Consumer complaint received 2021-03-01
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account — Company closed your account
Company: DISCOVER BANK (NC)

So I opened a {$12000.00} revolving credit card account with Discover Financial about 2 years ago and Ive never had any payments fall beyond 30 days. Even amidst the unconventional and trying times related to COVID, I still continued to make almost all of my payments in a timely manner, and my payments tended to be for the entire balance owed, or at the very minimum, substantially more than the minimum payment due and on the date due or prior almost every month. All for which they rewarded me with a credit limit increase to {$13000.00} at their discretion ( during the height of the recent COVID pandemic ) without any request made on my part. 

Now coming into the end of fall and early winter months our season starts winding down and business slows a little so I was carrying a high balance for one month and actually due to some preauthorized charges and a late fee for exceeding my grace period my balance went above my limit by {$15.00} dollars. So I called into customer service and asked if they could give me a break as a courtesy ( as almost every creditor was already automatically offering due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 ) to which the Discover CSR simply said NO they couldnt and wouldnt reimburse me for the late fee. 

Now about a month or two later, which was just before XXXX XXXX they suspended my account due to what they stated online as unusual account activity. Mind you this notice and account action came shortly or maybe even right after I had made a payment in access of over XXXX dollars. 

So I finally had the time and called customer service and spoke to a CSR who told me that I would need to speak with someone in their fraud department. So I called back the next day and spoke to a fraud representative and asked him to explain what was going on, to which he replied with a bunch of double talk and after continuing to inquire with more and more frustration, he finally stated to me that there was actually no unusual activity, instead this was simply just a routine and general audit, and as he himself explained, something he had experienced through a similar situation with one of his creditors not that long before, which I felt and sensed was an attempted ploy in order to get me to comply, with what I came to find out as he finally explained what it was they were requesting, was not unusual activity, but rather an unusual request. 

What they were requesting he finally told me, only after dancing around the subject and beating around every bush possible, was to fill out a IRS form 4506-T in order to verify the income information I submitted almost 2 years prior when I initially applied for the card, because based on what he stated they had never verified this information and were just now getting around to it. Even though I had not only submitted the same information when applying, but also spoke to a CSR who verified my information while on the phone. 

I found this all extremely coincidental that is was being done during the height of the spending season and what was quickly becoming the new height of the pandemic, and also after I had just made a substantial payment making almost XXXX dollars in credit available to me. So I simply told them I didnt feel this was ethical and I also had never been subjected to this kind of treatment with any of the other creditors I had or have established accounts with or through, present or past, and I wasnt going to comply with what I felt was unethical and predatory treatment. 

Now throughout this entire period my account was inaccessible, to use either the card or even try to navigate through the app. However they did make me vividly aware that I could continue to make payments throughout this process, even though that itself was not an option through the Discover app. 

Then about 2 months later in late XXXX/early XX/XX/XXXX I logged onto my Discover app to check status, as they had given a deadline of sometime in early to mid XX/XX/XXXX to comply ( to which all along I stated I wouldnt comply ), and it now no longer listed unusual activity and once again reflected the regular account information such as balance, limit, transaction history and lastly also listed the available credit. 

So I thought okay they realized it was unethical and their failed attempt to abruptly close my account ( which I imagine was due to the increasingly risky circumstances and elevated cases surrounding COVID-19, which in turn were making it a highly volatile, unstable and uncertain time in the financial sector, and with tensions rising, recent and vivid recollections of the XXXX housing/financial crisis/downfall and subsequent economic depression dancing around in their heads, they were simply trying to get a head start on trimming the fat and recalling credit lines wherever they saw an opportunity ) was a lapse in judgment and they had simply corrected their mistake. 

So without using the card, and simply concerned with my credit appearance and score, as well as making sure my payment was ahead of the due date, I quickly went ahead and made another XXXX dollar payment and it promptly reflected the balance reduction, but now suddenly reflected {$0.00} available credit and I then subsequently received an email notice less than a week or so later stating they were closing my account. 

Unbelievable and completely unethical and I intend to take every available action, and utilize every available means of recourse at my disposal to right this wrong. 

Far to often and far too many consumers are preyed upon and victimized by these multimillion and/or multi XXXX dollar banks and/or financial institutions, with seemingly no means of retributive action or viable recourse, so their crimes against consumers go unmentioned and unnoticed, and they seem to feel they can operate with this mentality of being untouchable, but I will not allow this action to stand without speaking up, speaking out, or until I cant speak anymore until this wrong is made right!