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Discover

Discover • Balance transfers • Cancellation problems • Delinquent accounts

Discover's always been sort of the third card out, trailing Visa, MasterCard and Amex by a wide margin. But that doesn't mean it lacks the ability to annoy, offend and aggravate its customers.

Patrick of Washington, DC July 2, 2009

On Nov 27, 2008 I wrote check #162 for 500.00 and mailed it along with my statement stub to Discover Card using the envelope they provide. On Jan 3, 2009 I learned that they check was not cashed and I called Discover and made a 1000.00 payment by phone to make the account current. On or about March 6, 2009, I learned that Discover had recently cashed the missing 500 check, which I suspect they had all along. Recently, I obtained my credit reports to find the Discover reported my being late with my payment. I was never late with my payment. They were late in recording the payment and blamed it on me. On July 1, 2009 I called and they refused to take any corrective action - despite the fact that I have been a card member since 1989 and have rarely if ever been late before. They were however completely happy to close my account. So much for loyalty. I recommend everyone stay as far away from Discover as possible.

Kendra of Caldwell, TX July 1, 2009

months after I got my credit card from discover I saw that they were charging me "PAYMENT PROTECTION PPD 1-877-883-1959" it was only a few dollars but I was curious to what it was because I had not signed up for any payment protection. Well I called the number and they said somewhere or somehow I must have signed up for it because discover would never charge me unintentionally for anything it was easily canceled and forgotten about.

I checked my bill the next month and there was no charge so I thought the problem had been fixed. Well this month I was looking at my bill and it was there again! but not only a few dollars as it had been before but 11.00 which had caused me to go over my limit!!! So I looked through my bill and realized that they had still been charging me for payment protections and for almost a year and a half charging me more and more every month. So I called the number again and got the same spill about discover would never charge me for anything unintentionally and blah blah blah and got them to stop charging me but I am most definitely going to be watching my bill closely every month to see if they keep charging me if they are I will definitely take legal action this is crazy.

I URGE ALL OF YOU TO CHECK YOUR BILLS AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT CHARGING YOU FOR PAYMENT PROTECTION PPD 1-877-883-1959!!!!

Frances of North Babylon, NY June 29, 2009

There has been a multitude of issues regarding my Discover account and I am hereby requesting your immediate attention. I have been a loyal customer of Discover card since 2007. Unfortunately, I have had issues with unauthorized charges to my account by Discover and receiving my monthly statement either after the due date or not at all.

In February 2009, I received a credit of 28.43 after noticing on a previous bill a charge by Discover for Payment Protection. I never authorized nor was made aware of this charge until the bill arrived. I had to call Discover for the charge to be removed and I am sure I was charged interest to my account for the time the charge was on my bill without the correction of fees.

After not receiving my April 2009 bill, to avoid a late payment but not knowing how much was due, I contacted my bank and requested a payment of 100 to be sent to Discover. On April 24th I received a telephone call from your representative, Jessica, informing me that my payment was past due. I explained to Jessica that a payment was already in process through my bank and I also informed Jessica that I was unhappy that I was being penalized for a late payment when I was not receiving monthly statements. Jessica went above and beyond to achieve my customer satisfaction. She told me that if I set up an automatic payment with her on the telephone of 107.45 in addition to the 100.00 my bank was processing my account would be brought current until June 2009. I processed the payment thereby making my total payment for April and May, including my bank draft, 207.45. Jessica then informed me that I would be receiving a credit of 117.00 for all the late fees since I was not at fault due to the missing statements.

Further, Jessica was kind enough to review my interest rate history upon my request. Jessica informed me that if I agree to set up an automatic payment schedule, allowing Discover to take the payment from my checking account each month, she would reduce my interest rate to 9.9% and then after a period of six months my interest rate would reduce to 4.9%. She told me each month my minimum amount due would decrease because I was not using my card and my interest rate was being reduced. She said the current minimum due was 101.00. I agreed to this automatic schedule and Jessica informed me that my monthly payments would be 101 going forward and would be an automatic draft from my bank on the 16th of each month beginning in June. She explained any payment over the amount due would go towards my principal balance. She said starting in June I will be over the amount due if I continued not to use the card .

In May I did not receive a statement in the mail, once again, so I do not know if the 117 credit was processed. In June, I received a letter dated June 16, 2009 stating that my automatic payment of 101.00 was scheduled and will be processed by my bank. Therefore, I was confident in believing that Jessica followed through with everything that was discussed. Sadly, this was not the case.

