Consumer complaint received 2020-05-04
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: VA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Delay in processing application

Complaint:
XX/XX/2020 : I applied for and was immediately approved for a secured Discover card. Like any other credit card application, I had to include my identifiable information which I'm certain Discover has the proper measure in place to " vet '' who I am as a form of verification and to thwart identity theft. 
XX/XX/XXXX : received email that my deposit was successfully received and that I would receive my card within 2 weeks XX/XX/XXXX : received card XX/XX/XXXX : received email to electronically sign & return/submit an IRS form 4506-T form. Odd but I complied. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I signed & returned & received confirmation for the completed 4506-T. Also called Discover at XXXX to activate card but to no avail. I figured I'd give it 5-7 more days to process the 4506-T. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : I called Discover 's automated activation line at XXXX 18 times & went online just as many times I bet between those dates still to no avail. The customer service agents kept saying it's being processed, then someone finally admitted that Discover is moving slow due to coronavirus, then a lady finally apologized for the delay and offered minimum access to MY MONEY on MY card for food & gas which was no help to me. I need to be able to use that card for which Discover swiftly collected their deposit out of bank account. 
XX/XX/XXXX : I finally demanded to speak to a supervisor. I got a woman named XXXX who confessed that Discover is at the mercy of the vendor who processes the 4506-T forms & that as soon as a new " form finalizing '' plan occurs she would call me. She took my name & number and promised to call me with a solution. That never happened. At this point Discover has successfully been consistent in being a complete disappointment. And worse, they are holding money hostage ... ..without interest!!! There's more ... 
XX/XX/XXXX : No XXXX, no letter, no email so I hunted down a better " next step '' contact. I discovered XXXX, a customer advocacy number. I spoke to XXXX. I explained all of the above. He said he would research it, it typically takes 2 days, and he would call me by Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX at the absolute latest. 
XX/XX/XXXX : In another random attempt to activate my card, I went online and was finally able to get through. I set up automatic payments for the XXXX of every month, set up two personal household bills to process their monthly bill automatically to this Discover card, and purchased some birthday items online for {$29.00}. The card worked for both bill set up & the purhase and I even received email confirmation accordingly. Now I'm happy. 
XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX EST : ( ironically subsequent to the above ) XXXX from Discover called me from XXXX. He said they still haven't been able to rectify or expedite the processing of the 4506-T forms & offered that I do more work and give them unnecessary, other access by sending them MY last 3 months of bank statements to which I replied NO. I didn't even mention that I had already accessed my account because I assumed he just hadn't done his due diligence and would see that I'm all set at this point. ( Because 1. My card worked now last I checked, 2. That's not a solution for me. That's a solution for them, 3. There was no explanation as to how or why a bank statement would further or better yet complete the verification process. ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX EST : I attempted to log in to make sure the merchant from whom I made a {$29.00} purchase had refunded me, and I got the same unable to access account message that I had gotten before!!!!! 
XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX EST : ( ironically subsequent to the above ) XXXX ( who I registered my complaint with on XX/XX/XXXX ) called me to say the same " we don't have a solution, send me your last 3 months bank statements '' jive. He said he sees where I declined to send my bank statements. He added that IRS allegedly placed a hold on processing 4506 forms. So I demanded some explanation & logic to which he really didn't have ANY satisfactory answers. My questions were : 1. Why do you need to verify my identity AFTER you not only approved but also SENT me a credit card AND swiftly COLLECTED my deposit? XXXX 's answer : Because Discover does random verifications.

2. Why/how was I selected for a random verification check when I'm brand new? XXXX 's answer : Because Discover does random verifications even on me customers.

3. What are you looking for on my bank statements? XXXX 's answer : I don't know. ( How ridiculous! And worse, IRS transcript shows way more than a bank statement. ) 4. I don't think it's accurate that IRS stopped processing 4506 forms because ironcially I've had to submit 2 of the same 4506-T forms to 2 other entities SUBSEQUENT to the one I submitted to Discover and those have been processed already. XXXX 's answer : _______ 5. What about the alleged 3rd party that processes your forms? So is it the 3rd party or the IRS that's not processing the forms? XXXX 's answer : IRS. And they have not provided due date & Discover is daily searching for alternate options to verify identity.

6. Since I have charges already on the card, how will I be able to  make my payments? XXXX 's answer : We will send you a bill. ( I can't get ANYTHING else from Discover including access to MY card for which I have long ago satisfied the deposit, application, and verification requirements but I can get the bill though.??? ) 7. How was I given arbitrary access to my account online and to make non-food & gas purchases on XX/XX/XXXX? XXXX 's answer : XXXX did that when I spoke to him that day. ( FALSE!!! I spoke to XXXX  coincedentally AFTER I accessed my account & made purchases! He obviously didn't check the time stamps. It sounded good in theory but that was NOT correct! So, this question is still unanswered also!! ) 8. I made a comment about me being an investor not a cardholder since they have my money & I can't use or access it due to no fault of my own. I asked about investor benefits, return/interest rates, paperwork, etc. XXXX 's answer : ___________ I've since then researched IRS handling. There is a blatant message on IRS.gov that says IRS is not processing or handling mailed 4506 requests and it even lists to steps requestors can use to get the requested response the 4506-T form warrants. 
I'm sending this message on the evening of XX/XX/XXXX. Over a month later and still no access to MY card or money, no logical resolution or explanation, no offer to " make up '' for this gross handling & inconveneince. All I have is a headache from this, an offer to do more work than Discover to solve their problem, no explanation, and oh did I mention no access to MY card or MY money?!!!! I dare not cancel the card because that would be another set of issues I'd have to work through especially on my credit because it would look bad to cancel a credit card. I have a sneaking suspicion this was the whole scam anyway. Approve card, take the money, assert that they are conducting a random verification, hold the customers card hostage until they send a 4506-T form, pretend Discover needs it, pretend IRS can't process it, instead request access to customers personal business/finances/buying habits, count on the type of customer that gets a secured card being so stupid, anxious, & desparate to have and use a credit card and rebuild their credit that they comply with these ridiculous requests and ultimately let the customer get frustrated enough to cancel, get their money back, & scar their credit. Discover wasn't even sly enough to make this fake verification a prerequisite instead of a post-approval requirements. No ma'am or sir. Fix this right away please. Please register this complaint. I have all of my written proof, my phone records, screenshots, emails, etc. I've forwarded this same message to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, XXXX,  & every executive and board of directors at Discover and Discover Bank that I could find including CEO XXXX XXXX. This is so disappointing especially given the climate we're in now. Every dime counts! I know Discover could care less and that I'm a small fish in a big pond. The way Discover has behaved halfway makes me think I've uncovered their scam. No wonder more people carry Visa & MasterCard instead. I get it now. Please help me fix this. I'm not going to let this slide. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation