Consumer complaint received 2017-02-18
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: DE
Product: Credit card
Issue: Customer service / Customer relations

Complaint:
Customer support & lending practices from Discover are questionable, if not unethical. Ten months ago, I opened a secured card & was provided information that after 7 months, I would be reviewed to see if my deposit could be returned & graduated to a Discover It card that would not require the secured deposit. Despite a well maintained financial history in terms of paying off card balances prior to the end of the billing cycle, often more than once a month, approval for other cards at a much higher limit ( not secured to start ), consistent payment on bills & mortgage, & having a well funded savings account, I was consistently not approved. After multiple phone calls to the company, the issue is still not resolved. The phone call prior to today ended with Discover acknowledging that they had " missed '' information regarding the length of my account. I had spoken to a gentleman who said I would be reviewed again that day & should receive a call. Today 's phone call revealed that deceitful information was conveyed on both actions to be taken & to whom I was speaking. I was transferred to multiple people who were unable to provide accurate account details. For example, I was told I was being transferred to a Manager of the secure department, but when speaking with that person, they said they would pass me on to a manager in the secure department because they were only a supervisor of customer service. Placed on a lengthy hold multiple times, resulted in me having further conversations with the same person who said she had " answers. '' She only was able to tell me, inaccurately, that the account was n't yet at the 7th month mark ( we are now at 10 ) & that I had XXXX accounts with them. I had reported fraud on my card a few months back, but was never advised it would cause XXXX accounts to be opened. If closing that account without my permission has caused this difficulty, that is a problem on its own. I am also concerned about the consistent jostling back & forth from a financial institution that I am supposed to trust. In addition, they are also holding the deposit without any reasonable explanation why I have not been able to be upgraded to the non-secured card. It is wholly unacceptable that I would be able to obtain a mortgage, open other cards, & have strong payment history, but not be able to have an unsecured card, even with a low amount, without the company being able to justify the reason. Other than discriminatory lending practices, it is hard to believe that there is an explanation as to why this is happening. No one at the company seems to be willing to provide an answer or a solution. In addition, I have been mislead by 2 of the 3 support representatives I spoke with today regarding who they spoke with to get answers regarding my situation ; after I asked to speak with that manger, she was not able to do so & claimed that the person left. This in itself was suspicious, due to the fact that it was a matter of minutes, in the middle of the half hour. The third representative, a cust. service trainer ( who was also misidentified by the person who transferred me to her ), clearly identified to me that in fact, there was no managers on duty at all today. This third person, who I was told would be able to solve my problem, was unable to provide me with any additional information. She stated she would call back when someone else, a manager from the secured credit card department. At the end of the call with the last person, a request was made for ID numbers of the employees ; it was revealed that the employee previously spoken to, who gave ID numbers, would have no way to access any ID numbers ( thus, info provided was made up ). As I have worked diligently to maintain steady financials, a solid credit score & well founded credit history, it is unethical to have been lied to in such a maliciously deceitful manner. Can provide call recording.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation