I have been a Discover Card holder for several months. A couple of months ago they sent me an offer with checks where I could get write myself a check at 1.9% interest for 6 months. I did this and they quickly "hit me" with excessive fees, penalties, and a 10 fold interest rate increase. I want to accuse them of deceptive advertising.
This appears to be a cash advance or loan at 1.9%. The 1.9% is in the largest type on the page. The fine print is where the deception lies. If this was an "honest" offer, why do they put the negative penalties in fine print??? First, in fine print, it says that this will be treated as a balance transfer, not a cash advance. The fact that they send you checks to fill out implies that this is not a balance transfer. I didn't want a
balance transfer, but wanted a low interest loan, which is what they made this appear to be. Now they can charge a balance transfer fee... And they did... $50. Their brochure doesn't imply this would happen by its appearance, ; it is in the fine print. Why do we need a fee for this? Why should it not be a cash advance at 1.9%? Because they want to rip me off with the
transfer fee, that's why.
Secondly, I paid a minimum of $65 a week late, so they raised the interest rate from 1.9% to 18.74%: nearly a 10X increase. It is implied to me that this is for the life of the "loan", even though I have paid hundreds off on the balance since then. This is also a "fine print" ripoff: if you are a little late with any payment, another unnecessary ripoff is applied (to their benefit).
I now feel that they are called Discover because you will soon discover that they are extremely eager to apply exorbinate and unnecessary fees and penalties to your account by trickery: deceptive advertising and misleading offers purposely designed with "traps" for you to fall into. If they are honest, why all the fine print? Why not have the fees and penalties printed as large as the 1.9% interest rate? Why not call it in large print a balance transfer? I think you can guess the answer.
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