Consumer complaint received 2025-02-13 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Savings account
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: OH

Complaint narrative:
When I ran out of deposit slips & envelopes I called to order more. I received only envelopes. Called back & was told I could use old deposit slips, cross out old numbers & write the last XXXX of my account number, or just write the last XXXX on a piece of paper. I did this for a time. Recently I received XXXX letters from Discover. XXXX were checks with no explanation. The cover letter simply read " Enclosed please find an official check. '' I called Discover & the person I spoke with had no explanation & advised he would send it to the back office. I asked if someone could contact me & he said they would. I never heard from anyone. I called again & was told that someone at Discover had attempted to deposit the XXXX checks I sent into a closed account. This, despite my following the previous employee 's instructions & the fact that I always write over my endorsement, " For XXXX Only # XXXX '' ( the last XXXX numbers of my savings account. I wrote a lengthy note on each page attached to the " official checks '' and sent them back for deposit. Yesterday I received another " official check '' from Discover returning my retirement check! Extremely upset I called & spoke with XXXX. She didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation. I'm sending checks to be deposited into my savings account, per Discover 's instructions, & I'm receiving " official checks '' returned to me ( wasting resources & time while causing significant stress ). I'm not being paid interest for all of this wasted time. The entire situation is unbelievable to me ( except that Discover Bank has made other questionable changes that negatively impacted me -- always without any prior notice )! I requested someone in management to speak with since, at this point, I've lost faith in Discover 's ability to handle my money responsibly. I was transferred to XXXX, who sounded like she was on a speakerphone and was difficult to understand. Not only did she not have any intelligent response but she was rude & accused me of not letting her talk. She told me that they would not accept " altered '' deposit slips ( after instructing me to do this ). Is that supposed to be for security reasons? If so, how does writing my partial account number on a piece of paper to include with a check make more sense? Are criminals making deposits now instead of withdrawals? And if it looks suspect, how about someone at the bank simply making a phone call to straighten this out instead of sending " official checks '' with no explanation to the name/address of the person named on the deposit slip who sent it in the first place? Why is there no communication with this bank? Discover does not have physical banks where I can go in and make a deposit so there is already a heightened risk by sending checks through the mail. With this nonsense, Discover is trebling those risks! No ( updated ) suggestion was made as to how I am expected to deposit money into my savings account so I have made no further attempts to send deposits while considering changing where I bank. Discover has continued to use technology poorly & continues to make changes that cause more difficulties. I no longer feel secure banking with Discover ; their once quality customer service has completely disappeared! I am a senior & do not have all these options that tech-savvy people use ( nor do I want to ). Discover is literally begging me to take my money somewhere else! 

At the very least I would like the opportunity to talk with a professional, rational, & intelligent individual who has some authority to work with a customer and shed some clarity on why something is done & why changes ( not for the better ) continue to occur without any notice while misinformation is disseminated with every call that I make to them. How about a credit to my savings account representing the interest I have been denied from the XXXX checks ( so far ) returned to me & the assurance that this will not happen again? And certainly re-evaluating the individual ( XXXX ) responsible for taking such unnecessary steps of having new " official checks '' printed, sent with a useless cover letter, wasting postage & causing so much stress & XXXX  to their customer when the correct information has been provided to them in XXXX ways. Evaluating those working in customer service ( including the " supervisor '' I spoke with ) to address the major drop in standards that have become the rule instead of the exception with Discover. Those who respond to the electronic messages seem not to comprehend inquiries made by sending irrelevant responses ( another waste of time ). 

Another serious problem has been verifying my identity ( all of a sudden ). I went through a phone number change and when I called to renew a CD I went through a nightmare when they couldn't send me a text to a phone number I no longer had. I provided SS #, mother 's maiden name ( as usual ) but they insisted on sending me a text to that particular number ( again, some type of notice that this was going to happen in advance would have been helpful! ). They wouldn't even use the security questions. Their stance was that a phone number was a safer deterrent than all of the other methods which I found ridiculous. Fortunately, I also have a credit card with them which is the only other option they gave me to verify my identity! What if I had closed that account? All of my money is in that bank and there are no physical locations for me to go to for a resolution ( or apparently anyone competent to handle serious issues ).

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation