Consumer complaint received 2015-11-16
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: FL
Product: Credit card
Issue: Payoff process

Complaint:
I owed Discover Card money and I was having difficulty paying my bills. I was able to pay every month but sometimes it was not the required amount. In XXXX, I paid after speaking with XXXX of their representatives, however, I received a phone call 5 days later to pay the money owned. I find this to be annoying and I stated to Discover Card that nothing miraculous happened in the five days since I paid. I did not get a job or win the lottery. I thought this was harassment and I requested no phone calls. The same thing happened in XXXX and I had to call again about no phone calls and I was told that it was not documented when I called in XXXX. I was told the phone call restriction was put on now. I realized that Discover was not honoring requests for no phone calls. 
Since I was on the phone with Discover, I said I had some money and would like to settle the account and get it off my desk. I was given a settlement for {$800.00} due by XXXX XXXX. I did not have all the money but said I would work on borrowing from my sons because I wanted to finish up with Discover and I could not see any positive changes coming up in my financial situation. I asked for the offer in writing. I asked if I could send a money order and was told " no '', it had to be done electronically. I gave the representative my friend 's fax number and said I would call up and pay as soon as I had the money, if I was able to borrow it, and complete the transaction. I received the fax that day, and obtained the money by the end of the week. I went to my bank ( XXXX ) and deposited the cash on Saturday. I called my bank today and the cash was available and I called Discover Card. I was told that I did not have to call because the payment of {$800.00} was already set up with my bank account at XXXX XXXX. I did not give the authorization for the money to come out a bank account that I used before with Discover. I was using a different bank account to make the settlement payment. I was furious that Discover took it upon themselves to set up this payment at XXXX XXXX without my authority and it very well would interfere with other things I was paying. I asked for a supervisor. XXXX came on and said she was going to listen to the tapes to verify that i authorized them to automatically take out the payment. I said there was no way I authorized it because at the time of that phone call I did not have all the funds and was unsure if I would have them by the end of the month. I called back and spoke to supervisor and was given an " I 'm sorry '' but that was it. I did find out that the team gets some type of credit if they collect and I think this may be an incentive for aggressive tactics. However, setting up a payment without customer 's authorization is wrong. I feel vulnerable since I have used the XXXX XXXX account to pay online and over the phone and this information has remained with them. I probably should close out the XXXX XXXX account but I have other bills going through it and they have not yet been processed. This leaves me in a very uncomfortable situation and I do not see how this can be legal. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation