Credit Card Slam

The BBQ Pit
1

I got a new credit card bill in the mail with a $6.00 past due notice. I don’t recall applying for a new credit card so I called them up. It went something like this:

Bad Guy : Discover card. How may I help you?

Me : Ya, I’ve got this bill here. What’s it for? I don’t recall opening this account.

Bad Guy : That’s your new Sam’s Club account. Your old card was only good at Sam’s and Walmart, but now you can shop anywhere with your new Discover card!

Me : Well, that’s nice and all, but I don’t want this card. In fact, I didn’t apply for a new card. How can you open a new account for me without my permission?

Bad Guy : Oh, we sent you something in the mail. If you didn’t want the account, you should have returned the thing in the mail. Maybe you thought it was junk-mail and threw it away.

Me : Yes, that’s likely. But also, that’s not good. I didn’t ask for a new account and don’t want one. I want you to close the account. And what’s the six dollar charge for?

Bad Guy : Uh, I don’t know what the charge is for. I can close the account, but you’ll need to pay the six dollars because it’s past-due.

Me : So let me get this straight- you opened a new account for me without my knowledge or permission AND charged me six bucks for something that you don’t know what it is, and actually want me to like that AND pay it? That’s quite a deal for you. What’s to stop every other company in the world from opening an account for me and charging me six bucks, too?

(Unhappy fellow transfers me to supervisor, where the above is rehashed except I find the balance to pay off the account is now 42.00 and change.)

Me : The other guy said the bill was six dollars. You say it’s forty-two. How did that happen?

Bad Guy2 : Well, we transferred your balance from your old Sam’s card to your new Discover card. You owed Sam’s 6.00 and bought 36.00 worth of gas on your Sam’s card.

Me : OK- see this is a problem. I did not ask for nor authorized a new Discover card. Please return the balances to Sams’ and close this account.

Bad Guy 2 : I’m sorry ma’am, I can’t return the balance. It’s past-due. You can pay off the account and close it, though. Just so you know, we didn’t call for your credit report!

Me : Well, that’s very nice of you, I guess, seeing as how you didn’t have permsission to do that either!

:confused:

2

MBNA changed one of my credit card to an American Express card (it was Visa or Mastercard) without my consent. Kinda pissed me off.

3

are the terms of the account different? Or did Sam’s just sell their store cards over to Discover? Does you’re Sam’s plastic go to any account other then the new Discover account? Do you owe anybody money twice? (Sam’s and Discover for the $6) Can you keep the Sam’s account open and only use it instead?

4

Are they saying that they bought the receivable from Sam’s? Even if they did, it seems like it would be a problem if their terms differed from Sam’s. Why that sort of thing is legal is unclear.

5

Sounds like Sam’s sold your debt to Discover. Not a bad thing in and of itself, but they handled it incredibly poorly if that’s the case. However, it still smells fishy to me.

6

No, Discover did not simply purchase the receivable from Sam’s. Your card is a new credit product rolled out by Sam’s, Discover, and GE Consumer Finance. Payments are processed on the Discover network, and presumably Sam’s now pays an extremely low interchange fee. Since the merchant doesn’t issue the cards anymore it doesn’t own the receivable, but it also isn’t exposed to the credit loss risk.

Even if, for whatever reason, GE did purchase the receivable, servicing would almost inevitably still be performed by the original issuer.

7

An Arky and Liberal I’m not sure how the six dollars became past due because DH manages the monthy bills, but I think it was simply the balance on the Sam’s card that was transferred to the ‘new’ card which was ignored as junk mail. The Sam’s account was current and not in arrears.

Aktep- I don’t know the answer to most of your questions except I just want to keep the ‘Sams’ only’ card (the way it was).

8

[Uncharacteristically sweeping generalization made by Inigo Montoya]

I hate credit card companies. All of 'em.
The principle is really simple: You guys front me the money at an interest rate you state and I implicitly accept when I use the card, and I pay you back at my liesure as long as you get your minimum payment. And since you’re taking all the risk, go ahead and talk to each other about how well I hold up my end of this arrangement.

That whole contract can be written in the space of, well, the back of a credit card. The fact that their offers are 3 pages of 6pt Arial legaleese with tons of weasel words and “at our discretions” thrown in only proves that they have something to hide. And sure enough, offend one with a double payment 3 days late and they all have at you like you bolted for South America!

Fuckers. All of 'em.

[/Uncharacteristically sweeping generalization made by Inigo Montoya]

9

And then they [del]bribe[/del] lobby the legislature to re-write the bankruptcy laws so that bolting to South America doesn’t look so bad after you’re financially wiped out by an uninsured illness or some other catastrophe.

10

My bottom line in all things financial - if the banks love 'em, they’re not good for us. And banks looooo-oooooove credit cards.

11

Ask DH if he recognizes the $6 on the Sam’s Card. Also call the Sam’s Card number and find out about the xfer to Discover. If that all checks out, and the $36 for gas is also correct, pay Discover the amount owed and close the account.

It may have been jarring and confusing, but if you don’t get charged a penny more than you legitimately owe, you should take the easy road and pay up. I’ve been a Discover Card user for a long time, and find their service pretty good. On the downside, you may not be able to get a plane jane Sam’s Only card, you may be stuck with the Discover brand card, if you still want the Sam’s relationship.

12

Discover’s got some bad juju behind it. Mr. Snicks used to have a Discover card, and wanted to close it. After the CSR told him that she closed the account, she said something like this:

“We value your business, sir, so if you want to reopen your account with us anytime in the next year, just use the card again.”

Mr. Snicks: :confused: Wait, use the card again? But I closed the account.

CSR: Yes, sir, I know, but the account will automatically be reopened if you use the card anytime in the next year.

Mr. Snicks: So, the account’s not really closed then?

CSR: Yes, it is. But if you want to reopen it, just use the card again.

Mr. Snicks: :confused: :confused: :confused:
I figgered it wouldn’t be too long before this practice bit them in the ass (think of the identity theft!). I’m guessing it’s bitten you - here’s how I see that it might have played out:

Sam’s converts all its cards to Discover/Sam’s cards. Since there was a charge on your Sam’s card, it now becomes a charge on the “new” Discover card. Since you had a Discover card, this charge re-opens that account. Voila! New card! New charges! New late fees!

I wouldn’t use Discover if it was the last CC on earth. Hope you can get it resolved.

13

I misread - I thought you’d had a Discover card in the last while that you’d closed. But I still think that that’s how this all played out. Bastards.

14

Do what I’m planning to do. Win the lottery, cancel all of the cards, and only buy things with cash.

Simple.

15

So…how’s that working out for you then? :wink:

16

Hey, I’m planning on winning the lottery first!

(And some day I may actually buy a lottery ticket to prove it. Except that will ruin my life-long dream of being the oldest old grandma in the state who’s never bought a lottery ticket; a goal which I’ve been diligently working on for several years now.)

17

Still in the preliminary stages. Although I have a head start, because I don’t have a credit card in the first place. :smiley:

18

This was plan A for me. I was expecting to only buy one ticket in my entire life and have the power of irony pull me through. I’m now on plan B, which is to work like a dog until I’m 65.

19

Same here, except I’m expecting it to be “until I drop.” 65 is likely to be just another day.

20

You mean they actually suggesting closing the account without at least offering to drop the six dollar fee in hopes of keeping your business? They are either idiots or they’ve got so many customers they don’t care anymore.

I don’t like that whole using the card re-activates it crud either Snickers. I always feel that though I destroy all of my cards and make sure all automatic bills are switched to another account, that somehow it’s going to get re-opened. Just close my account! Making me nervous with my finances unsettled does not make me want to go back to you at all.