I received my June statement, with a due date of July 16th and was quite disturbed to see that my interest rate was still 25.99% and that the minimum amount due was NOT the 101 that Jessica had scheduled but 102.00; therefore, unless I made an additional 1.00 payment I would be subject to additional fees. I asked my husband to immediately telephone Discover Card and he was connected to one of your representatives. He informed the man of my April 24th conversation, provided him with Jessica’s ID number and my confirmation number. This man was unable to assist him because he said he was unaware of such a promotion to customers who have Discover take payments from their account. My husband then spoke to the representative in hopes of clarifying this situation to no avail. My husband then requested to speak to a supervisor, he was connected to a woman by the name of Rachel.

Rachel was the most unprofessional individual that both my husband and I have ever dealt with in our life. Rachel began the conversation very abruptly telling my husband that my interest rate is 25.99% due to my late payment history and that it is not changing. He reviewed my April 24th telephone call that I had with Jessica, explaining the issues with receiving my monthly statements, etc. However, Rachel did not want to hear anything he had to say. She kept cutting him off telling him that I am obviously confused or just stubborn and also accused him of being head-strong. After being verbally abused by Rachel, my husband asked me to please continue the conversation. I took the phone and explained to her that I was not confused and proceeded to explain my conversation with Jessica. She was yelling at me telling me I was basically a horrible customer and that she is trying to explain things to me yet I am totally confused and strong headed just like my husband. She then told me that my interest rate has been 25.99% for over a year.

I corrected her on her faulty knowledge, for I have a February 2009 statement in which my interest rate was 17.9% not 25.99%. Rachel dismissed me yet again and informed me that unless I pay the extra 1 that I will incur late fees. She also told me that due to my interest rate that my monthly minimum amount due would continue to increase and would not be the 101 a month that Jessica had informed me. I asked her to stop and to listen to me because what she was yelling at me did not make sense. How could my amount due increase if my interest rate was lowered and I was not using the card? I had to call her name 3 separate times with a long pause for a reply because I think she placed the phone down while I was speaking. She then said sarcastically, I was listening like you told me. She continued to insult me on my confusion, lack of understanding and being stubborn. After more time wasted, she agreed to lower my interest rate to 9.9 for a period of one year and refused to credit me for the difference of the 25.9 being charged since April and refused to lower my interest to 4.9% in 6 months as Jessica had promised.

At this point, I was very upset and in tears due to the continued tone and disrespectful language she was directing toward me and asked her to continue speaking to my husband again. At this point, my husband informed her that if Discover Card does not honor my April 24th telephone call with Jessica then he will have no other alternative but to contact the Better Business Bureau. To his utter shock and dismay, Rachel then told him that if we report this to the Better Business Bureau that she will ensure that my interest rate remains at 25.99% going forward. Our exchange ended without Rachel connecting us to the survey to evaluate our experience. We are in our rights to report any company to the Better Business Bureau if an agreement is not being honored; therefore, this threat is against our rights as a consumer. My husband and I have never been treated with such disrespect by any company in our life.

Bonnie of fargo, ND June 24, 2009

I signed up for this discover card to have both of my other cards on the same card, and so I could just make one payment. The offer was 0% APR on balance transfers until 2010. As a former customer service representative for a different company. I know to read everything. I read it and reread it just to make sure i didn't miss anything. There was nothing out of the ordinary. So i went through with the application, reading everything again. My cards totalled up to 12000.00. I was under the understanding that if they couldn't transfer all of that from the two separate cards they would deny my transfer to the card. not so much.

I received my card in the mail with a 2500.00 limit and I was so confused at that point, but then remembered I had to sign up for email notification to continue the process. I thought that was very odd. but I proceeded anyway. I checked my email, and one stated I was denied one of my cards balance transfer. I thought no big deal. Until I opened the next email.the next email stated "We are pleased to inform you that we have processed your Balance Transfer request. However, we were unable to transfer the full amount you requested. The following is a record of how your Balance Transfer was processed:" the only amount that was processed was 2,375.00. I was so mad, confused. I read it and reread it. How could they do that without my permission? Now I have 3 credit card payments to make. the next day I called Discover card and is all they would say to me is that it stated in the agreement that they would make a partial balance transfer if they could not make full. and that I agreed to that. It never said that. I would have never agreed to that.

