My letter to be mailed to Discover as well as the Attorney General's office and class action lawyers.
I have a Discover card (xx03) that used to have a promotional rate of 0% for life provided that 3 charges of any amount are made each billing cycle. This past January was a very trying month for me as well as the rest of the world and I ended up making my third charge the day before my billing cycle closed. It was an accident and a risk, but I felt assured that the charge would post, because the vendor, Duane Reade, is a large company and they always send their transaction feeds the same day as the transaction all at the same time. It's done electronically.in the past, all my charges from there have posted on the same day the transaction was made. So granted, the charge should have been made earlier in the month, but I felt assured the transaction would post that day since it was more than a full day BEFORE the cycle closed and before the transaction feed was sent. I also felt assured that it would post because I have called Discover on numerous occasions over the years and spoken to the reps and Supervisors, and they all said that transactions will post the day the transaction feed is sent in even if it's on the closing date, provided the feed is received about 3 hours before the statement cycles. They also say they can see the charge on the 1st or 2nd and say that it should post that night.
My third charge was made on February 1st. My closing date was February 2nd so the statement cycled around 4am EST on February 3rd.
So, if what everyone at Discover, from customer rep to Supervisor, has told me to be correct, why is it that my transaction did not post on the 1st or even the 2nd, but was held over to post on the 3rd? I may have thought that the feed was not sent until after my statement cycled, but I have another Discover card that I use for daily purchases (xx40 closing date: 16th) and I had used the card that same day and the day after at that same store and those charges posted the same day the transaction was made.
Not understanding this, I reviewed all the paperwork I received about the special offer, and while it did mention that transactions have to post before the closing date, there was absolutely no mention that any transaction made and received by Discover the day before and the day of the closing date WILL NOT POST.
So I again, like many times before, called in and spoke with several reps and supervisors and asked them why my xx03 transaction didn't post, but the one on my other card (xx40) did. All they could say was that the merchant (Duane Reade) didn't send it in. They wouldn't even look into it, because a Supervisor had written some nasty notes on my account because she didn't like that I was making small charges, but there is no amount minimum set forth on the offer details. I felt and have always felt that I have been within my rights to make charges of any amount to keep my rate as it completely falls within the terms and conditions of the offer.
With no one willing to talk with me or look into the matter, I decided to run an experiment the following month where I made charges to both of my Discover cards within a minute apart of each other at the same Duane Reade as I had made my February 1st transaction. The transactions were made on March 1st which again was one day before my xx03 account closed (March 2nd). March 1st also happened to be a Sunday as was February 1st. (See below and attached statements and receipts)
What I found was the same: That the transactions made on my other card (xx40) posted that night, but the transactions to xx03 did not. Mind you, I made a total of 4 charges, first to xx40, then xx03, then xx40. Then several hours later I made another charge to xx40, all on the same day at the same Duane Reade. All charges made to xx40 posted that day, but charges to xx03 were held over for TWO DAYS and posted on 3/3/09, the day after my statement closed.
Discover Card ending in xx03:
01/22/09 01/22/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 0.01 Merchandise / Retail
01/28/09 01/28/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 0.01 Merchandise / Retail
02/01/09 02/01/09 INTERNET PAYMENT - THANK YOU $ -162.00 Payments and Credits
02/01/09 02/03/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 0.01 Merchandise / Retail
02/02/09 02/03/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 0.01 Merchandise / Retail
03/01/09 03/03/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 0.01 Merchandise / Retail
Discover Card ending in xx40:
02/01/09 02/01/09 DUANE READE #0104 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 7.78 Merchandise / Retail
02/02/09 02/02/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 20.70 Merchandise / Retail
03/01/09 03/01/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 0.01 Merchandise / Retail
03/01/09 03/01/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 0.01 Merchandise / Retail
03/01/09 03/01/09 DUANE READE #0354 Q04 NEW YORK NY $ 0.04 Merchandise / Retail
This makes no since to me considering that there isn't one person of the 20-30 reps and supervisors that I've spoken to about this over the years and recently who have ALL confirmed that transactions can and will post to the account the day before and the day of the closing date. This is apparently not true and so I have decided to write in hope that you will be able to answer why my transaction didn't post in time which cause me to lose my 0% offer not only this time but previously as well. I certainly appreciate that my 0% offer was restored in the past, but I would have never lost the offer if purchases posted according to how your reps have stated.
As I am sure you are aware, I have paid off my balance due to the fact that the 0% offer was removed. I hope that you will be able to restore the 0% balance transfer rate and that you will be able to make clear how and when transactions can and will post, not only to me but to your account reps at every level as well.
Devonk
ny, New York
U.S.A.
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