I'm going to miss that Cashback Reward in September!
Written: Feb 05 '01
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Pros: It's nice to get cash yearly on your anniversary! Most merchants now accept Discover.
Cons: Poor customer service. "Unexplained" charges on bill. Unreasonable length of time resolving stolen card issues.
The Bottom Line: I happily used this card for 6 years, trouble free. The true measure,however, is during times of trouble! Great for cash back rewards, but BEWARE the customer service!
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| readnbead's Full Review: Discover Card |
But, when a company erroneously charges you a fee that is greater than your cashback reward, you've got to think twice before giving them your business! Not that I believe a financial institution should be perfect. In fact, I do realize, and appreciate the fact, that Discover Card is run by actual, flesh and blood people, who have the same capacity for mistake-making that I do. On the other hand, if you call and leave a message for me to call back, I will go to Herculean lengths to return your call at my earliest convenience. At Discover Card, the motto seems to be: "Don't return that call, or allow the customer to speak to the person in charge, until they have developed a full head of steam." If you’re looking for a detailed outline of Discover card services, rates and plans, check out one of the dozens of Epinions already written on the topic. My Epinion covers the aftermath of a card theft, and my experiences with Discover’s customer service.
It all began innocently enough, in July, when our card was stolen during vacation in California. We reported the theft as soon as it was discovered, which was, unfortunately, 3 days later. I was impressed, that upon reporting the card's theft, that Discover had already tried to contact us back at home regarding "unusual activity" on the card. They had detected that the card was being used all over southern California, and flagged the account. This was the very last time that the people at Discover Card impressed me.
Now, as we found out, having your card stolen and the aftermath is something one rarely thinks about beforehand, or plans for. But, when this happens to you, you'll find that customer service becomes either a gift or a nightmare. Thank you Discover for providing a nightmare! I won’t bore you with all the details of our romp through credit card security, and sorting the valid charges from the invalid charges. I won’t go into the fun of disputing a charge that we know we didn’t make ($150.00 sneakers??? Ummm, not in THIS lifetime!) What I will tell you is that Discover handled this matter very poorly, and I have the following criticisms to levy:
Every call requires a maze of contact through customer service. I, of course, had to make numerous calls to resolve these many billing/statement issues. Every call required speaking to at LEAST 3 people, with the usual canned “on-hold” music as a bonus. Sigh…of course, each time my situation had to be completely explained, from the beginning. None of this can be recorded and passed to the next in line?
Reconciling the old (stolen card) account with the newly issued account When security at Discover finally reconciled the old account, sorting our valid from invalid charges, they simply added the amount “we were responsible for” onto the new card’s account. Wow, what a great idea! Just add this lump-sum amount onto the new card, with no written statement of what the individual charges are for! This made it incredibly difficult for us to check on their accuracy! Ultimately, we disputed the charge, believing they had missed a couple of fraudulent charges. At my request, they sent a statement of these charges, and we eventually, came to an agreement on the amount to pay towards the stolen card.
When the matter is finally resolved, it shouldn’t come back to haunt you! 3 months after the initial theft, we received a statement from Discover, declaring the matter closed. We had paid off our charges on the old card, and were happily using our new card, since August. However, we received our December bill, with a mysterious $190 charge under the miscellaneous category. Of course, in order to resolve this issue, we (I) had to make 4 or 5 phone calls to Discover. I had no more than 3 people tell me “I have no idea what this charge is for. It doesn’t make any sense!” I was also told I would have to speak with a “security” person about this, since it was tied to our stolen card. Remember: this was resolved
It is a basic, human courtesy to return a phone call. I can understand if ONE of my calls goes unanswered. That “human” thing again! But, I left messages three times for this security person to call me! We finally were able to track him down on a Saturday, and FINALLY resolved this $190 charge, which, of course, was a complete mistake. No apology, nothing.
Needless to say, we have ceased using our Discover card. It simply is not worth the hassle of going through their shoddy customer service. This is unfortunate, because we have managed to clear at least $120 in cash back each year we’ve owned the card! I will definitely miss that check, but feel that our credit needs are best served elsewhere. Now, I’m off to earn some credit towards my next GM vehicle…
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
readnbead
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Reviews written: 70
Trusted by: 46 members
About Me:
Teacher, mother of 2, wife. Opinions on games, household, travel, restaurants, family, computers and more!
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