Consumer complaint received 2024-11-08 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest — Problem with fees
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
XX/XX/XXXX Hello, I am having an issue with Discover Card charging me for interest charges improperly and would appreciate your input, advice, or any help you might provide to resolve this issue. 

1 ) On XX/XX/XXXX I took advantage of an offer from Discover Card to transfer a balance of {$7900.00} from another card. I paid a one-time fee of {$230.00} to make the transfer. The interest rate was to be 0 % for a period of up to 18 months. 

2 ) Monthly Payments were due on the XXXX of each month and I began making the payments XX/XX/XXXX. 

3 ) For some reason ( unknown but I am not blaming discover card for this ), I missed the payment that was due on XX/XX/XXXX 4 ) Discover card sent me a reminder email XX/XX/XXXX ( copied below ) and I sent the payment in late. I noticed their email had a note at the bottom offering a way to Never miss another payment again. 

" Just a reminder, you missed your payment. '' " Never miss another payment again '' " Automatic Payments help you pay your Discover Card bill on time, every time. Try '' " the free service that automatically withdraws your monthly payment '' 5 : I decided to take advantage of this program and allow Discover Card to control payments directly from my bank account. 

6 : I signed up for the program immediately and received a notice informing me I was enrolled in the program : 7 : All seemed to be working. I would begin receiving email notices like these below that indicated to me that all was working properly. 
The payments were shown as being posted on the proper due date. 

" You're making automatic payments " On XX/XX/XXXX your automatic payment will be processed from your bank '' " account ending in XXXX '' " Thanks for your payment '' " Your payment of {$190.00} posted to your account on XX/XX/XXXX ''. 

8 : I was satisfied everything was set up and working so I didnt have to worry about making payments on time. I continued to let Discover Card make my payments automatically. 

9 : Prior to the XX/XX/XXXX payment due date, I paid off the entire balance due ( {$8300.00} ). 

10 : The next statement I received showed that although Discover had in fact received the full payment in time of the XX/XX/XXXX payment due date, for some reason they were charging me an additional {$100.00} for interest. I disputed this charge with them and removed their ability to take money directly from my bank account. 

11 : I began to review previous statements carefully and was horrified to find that Discover had been including an interest charge along with each payment, for each and every month that they had control of the automatic withdrawals from my bank account. ( This was the specific thing that they advertised would never again happen once I had signed up for automatic withdrawals! ). I dont understand why there would be any interest charge in any case ( since the terms were 0 % interest for 18 months ), in addition to the fact that Discover had direct control of the timing of the withdrawals ). 

12 : I have asked Discover Card for refunds off all past interest charges beginning with the XX/XX/XXXX statement. The total amount I am asking for is {$1000.00} as shown below ). I have communicated with them via their website on XX/XX/XXXX, and also with certified postal mail on XX/XX/XXXX. I have no relevant response from them. 

The charges I am asking to be returned to me are listed below. All of these are interest payments I believe to be charged improperly. 

Again, the timing of each payment was determined by, and under the control of Discover Card using their automatic withdrawal method. 
This was totally contrary to the automatic withdrawal program as advertised. 
( Additionally, as far as I can tell, all payments were posted by their due date ). 


XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX INTEREST CHARGE ON PURCHASES XXXX Interest TOTAL XXXX XXXX : In addition, I find this record of late payments has negatively impacted my credit rating. I dont know how to fix this or to be compensated for it. 


Note : I have soft-copies of all statements and email communications I can provide upon request. I have attached the first 3 statements with an interest charge ( included the first one that may have been due to my error ), as well as the last statement where I seem to have already paid the balance in full, but was still being charged an interest payment. 

Thank you for any help or advice you can provide in this matter. 
Sincerely,

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation