I just got propositioned over the phone by Discover Card; I think I need to shower and get the slime off.
When my phone rang and I saw that Discover Card was calling, I reluctantly decided to answer it as I do have that card and maybe, just maybe this might be important. Instead of a live human being, a woman’s recorded voice greeted me this way: “Hi, I’m from Discover and I’m excited to talk with you. Call me back at ……..” Now read that again, but imagine a slightly sultry voice, not perky and upbeat, but more slowly and somewhat suggestive in tone. She’s excited? Phone sex from Discover? Another member perk, perhaps?
Like everyone, I’ve had my issues with credit card companies. Like Chase, for example, who arbitrarily doubled my APR and felt pretty good about it when I called to complain. Discover is another. They use two-cycle billing, a hostile, unethical practice that severely penalizes those who carry a balance and are well-known for jacking up APRs to over 20% for one late payment and holding it there for at least six months. Yes, I had that happen to me. Scofflaw that I am, I missed a payment date a year or so ago and up the APR went to around 25%.
Complaining, of course, was futile. Great payment history, credit score over 700, all irrelevant. So into the drawer went the card. A funny thing happened soon. I started to receive offers from Discover Card to transfer balances from other cards to them, a strategy, they said, which could save me hundreds, maybe thousands in interest! Keep in mind that my rate was now 25%.
So I called Discover Card and asked if they understood how ludicrous this was. I asked if my rate was still 25%. It was. And you want me to transfer other card balances to you and pay 25% on them? Yes. My other cards have APRs of 8 and 5.5 %, but I should transfer them to Discover at 25%? Sure. This was turning into a basic intelligence test. They failed.
So back to my sexy phone call. All credit card companies have horror stories and Discover is one of the most pernicious of them all. They treat long-time customers with contempt and then telemarket them with sultry come-ons. No pulse racing here, just a mix of mild amusement and outright disgust. Consumer culture allows the American population to be jerked around by credit card companies, and it will continue until the enabling ends.
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