I closed the account in late 2001. Since then, I moved from New York to Seattle, and somehow they had my new address on file. Is that typical?

Eric of Danbury CT (6/26/03):
It has been more than six months since I closed my account with Discover Card. Since the account termination I have recieved more than 30 calls from different reps trying to again abtain my business. When I tell them why I have closed the account and that I do not wish to recieve any more solicitations they respond by saying they will remove my name off their lists and send me a letter confirming that my account has been closed. I have received the countless letters of closure yet the calls and solicitations keep coming. I am tired of being polite and wish Discover Card would simply take their business elsewhere.

Roxanne of Ventura CA (3/31/03):
I wanted to cancel my Discover Card as I paid it off and did not want the card any longer. I placed the call, followed all the instructions and reached customer service. When I explained that I wanted to close the account, I was passed on to another person. The woman I spoke to then wanted to know the reason I was closing the account. I told her that I didn't want the card anymore. She said that was not a reason and to give her a reason. Again, I said I didn't want the card. The woman told me I was being rude and said she wouldn't cancel the card unless I was very nice to her.

I asked to speak to her supervisor. After a very long pause she said "whatever" and disconnected me. I called back. After again following all the instructions and being transferred again, I spoke to Amber. I told her that I wanted to cancel the card and she gave me the same hard time about cancelling the account. I told her just to cancel the account, that I didn't need a reason only that I didn't want the card. She proceeded to offer me incentives to keep the account open, all of which I refused. I said that I just wanted to cancel the account and that I didn't need to be threatened or coerced into keeping the card by anyone who worked there. Instead of apologizing, Amber got very defensive and was very rude.

I asked her if she in fact closed the account and she told me, in a very nasty voice, that she had. I am not sure that the account is, in reality, closed. The website does not indicate the account was closed. I have never had such difficulty closing an account. It should be a very simple thing to do. What should Discover Card care whether or not I have their card? Why give the customer such a hard time? Why not just cancel the account and be done with it?

MJ of Santa Clarita CA (5/4/03):
I called Discover to cancel my credit card. They asked me why and I told them because my percentage rate was too high, I asked them if it was possible to have the rate lowered, after checking into it they said yes, from 16.99% to 10.24%. I accepted the new rate. I called back to find out if my rate was lowered once again a couple of weeks ago and they said yes.

I received my May statement and my interest rate has not changed. I called Customer service to ask why it hasn't changed. They looked at my account and they did see the rate was supposed to have changed but they don't know why it hasn't been changed. They transferred me to the department that handles rates. I spoke to a gentleman named Ryan. He said the rate was changed for one day and put back to normal rate. He didn't have a clue. He said the supervisor was going to look into it. They later sent me an e-mail saying that it was a promotional deal and it was put back to the nortmal rate.

She DID NOT say anything about a promotional deal rate. It just seemed like they were grasping at straws because they then went ahead and let me know that my payment was due on April 27th and they received it on May 1st. It just doesn't make sense because my rate changed was changed on March 31st.

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