Like I said I read it and reread it. it never said that. i asked for the supervisor. she said the same thing. I know for a fact it did not say that but the problem is I have to proof. It is my word against theirs.

David of Las Vegas, NV June 24, 2009

Upon review of my credit card accounts I discovered my Discover Card (which I had for over a decade) was closed. When I contacted customer service I was told that a letter had been sent warning of the account closure due to inactivity. I never received such a letter; or it was thrown out before being opened because it may have looked like a solicitation. Not a phone call or email to warn me. I wrote Customer Advocacy, appealing to the fact that they recently won a loyalty award for customer loyalty. Well, it was met with icy indignation. Karen Turner simply states, "we are unable to open the account as you requested." Of course they are able to do it! They are unwilling to do it and she did not explain why.

Maronica of Glenview, IL June 24, 2009

I did a balance transfer from Discover to another card for 8500. I thought it didn't go through, so I applied for another card for the same amount. Well the first one paid off the Discover card and then the second one came through and made the same payment. I believe that seeing the same payoff amount would have been a red flag to Discover.

When I discovered the mistake that I made, I called and asked to have the credit sent to me immediately. They said it would take 3 weeks. Well, after 5 weeks the credit was not reimbursed. I called and was told that the person that I talked with first time noted it on my account, but did not put the request in to send me the credit. The excuse was that they needed to investigate such a large amouht of money being returned. But they didn't investigate the 2 payoffs of 8500.00.

Robert of Magnolia, TX June 20, 2009

Had a due date of the 18th for years. Payment was set up to be paid on the 16th of every month. June 2009 the due date changed to the 14th so now i have a late fee and my interest rate increased. I never received a notice of the date change.

Mary of Plymouth, MN June 20, 2009

Two things have recently happened with Discover. I am seeing other customers on your website complaining about the same issues.

1. Discover changed the monthly due date on my account and did not send a notice - just put a note in the online statement.

2. We received a call today at 8:07 am on 6/20/09 (a Saturday morning) from a rep named Jason who was calling about my payment. I told him that he had woke me up and that I would have to get to my computer to see what happened. I thought I had paid the amount on 6/11 through my US Bank account. I told him that he woke me up and that I woul have to check this. I told him 4 times and he kept saying "I can wait - don't you want to check on your account now". I felt very badgered and that I was being treated poorly after I told him nicely the first two times that I would call back to their 800 # once I was up and at my computer. After the 4th time he repeated his "I can wait" line, I told him that I would be filing a complaint for the badgering and I hung up. My husband and I have an excellent credit rating. We opened this Discover account to pay for our newly renovated kitchen. I will never use Discover again after the treatment I received this morning.

Vicki of Duncan, OK June 19, 2009

Is there no one that can do anything about Discover Card Services and the illegal, immoral business practices they take delight in conducting? Their Customer Service is a joke. No one makes system notes that you've called and if they do, the next Rep you get says the previous Rep didn't know what they were talking about! In essence, they all lie. If you email, all you get back is a scripted response, that has nothing to do with your question or complaint.

I also received a notice of Payment Due Date change via email - Not in writing from the company. Do they think they're not committing a crime because no court can get them on Mail Fraud? The date change was supposed to become effective June 21, 2009. My MAY payment was before the MAY due date; POSTED by them May 23. I emailed them about the emailed Due Date change and asked the consequences of requesting a different Due Date. They emailed back and said as a "Courtesy" they would take it off the LATE FEE FOR MAY. What gives? The date change wasn't supposed to take effect until JUNE! I made an early payment in June, but they're still billing me for a June payment. This company is beyond absurd. It's like dealing with Twilight Zone zombies!

I'm beginning to think a Class Action lawsuit is in order for them. From all the message boards I've read, I have not found even ONE good thing written about them. They take OUR tax dollars in Bail Out money, treat us like dirt and idiots and are as corrupt as the Czars of Russia. They're their own big dictatorship and no one stops them.

I stopped calling. I just email now and print every response. I suggest everyone dealing with Discover do the same. Courts are now considering emails as good as mail handled by the US Postal Service. Something has to be done about these people!

Joni of Knoxville, TN June 18, 2009

They have changed their due date slyly...saying they sent a note in the last bill about a due date change when it was actually an e-mail just a few days before the change...I found out about it two days BEFORE the NORMAL due date and two days AFTER the NEW due date.

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