Writings

Discover Card Annoyances

I've had my Discover card since 2001. It was my first credit card in fact, and all in all I've been rather satisfied it. Although it's not without it's annoyances. The biggest thing is that they do phone solicitations. I don't mind mailers at all, but calling me at home to tell me about a new promotion or whatever is a bit intrusive. Usually I don't mind it too much, but today it went a step further. Today they tried to get me to apply for another card over the phone. No way!!

A month ago I received a promotional offer in the mail for a Discover platinum card. Of course I didn't act on it; I have enough credit available to me and don't want an inquiry showing up on my credit report. That was the end of that, so I thought.

Well this morning the phone rang and someone with a very strong accent asked for me. The lady on the other line told me something about a new card and started asking for personal information. At first I was confused because my current card expires in November, so my first thought was that this had to do with getting a new card but for the same account. However, it soon became apparent that this was a completely different thing. Half way through the survey of personal information (mother's maiden name, employment, school attending, household income, last four digits of social security number) I stopped her and had some questions of my own. First of all, I'm very uncomfortable giving out information like this over the phone, especially when it was some unknown person calling me.

Anyway, I asked if this was for a new credit card application. She skirted around the question by using phrases such as "with new features" and "5% cash back on get more purchases". She tried very hard to reassure me and encourage me to let her finish answering her questions. Throughout the whole phone call I asked probably about three times if this would be an application for a new card resulting in an inquiry to my credit report, but neither time did I get a clear answer. She asked me twice to confirm that I wanted to apply, and each time I said "no". I asked twice if she could send me the information in writing for me to decide later, but the response was "Oh yes sir, we will send information" ... but with the new card after the fact. Finally she asked me one last time to confirm the information and everything. I said "No" and was getting somewhat frustrated with the run-around. Just then the line went dead and that was the end of the conversation.

Not knowing what I just got myself into, if anything I grabbed my card and called the number on the back. I was fairly clear on the previous phone call, but at times I could barely understand the lady and she had a hard time herself in English comprehension. Once I got past the menu I didn't have to wait long at all (which I'll have to give them a little credit for) before a reassuring voice with an American accent answered the phone. Finally! I said I just got a cryptic phone call about a new card. He confirmed the offer they sent me in Septermber and the guy said it probably was a followup call regarding that offer, and he also confirmed that it would be an application for a new a card. He transferred me to the new accounts department, and right away I was greeted with another friendly American voice (No disrespect intended to those of other nationalities, it's just that when dealing with things like this I want to be able to understand the person I'm speaking with very clearly and vice versa). She said she had no record of a new application for me and suggested I call back in a couple days just to be sure.

While I was not happy at all with the original phone call, I felt much better after calling customer support. I did make sure to ask that I not be contacted as part of any phone or mail solicitations in the future, something I guess I just never got around to but had a bit of encouragement to do so now. As a consumer I get credit card offers quite regularly. I don't need companies calling me trying to get me to take on more credit which I don't need. No thanks!