Discover Card
discovercard.com
Wilmington Delaware
U.S.A.
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Discover Card Suddenly Changes Account Numbers With Little Explanation Wilmington Delaware
2Author
1Consumer
0Employee/Owner
Imagine my surprise to log into my Discover Card account to discover the account number had suddenly been changed. No letter mailed home. No message in the secure message section of the Web site. No nothing -- including the replacement card that was supposedly mailed out.
When called, Discover Card claimed this was part of some upgrade involving "millions" of their accounts. Suspicious, I immediately asked if the real reason was that there had been a security breach somewhere. At that point, the woman on the phone turned snippy and insisted that was not the case.
But who has ever heard of a credit card company suddenly changing millions of card numbers without good reason. That costs money. And based on what I've seen in some online postings elsewhere, many other Discover Card holders are having the same experience.
If this is truly just an upgrade, Discover Card has bungled its customer relations. If it is more sinister -- as I and others suspect -- then they have truly stuck it to their customers in their handling of the matter.
Also, I had several monthly charges that were billed to Discover Card (cable TV, etc.) and each company had to be given a new account. Because my faith in Discover Card is greatly diminished, all of those automatic monthly charges now go to Visa.
Discover Card needs to own up to its cardholders immediately. Otherwise, they are nothing more than a ripoff.
Educatedconsumerbestcustomer
Arlington, Virginia
U.S.A.
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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
2Author
1Consumer
0Employee/Owner
Updates & Rebuttals
#1 Consumer Comment
AUTHOR: John - Califon (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, May 24, 2008
POSTED: Saturday, May 24, 2008
Just checked mine online after reading this. Mine's still the same since 1992. When did they actually change it?
#2 Update By Author
AUTHOR: Educatedconsumerbestcustomer - Arlington (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Monday, May 26, 2008
POSTED: Monday, May 26, 2008
Displeased with the phone response from Discover Card customer service, I e-mailed them. Here is part of their response:
"Your Account number is being changed because of recent enhancements to the Card. Discover Card will attempt to update your automatic biller merchants with your new Account information. We will ONLY notify merchants that have previously signed up to be notified of Account number changes with our Merchant Services department. To ensure uninterrupted billing, you should verify that the merchant has the new information. However, we will continue to pay these automatic billers for a period of 13 months from the date of your Account changes. We will notify you if we are unable to contact a specific merchant so you can make sure they have this new information."
They go on to say, "You will be unable to keep your previous Account number, however, there will be no interruption for 45 days on your previous Account, then all your information will be rolled over to your new Account number."
However, they already rolled all the information over, even though I don't have the new card. And, contradicting themselves, they write further down, "Your old Account will be permanently closed once your new Card is activated or at the end of your second billing cycle from the date your Card was mailed, whichever is first. Once your old Account has been closed, any charges attempted on your old Account will be declined."
So would they pay automatic bills for 13 months or 45 days? I'm not gambling on either.
From now on I'm only using Discover for their 5% cashback promotions, or to get cash at Wal-Mart and supermarkets. Shabby with a capital S.
