Discover Card
PO Box 15068
Wilmington Delaware 19850-5068
U.S.A.
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Discover Card Request to lower APR - my letter to Discover Card Wilmington Delaware
2Author
4Consumer
0Employee/Owner
When I called Discover Card about the rate hike of my Cash Advance APR from 18.99% to 23.99% the woman told me that she could not process such a request over the phone. She informed me that a certain department handles the requests and that they only handle such requests through a form they will mail upon request. There is no way to request a lower APR over the phone or through a request on the Discover Card website. I was instructed to complete the form and mail it back. How inconvenient! I received the form in the mail and was outraged to see that the form they sent was only a request to lower *purchase* APRs and it mentioned nothing of cash advance APRs. In response I am sending Discover Card the formal letter below. I am posting this so others can draft their own letters in response. The address below pertains to the department that handles APR requests.
****The Letter****
February 2, 2008
Attention: Discover Card Financial Services LLC
Po Box 15068
Wilmington, DE 19850-5068
Re: Annual Percentage Rate (APR) Request Form, Account ending in: XXXX
To: Whom It May Concern
Thank you for sending me the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) Request Form (The Form). However, The Form I received only asks that Discover Card Financial Services LLC (You or Your) consider my Account for a lower purchase APR. I specifically requested for a lower cash advance APR form when I called You and was informed that I would receive a form by mail.
I am highly dissatisfied that I have received the incorrect form. I am even more highly dissatisfied that my cash advance APR has climbed from 18.99% to 23.99% with in the last year. And, I am dissatisfied to the point of outrage that requests for lower APRs must be processed through The Form as opposed to a verbal or web initiated request.
Here are several reasons You should immediately consider my Account for a lower cash advance APR:
-I have had my Account since the year 2000.
-I have only been delinquent once in an eight year history and that delinquency was due to a mis-delivered payment. The fees and penalties were all reversed and I made a double payment as soon as the error was discovered.
-The only time my Account was over the limit was due to the error above.
-I have not received or requested a lower APR of any kind in the past eight years.
-This Account nor any Discover Card Account has been closed, revoked, or suspended.
My Discover Card Account has been a great asset over the last eight years. For example, it has helped me buy text books and groceries while I went to college. My Account also helped fund an academic trip to Italy. Also, thanks to Discover Card I was able to purchase plane tickets for my business colleagues who needed to travel to California for a highly important business convention. I have had nothing but praise for Discover Card.
With the recent raise in the cash advance interest rate and the unfathomable penalty interest rates You applied to my Account after the erroneous delinquency above I can only request that You graciously lower the cash advance interest rate before I transfer the balances off the card and close my Discover Card permanently. I will not fail communicate my experience, whether it is positive or negative, to consumers and on public review boards.
If my request is not approved within the next 30 days, I have other creditors with competitive offers who are more than eager to attract a good consumer such as myself and assist with transferring the balance on my Account. Also, I will note that the reason for closing my Account is due to the denial of my sole request for a lower APR during my eight years of satisfactory service with Discover Card. So please consider Your decision carefully and in a timely manner. I thank You in advance for your time and I greatly appreciated Your services.
By signing this letter, I (XXXXXXXX) am formally requesting that You review my Account for a lower cash advance annual percentage rate (APR) for which this Account qualifies.
Account:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Louisville, KY 402xx
Phone: xxx-xxx-xxx
Account Number: xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx
Email Address: xxxxxxxx@xxxxx.com
Signature:________________________________
CC: www.RipoffReport.com, www.my3cents.com
CC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Consumer Response Center, 2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite 100, Kansas City, MO 64108
****************
Kevin Asbury
Louisville, Kentucky
Click Here to read other Ripoff Reports on Discover Card
REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
2Author
4Consumer
0Employee/Owner
Updates & Rebuttals
#1 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: Random Joe - Carol Stream (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Monday, February 18, 2008
POSTED: Monday, February 18, 2008
I have worked for a credit card company and dealt with this situation on more than one occasion. First off, I would like to say that I'm sorry that the lady representative gave you the wrong information over the phone.
