Poor Customer Service: Discover Card

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I got my bill from Discover Card and Discover acts as though it is my problem that they have charged me for things I did not authorize. They then say the only way to be safe is to close this account and open a new one (a waste of my time). I would think it would be easy to not charge customers from fraudulent places but Discover seems to think this is beyond them. Once I was transferred to the fraud person (the 3rd person I had to speak to) they said they frequently saw fraud reports for this company and so it would most likely be fixed without a problem. They then said ok, we can setup a new account. I told them that I told the previous person if Discover didn’t fix this without closing the existing account I would take my business elsewhere so no new account was needed.

What do I want from a credit card? I want to be able to use it to buy what I want. I want them to not charge me for things I don’t authorize. If I tell them I have been charged for something I didn’t order I want them to think that is a problem and fix it. I want good customer service which basically boils down to being able to reach them on the phone without wasting a bunch of my time and having the person that answers treat me like a valued customer they want to serve instead of acting as though I was bothering them. Their failure (charging me for things that I did not authorize) was wasting my time. Those are the important factors. Now if I can get a cash rebate too, great. Anyone have suggestions? Since I don’t carry a balance I don’t care what the interest rate is.

It is fairly amazing how horrible the customer service is for credit cards given the huge profits the companies make. The main thing I want is one that treats my time as valuable and does everything it can to avoid wasting my time.

Update (from the Washington Post today): Americans Can’t Do Without Their Credit Cards, But the Card Companies Are Another Matter

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13 responses to “Poor Customer Service: Discover Card”

June 15, 2007

CuriousCat: Incredibly Bad Customer Service from Discover Card

They owed me $240 from their cashback bonus program. Now they refuse to pay me the money I earned because they say that it is their policy not to pay the cashback bonus if an account is closed…

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July 7, 2007

CuriousCat: Customer Hostility from Discover Card

Paying what they promised in cash back bonus doesn’t seem like it would be hard (and frankly I can’t imagine not paying it in this circumstance can be acceptable according to the rules but who has the time to try and fight with them)…

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November 11, 2007

Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Good Customer Focus Idea for Banks

It is a shame so many banks seem to focus on tricking customers into paying big fees. The idea of actually serving customer well and making a fair profit just doesn’t seem to be very common…

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December 2, 2007

Curious Cat: Legislation to Address the Worst Credit Card Fee Abuse – Maybe

If instead you look at who paid politicians and then see how they vote it is pretty clear why such abuse is allowed to continue for years…

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February 25, 2008

Curious Cat: Americans are Drowning in Debt

The story is a bit boring. People spend money they don’t have. But it is hard to ignore the story when it is so important. And so many people are foolishly ruining their financial future…

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February 27, 2008

Debbie Jackson

Who really regulates banks and credit card companies? Is there anyone out there that you can really call and get a live person that actually knows the rules of their bank? US Bank is one that makes up the rules as they go along. If you call their 24/7 line, you get someone on the phone that can’t answer your questions, will never admit a bank mistake, and doesn’t even know their supervisor’s name (just ask them, I did). Record all your phone conversations with US Bank. If you ask them a question and get an answer, you can call the next day and get a different answer. I also found out that when you call their 24/7 “Customer Service” line, they don’t make notes on your account on why you called and what service they gave you. When I asked why they don’t do this, I was told “the customer has to request us to make notes on their account.” I have never dealt with a bank that didn’t know what the left hand was doing with the right hand. Their policies are made up as they go along and talking to the customer service line is like talking with my dead grandmother. No matter how far up the line you go, it’s never US Bank’s fault (even if you have proof) and they will ALWAYS blame the customer. I can hardly wait until I get everything either paid off or transfered to reputable bank. Anyone else have problems with them?

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May 24, 2008

CuriousCat: Why is Customer Service So Bad?

given the preference of business to continually horrible service it should be that you can just provide plan mediocre service and take their business…

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June 14, 2008

Curious Cat: Gmail Failure

That it was a policy decision to break access without notice or explanation I find extremely worrying, however. How am I suppose to trust that they will not do so at any point in the future…

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December 16, 2008

Anonymous

I think we do have to give the customer service folks a break! I think we often forget they are real, live people on the other end of that phone. It is easy to think of these big corporations as “evil”, but we must also remember that they are following standard policy to make the business run smoothly. Personally, if I found fraudulent charges on my credit card, I would want my existing account closed, just so I would not have to go through the (potential) hassle of having charges reversed every month OR having the fraudulent company use up my credit limit, thereby rendering my credit card useless until the situation was repaired again and again and again. Talk about a waste of time! Remember, they are trying to help us, the consumer, and I believe the most efficient way to do that would to just get a new account!

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December 27, 2008

Dick

Discover discontinued my card without any prior notice … all of asudden I tried to use it and it was rejected. I called. They “ooopsed” me and reinstated my card. I made transaction and paid bill. Now (Dec 27) I get notice from a merchant from whom I ordered Christmas gifts that my Discover Card was not approved. I called Discover and lo and behold, they had discontinued it again … with an “ooops, don’t know why.” They would willingly reactivated it. Fool me once, shame on you — fool me twice, shame on me!

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August 28, 2009

Dormon Trippler

I was charged on my Discover card for someting I did not order.When I called about it they gave me such a run around.This was a few days ago and I still do not know if is removed my account.

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November 2, 2009

nan

I was charged on my Discover card account for the stupid identity and payment protection program that I did not authorize, I called them many times, and their manager’s bad attitude towards customers’ complain really impressed me. Finally I was told they canceled the plans, but I still have to pay 10$ for it, which means customers need to pay for their mistake, they are playing tricks with customers, be careful, never ever open a discover card, and if you did, watch your account carefully and frequently check it, or cancel the account

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December 27, 2012

Fred

I have been on hold for over 42 minutes waiting for a Discovercard representative to pick up our call. We use all of the major credit cards but have never had anything as bad as this … Iam trying to report a lost credit card and it is important to get this done as soon as possible since any lengthy delay allows time for the card to be used by someone else. If I hang up i will have to call again eventually and who knows how long that could take. I would like to know the names and addresses of the people that run this company and those names should be published. These people should not be legally allowed to have a business – there has to be a legitimate way to shut them down.

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