Consumer complaint received 2026-01-18 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems — Other problem
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: ND

Complaint narrative:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I was charged {$670.00} USD by a merchant operating as Future of Flourishing for an online course. In XX/XX/XXXX, I was charged an additional {$3000.00} USD for a XXXXsession coaching package ( {$250.00} per session ). Only XXXX of the XXXX coaching sessions were delivered, and the merchant later revoked my access to the paid course. The merchant refused to refund the unused portion and asserted a no-refund policy that was never disclosed at the time of purchase. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Discover to understand the dispute process and formally filed disputes for both the course and the coaching charges. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Discover multiple times to confirm receipt of documentation, clarify the basis of my disputes, and understand why the dispute related to the course charge had been denied despite evidence that access to paid content had been revoked by the merchant. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I followed up regarding the coaching dispute. During this call, a Discover dispute agent informed me that my coaching dispute had been filed under an incorrect internal dispute category. She advised that the dispute should be reclassified and took extensive notes. I was told that under the corrected coding, I did not need to prove the absence of a refund policy, and that a complete refusal to refund undelivered services constituted a denial of funds. Based on this guidance, the dispute was resubmitted. 

Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, the reclassified dispute was again denied. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Discover and asked for an escalation to a dispute center supervisor. She reviewed the full history and documentation. She stated that she agreed the refund should be issued and that the merchants representations were misleading. She explained that she did not have authority to approve a chargeback of that amount and that the case would be escalated to an internal review board. She stated that, given the evidence, the outcome should be straightforward. 

The dispute was denied again. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Discover to understand why the internal review board denied the claim. I requested escalation and spoke with a supervisor. He stated that Discovers policy is to side with a merchant if the merchant asserts that a no-refund policy exists, regardless of whether that policy was disclosed to the cardholder or whether services were delivered. I requested Discovers dispute resolution policies multiple times throughout the process, including during this call, and was told that these policies are not available to customers. 

During this call, I expressed concern that this policy would allow any merchant including XXXX misrepresenting its business status to retain funds simply by submitting a document asserting a no-refund policy post-transaction. The supervisor confirmed this was Discovers policy stating as long as merchant provides any no refund policy Discover will always side with the merchant regardless if they informed the customer of their no refund policy. 

Following this call, I canceled my Discover card and stated my intent to file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

During the account closure call, a Discover customer service representative apologized repeatedly and stated that Discovers internal dispute policies were not very good and that she understood my concerns. 

Throughout this process, multiple Discover employees verbally agreed that the dispute should be resolved in my favor but stated that internal policies prevented them from doing so. I was denied access to the policies governing dispute decisions, despite repeated requests, and my dispute was denied based solely on merchant assertions that were contradicted by my documentation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation