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Discover Card Complaint - It Does Not Pay To Discover - Discover Card Sucks - Discover Card

Complaint
Review by Wrath Of Tom on 2011-10-28
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- If you (For some retarded reason, i.e. you are just a contrary person, or you work for one of these financial institutions...) do not agree with what I say about the devious practices of Discover Card, below, go read what this organizations says, about what are seemingly illegal practices, done in broad daylight...http://www.bcsalliance.com/x_creditcardtricks3.html

My name is Thomas Anderson and I want to start out by saying no matter what your personal opinion, Discover Financial Services is essentially a white collar terrorist organization, and they are committing acts of financial terrorism against millions of decent, responsible, hardworking, respectful, reasonable American citizens everyday in broad daylight. These are much more than acts of financial terrorism though as they force people to lose their homes, to go without food, to not provide for their children, to postpone basic and/or urgent medical care, because Discover Financial Services has devised a system (And it is not very complicated to do what they do, and see how they do it) whereby they saddle a consumer with a debt that they cannot pay off.

Some people will read this and respond as a minority of people have responded to my many other post all over the Internet and say stuff like: "You should be more responsible", "You shouldn't have gotten the card", "You borrowed the money, just pay your bill". I do not know if these people are just being contrary, playing devils advocate or actually work for financial institutions and are out there representing the other side. To people who say I should be responsible, I have paid every other bill I have ever had, in life, in full and on time, with NO ISSUES - So why not Discover? I have always paid my rent, my car insurance, my car payment, my utilities, my phone bill, my Internet bill, and all other bills on time and in full, why not Discover, curious isn't it?

The answer is that I actually have paid my Discover Card bill. I have a credit limit of approximately $5,000 dollars, granted, I have borrowed this money from Discover over the 10 years I have held the card, but I have also paid the amount back in full at least 6 times (Yes, $30,000 FOR AN INITIAL $5,000 LOAN, and they’re not done yet), but that is not good enough for Discover Card - you see with Discover you don't simply borrow money and pay it back at a reasonable rate, this companies gets its claws in you and will not let go, until you have paid at least $50,000 for a $5,000 loan. They'll get you with late fees, they'll raise your interest rate, and they'll get you with late fees by **Moving your payment due date around (Without notification), and then adjusting your minimum payment due (Without notification).

To the people who say, "You shouldn't have got the card", that would be like telling the 99% of Americans in debt to financial institutions, "You shouldn't have got a college loan, it's your fault", or "You shouldn't have got sick and got that medical debt" or "You shouldn't have got upside down in your mortgage", but No One got into debt on their own, or by playing by reasonable rules. The 99% of Americans who have been victimized by financial institutions have been just that, victimized, terrorized, lied to, cheated, robbed, swindled. A crime, many crimes have been committed, in broad day light but nothing is done because it is white collar crime, and many, if not all of these companies have bought political protection, like people used to buy protection from the mafia. No I got a Discover Card with an initial contract at a low interest rate, and like many consumers, Discover Card found a way to more than double my interest rate once I charged money on the card.

I was one of the unfortunate, innocent, naive people who was solicited by Discover Card as a college student. This practice (Of soliciting to college students) was recently banned, unfortunately I cannot be grandfathered into the ban. I was a college student, it was over 10 years ago, and like many college students I needed a little help making ends meet, I did not (AS SOME COLDHEARTED PEOPLE OUT THERE LIKE TO SAY ) splurge on frivolous items, like a big screen TV, or a game system, or a ping-pong table. I, like many Americans saddled with credit card debt, used my card to simply buy food, to eat. I do not buy frivolous things. I am a very responsible consumer.

Actual Complaints:

1. Discover Financial Services - offers consumers one thing and then when they have you out there holding one of their cards and using it, they alter your contract. And this is something - THAT HAS TO BE ILLEGAL - And I have only seen this with Discover Card. With any other contract I have ever been a part of I not only had to read and agree to terms, but I had to sign and initial the contract and is changes were made they had to be read and initialed. ***With Discover Financial Services they have created their own laws, they have decided that if they bury contract changes in a letter, they supposedly mailed to you (Where is the proof I actually received the letter?) and mind you they will bombard you with letters, and NO ONE reads those letters and all the small print, ***But this is the important point, whether you got the letter or not, YOU AGREE TO CHANGES IN YOUR CONTRACT - BY SIMPLY CONTINUING TO USE THE CARD - So you don't sign anything, you don't acknowledge anything, you agree by buying gas, or some groceries at the store. Apparently the Credit Card companies have invented their own contract law rules. Who needs lawyers?

2. When Discover Financial Services penalizes you, it is never a 1 penalty situation. Let's say I am late with my phone, insurance, or electric bill - I pay the bill and a late fee (1 reasonable penalty for one transgression). With Discover, not so simple, they are in the "Double Jeopardy" business. You will be assessed a late fee (Penalty 1). This late fee will be added to your balance, which will cause your monthly minimum payment to increase (Penalty 2) and then they will, of course, double your interest rate (Penalty 3 - if your rate was 13%, now it will be 26%) and Discover Card makes a killing, literally and figuratively, white collar terrorism, greed, how much is too much. In fact I wonder how many people Discover has directly led to suicide because they put them in a debt that was impossible to escape, and the people saw no way out, which is exactly how Discover Financial Services, constructs their contracts, it's part of their business strategy, get a hardworking, respectful, responsible middle or lower class American in debt and keep them there at any cost - even when it means their daily practice of breaking (And apparently creating) the law.

3. Most recently Discover Financial Services decided to change (Without notice) all of their customers payment due dates. Again I have to think this is inherently against the law, as Verizon doesn't randomly change my payment due date, my electric bill is always due on a certain day as is my car payment, my rent, my car insurance, my internet bill, et cetera...but Discover decided to change my payment due date. This led to me (As I am sure millions of other Americans) being late on my payment (Oh Wow! LOOK, instant revenue for Discover Financial Services) - as soon as I and I assume millions of other Americans went late on our payments via Discovers latest scheme, they generated 100's of millions of dollars in late fees...

They hit me with late fees, and, but - here is the genius of it ***I have always paid well above the minimum monthly payment due - say my minimum monthly payment due is $70 I was consistently paying $100 - Unfortunately (Guess who else knew this?! Discover - THIS IS HOW WE ARE ALL PLAYING A RIGGED GAME!!!) so I went late on my payment, because Discover decided to change my payment due date, without notifying me of the change, then they hit me with late fees (Keep paying attention this gets amusing), they folded the late fees into my balance, which increased my monthly minimum payment due - and here is the kicker - my monthly minimum payment didn't go up $10, it didn't go up $20, it didn't even go up $30 (To $100 from $70) it went up $43, because Discover has my payment history right in front of them, and if it only went up $30, they wouldn't be able to catch me with late fees again, when I went in to pay my monthly minimum payment and like most responsible consumers paid over the minimum ($70 and I was paying a $100), but it wasn't $70, and CONVENIENTLY it was OVER $100, because they KNEW I would pay $100, and they knew they DO NOT, and DID NOT adequately inform me or any consumer of these changes, in payment due dates, raises in interest rates, raises in monthly minimum payments, et cetera...so they got me again...late fee, after late fee, because I was not adequately notified, and they raised my monthly minimum payment to just over what they knew I had a history of paying.

***Another cute problem here, I continued to make a monthly payment, on time to Discover Card, of $100, having not been informed of the change in minimum payment, but it is not enough to make a payment to Discover, if you do not make the minimum payment, you are once again penalized for - Not making a payment, Ah! But I did make a payment, and shouldn't it even be my choice, as a consumer, to make a smaller payment, as long as I am paying on my bill every month?!

4. Finally, I have informed Discover Card that I am launching an all out campaign against them, via the BBB (Which I am starting to think has been bought off by big business), the FTC, The American Civil Liberties (Because I think the financial institutions inherently violate civil liberties, and generally a person’s pursuit of liberty, freedom and happiness) my States Attorney General’s office (In Georgia where I live and was the initial crime took place), and also with The States Attorney General’s Office in Utah and Delaware where this company runs it's criminal Enterprise (I am also going to talk to an attorney about bringing charges against Discover Financial Services under the RICO statute, as this is a criminal, racketeering, organization operating across state lines) I am also out here filing complaints all over the internet at the many internet complaint boards, via Facebook and Twitter.

I informed Discover of these intentions and now they are harassing me. Specifically, now they will not correctly receive a payment from me. I just paid my October payment, over the monthly minimum, of course, on time, of course, REMEMBER I AM OTHERWISE A 100% RESPONSIBLE CONSUMER (Except, apparently in my interactions with this illegal, fraudulent company) But...Discover promptly sent me an e-mail on Monday saying I missed my payment again. When I contacted them, they said the e-mail was incorrect, and that I had made my payment in time and in full, so I asked them to send me an apology and an e-mail containing the correction (Correct info) and was informed that they could not send that via e-mail, they would have to send that via conventional mail. THAT'S RIGHT they will send you incorrect info through e-mail, but the correct info, can't do it.

One more interesting/amusing thing - Discover Financial Services informs me that they do not have a complaint department?! What decent sized business doesn't have a complaint department? I assume the Discover Card complaint department was so overwhelmed the company gave up trying to operate one, and they certainly do not care about customer complaints and this is one glaring sign of their disregard for customer service.

My Desired Outcome:

I have said this to Discover Card numerous times. I simply want Discover to recognize that they have an extremely dissatisfied, angry, disgruntled, activist customer out here, that is much more of a liability to them than I could ever be an asset, ***And I want them to forgive my remaining balance (Approximately $3,500) and send me a letter officially ending my relationship with their company.

Problem: I am extremely dissatisfied with this company.

Solution: We both go our separate ways.

That simple. It is like how every now and then a restaurant has to comp a meal. Well Discover Financial Services are going to have to comp my bill. I must reiterate that I am not trying to weasel out of paying my bill. The fact I have already paid my bill 10 times over.
While Discover Financial Services tried to ignore this situation I will be out here fighting via every avenue imaginable until I find satisfaction and justice.

In closing Discover Financial Services is a White Collar Terrorist organization operating with impunity in The United States. History will look back on them as the criminals they are, and see the acts they have committed for the depravity, greed, ruthlessness, lawlessness, and as the treason that they are.
Comments:
Posted by saj80 on 2011-10-28:
Did you receive your monthly billing statement via mail or electronically? Whichever method, it will disclose the due date, minimum due, and balance.
Posted by spiderman2 on 2011-10-28:
Please don't use the word retarded to express your anger against someone else's behavior. It is considered quite rude. I am totally not on the PC-train usually, but this one hits close to home for me.
Posted by JISCal1 on 2011-10-28:
spiderman2, you are not alone. It is offensive.
Posted by unhappy999 on 2011-10-28:
I have Discover Card and when I use it, I pay my bill when its due and I haven't had any problems. I have other cards that get more reward points so I use them before I use Discover. Anyone who gets loans or uses credit cards have to be responsible and make payments on time. If you do that, then you will not be paying $30,000 for a $5,000 loan if that even happened.
Posted by ok4now on 2011-10-29:
I have never had a problem with Discover. I pay them as soon as the bill is received and the reward points keep adding up. I did try to negotiate a lower interest rate but they refused. I played the game and did a balance transfer at zero interest for a year to Chase.
Posted by traceylynn on 2011-10-29:
I love my Discover card, in fact my Birthday is this month and they gave me 5% cash back for October which was awesome. Discover is a business.....if you use their money you pay it back with fees (if late) and interest. Interest is how they make money (hence the business part). If you don’t want to pay interest don’t use the card....likewise if you don’t want a late fee pay on time. You had no problem using the money when you wanted to buy something but you didn’t pay it back on time and now want the fees waived or a lower interest rate and unfortunately they do not have to do this. You need to pay it before it goes against your credit. Credit can even affect job applications this day and age. If I may I will also add I have never had a problem getting my Discover statement. They email and mail it to me plus I know my billing cycle so I usually pop onto the website as well. The website is very clear and well built, I really like the feature where it breaks down your spending and allows you to track what type of monthly purchases you are making!
Posted by grandma005 on 2011-10-29:
As with any credit card you and only you are responsible for making sure each and every payment is received on time. You have to check your statement for the due date of each month. You cannnot assume that just because the due date of last's month's bill was the 7th then this month's bill is due the 7th, There are 30 to 31 days in month months and one month has 28 or 29 days in it. So yes the due date changes every month. That is why you need to check your statement as soon as you get it. If you can send payment to them as soon as you can. Even with bill pay it takes about 2 to 3 days for your card to be credit with your payment. When you use the United States Postal service to mail your payment you are at their mercy. Yes checks get lost in the mail. Yes mail gets put in wrong mail boxes. And yes checks get missed placed by credit card workers. I have heard of cases where a employee went on vacation and stuck checks in her desk and stayed there until she went back to work. Bills were not posted to accounts on time. Use the bill payment system of your own Bank to pay payments even then it is your responibility to make sure payments were credit on time. This can be tricky. Some credit cards will post payment to the last month's bill if payment is posted even one day early. You have to make sure payment is received at least one day after the closing day of this month's bill. Yes credit cards are snakes but you have to be a larger and bigger snake to keep them from getting one up on you.
Posted by At Your Service on 2011-10-30:
I agree with Spiderman2 about using the term "retarded". Frankly, it shows a lack of sensibility.

I liked the review in that it was very detailed. Ultimately, though, I kept wondering why you wouldn't just refinance the card's balance through a different financial institution? There's absolutely no reason you need to continue to deal with Discover if you would rather not. That doesn't alleviate the balance as you want. Generally interest rates are in direct correlation with the amount of risk they feel they are assuming by dealing with you. You may find it more advantageous, with a smaller interest rate, with a different local finance institution.

Best of luck.
Posted by ok4now on 2011-10-31:
Yes Discover is a business and they heavily advertise their 5% cash back. Read the fine print. This is not on all purchases but select ones that change every 3 months. This may include a promotion for restaurants, then groceries or gasoline. The cap is $1500 so the maximum cash back would be $75.00. By limiting the customer to a specific purchase they make it difficult. In a 3 month period would you typically spend $1500 at various restaurants to collect the full 5% cash back? Even if you did would it be worth it for a lousy $75.00? Not in my book. You might want to reconsider this.
Posted by RichB***h on 2011-11-29:
I've had the same damn $500 Discover Card limit for 4 years now, even after applying for an extension.

Discover makes it very difficult to pay off their credit card early (on-line).

The hoops you have to jump through to earn 'points' in their cash back bonus program is ridiculous, and often counteracts other website point earning promotions (ie. BoxTopsForEducation.com)

How come poor people are allowed to spend themselves into debt, but they make it extremely difficult for rich people to spend their money!?!
Posted by Mamas on 2012-08-17:
Tom- It sounds like you have a huge, personal problem with Discover. I see that others have suggested transfering the balance to another loan, which I also think would be a good idea. Credit Card companies are not out to get you! Like I know you have heard before...Pay attention to your bills and you will be fine. A lot of the changes, like due date and minimum payment increase, can be prevented (unless you are late) if you call prior to the change taking effect. That is why looking at each and every e-mail, letter and statement is crucial. I hope that you can resolve this without it completely consuming your life like it seems to be right now. Let go of the hate and just pay the bill or transfer it.

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