Credit card companies are not able to work with the cash APR no matter how hard you try. Credit companies allow you to take short "loans" in which you use their "electronic" money to make purchases with that you pay back over time. If you want to use the credit card to turn "electronic" money into tangible money, then you will be paying an APR that is always higher than your purchases, unless you belong to a credit union. Not only that, but there is always a separate fee involved.
I can see from your post, however, that the reason for your inquiry is that Discover put you at a penalty rate. "I am even more highly dissatisfied that my cash advance APR has climbed from 18.99% to 23.99% with in the last year."
This can be caused by numerous reasons but you have not stated why. You also said that you were delinquent, but not how long or by how many occurrences. "I have only been delinquent once in an eight year history and that delinquency was due to a mis-delivered payment." The APR penalty rate has been applied not because of a small occurrence but because you hit one of the penalty rate triggers. Either you didn't pay for a full month or were late a couple times by more than five or so days.
The only way you will be able to work on your APR, because if your cash APR went up, I'm assuming that your purchase rate has also increased since the penalty APR affects both purchases and cash advances, is to talk with a supervisor. You won't be able to get anything done with a letter because that is not the way you need to work with credit companies. You need supervisor approval. Just because the first person you talked to on the phone said they can't do it doesn't mean that you're out of luck. Call them back and talk to a real person, a real supervisor, and take responsibility for your own account. Don't hide behind "tough" letters and feeble threats of, "I will transfer my balance to other creditors who like me more." Every other credit card company has fees and penalty rates, if you haven't seen this by now, read more reports like yours. If you are late on your payments, expect penalties. If you are overly delinquent, expect a raise in your APR. This is not a service, this is not your mom lending you cash, this is a business.
#2 Update By Author
AUTHOR: Kevin asbury - Louisville (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
POSTED: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
After reading the rebuttal "It's NOT a Popularity Contest..." I took the author's advice and called DiscoverCard. I was calm, I was non-threatening, and I explained to the CSR what I had read in the rebuttal. She informed me that DiscoverCard had decided to raise it's Cash Advance APRs in December of 2006 and that they had sent a letter to me informing me of the interest rate change. I had until January 25, 2007 to reply and "opt out" of the APRs rate change.
I explained to her that I understood she had no power to change to Cash Advance APR and that the author of the rebuttal informed me that I should ask to speak with a supervisor. She was a bit defensive and re-claimed that the letter was sent and I did not respond in time to opt out. Obviously I never received such a letter, and I asked her if the letter was sent to me certified. She said no, and I asked her how she had any proof that I received the notice. She didn't know how to respond, so I asked her again for a supervisor and told her I'd really appreciate it if the supervisor would explain the reason for the rate change.
She promptly transferred me. The supervisor didn't waste any time informing me that he had lowered the Cash Advance APR to their lowest rate 20.99% effective immediately. I explained to him that it is still the highest Cash Advance APR I have and that DiscoverCard could still do better. He agreed, but he claimed he could not go lower.
The advice in the rebuttal was extremely valuable and very insightful. Thank you "Random Joe" from Carol Stream, Illinois for helping me lower Cash Advance APR on my DiscoverCard. For anyone who feels as though they are running into brick walls left or right with their credit card, please be sure to read posts from "Random Joe."
#3 Consumer Suggestion
AUTHOR: Random Joe - Carol Stream (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
POSTED: Wednesday, February 20, 2008
You know, I'm really impressed with the way you handled this. Let me also say that 20.99 for a cash APR is crazy good. It really comes down to the conversational level. I've read hundreds of reports on here and can say that the majority of claims that are resolved are done with calm and reasonable requests made from responsible people. For anyone else out there struggling with this problem, remaining at a calm level is the only way to work with larger companies. You need to be somewhat aggressive, but don't lose your cool. Thanks for leading by example, Kevin.
#4 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Tony - Lithia (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Sunday, February 24, 2008
POSTED: Monday, February 25, 2008
Kevin,
I was very surprised to see that you were happy with your outcome.
All the question and comments I may ask or make below are meant to help people realize what is going on.
I can tell that Random Joe has worked for a credit card company and they taught him well.
Until the people demand that customer service return we will continue to become worse off. Customer service is not just a nicety it is a necessity for a strong economy. It is one of the primary ingredients that make companies have to compete and when companies have to compete it strengthens the economy as it keeps things balanced.
However, we as Americans don't expect it anymore in fact we are surprised if you go somewhere and actually receive good customer service.
Now you seem actually happy with the results as though you got them to lower your rate.
As I see it your rate was 18.99% and now it is 20.99%. So your interest was not lowered it was raised.
I have to ask, would it have bothered your and would you have come to this site to report Discover if from the beginning they had just raised your rate from 18.99% to 20.99%?
Also the fact that you did get him to lower it was a clear sign they were in the wrong to begin with or they would have never lowered it. This is a must in their industry. If they lower the rate for someone just because they ask they set a precedent. Then if someone else knows of this and they call and request the same but get refused, the prior precedent that had been set with you could be used to sue them.
Now I understand that 20.99% is better than 22.99% but the point I am trying to get across is that from this read and Random Joe's comments it sounded as though Random Joe had convinced us this a great success and felt like there was some sympathy for Discover.
Ranom Joe you may be one of the nicest guys in the world, I don't know and I don't know your opinion on the credit industry. Your comment hopefully was solely to accomplish helping Kevin get the rate back down as far as he could and if so your succeeded.
However some of the comments I think misguided at least.
"Take responsibility". You can only be responsible for something if you have both the opportunity and the means by which to take on that responsibility.
Credit card companies remove as many opportunities as they can and there is never one readily available for your use. Most don't have the time to play these games and move around the obstacles they put in your way. Most people have enough stress in there life in America that they are already physically ill from it and some don't have an aggressive bone in their body by which to push thru these things.
One final note. If you meet someone who truly is sympathetic to credit card companies or feels that as long as there not breaking the law what right do you have to complain, do not trust them.
There is something beyond just law and thats ethics something these companies do not have and worse try to stamp it out as we get used to being treated this way.
Best of luck to you. Get you cards paid off, rip them up and if you can't pay cash you don't need it.
#5 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: Tom In Ma. - Tewksbury (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Friday, February 27, 2009
POSTED: Saturday, February 28, 2009
I called Discover card to simple see if my APR on the balance I carry could be lowered. With a credit score of 800+ and one who pays on time (all but one payment more than a year ago) I would think Discover would want to retain my business and keep me from going to a competitor....think again.
I have have been a member for over two years. In that time I was late one time. Feb 18, 2008. When I requested a review for the lower rate I to was told I need to complete a form that can mailed....oh that's easy. I received the form a few weeks later and sent it in. Today I received a letter saying I was late within the year, therfore they cannot help me. My letter though was dated Feb 20, 2009 (which is actually beyond a year from when I was late)....I called and they said, oh, we charged you in Feb, but it appears on your March statement so we go by 11months....I said i use you on-line bill review and you billed me Feb 18th so that is more than 1 year....I said, I find all of this to be very petty, and I do not feel like a valued customer. I requested to close my account. Upon being transferred, I was able to get my APR lowered on my balance from 17.99% that i have on 3k of the balance and 12.99% that i have 1K and get a combined rate of 12.24% for the life of the time I have the balance (Assuming I am never late again).
In the end, did I come out on top? I saved myself $16.00 a month but feel Discover and all CC companies ought to look at the good customers they have - especially in this economy and do what they can to work with them.
I'll keep Discover for now - but I'm not feeling very valued. Tom in Ma.
