Discover has a loooong memory

[jason0618]

So I recently applied for a discover and was approved. I called this morning to ask them a question about the rewards program and the rep said my account had been flagged as being reported lost or stolen. After a few questions, we figured out she was talking about my original discover card that I opened back in college--in 1996.
She had the account number, credit line, $0 balance, my old address... basically everything. Unfortunately, it closed due to non-usage though. I thought for a minute that I had lucked into reactivating a 20 year old credit line. Instead, I got welcome back to Discover.
I just was impressed that they maintain records for that long on an account that wasn't closed for any negative reasons.

[zerofire]

Data is cheap to maintain and is getting cheaper by the quarter. Discover as a company that maintains a complete network would be more likely to hold a full file from 20-30 years back. Visa and Mastercard less so but the issuers on those networks will remember you if you leave a lasting memory(burn anyone?). Realistically its just buisness and sometimes you have these fun situations that good customer records are kept as well hoping they come back. In fact I think Discover try's to intentionally support their customers from going off the deep end as much as they realistically can. Treat them well and they will treat you well. Treat them poorly and they will sue you for their money back. I have just started with Discover myself and there was a minor mix up in card color. Not that big of a deal but Discover sent a replacement card to make it right.

[grillandwinemaster]

Discover Rocks!

Imagine If they started backdating! That would be the ultimate! I know it's not happening...

[Anonymous]

I love Discover and especially for their customer service.  They are such a pleasure to deal with you almost want to call them just to chat about what a nice day it is lol.

[jason0618]

Just on the one call today and a recon call a few months ago, I agree. They declined me on recon but really made it sound like they wanted to have me. I waited a couple of months like he told me to and got approved with the second app, so I'm pretty happy. Hopefully I will find them to be on par with NFCU, since I burned them in the bankruptcy...

[happypill]

Pretty sure every lender keeps records dating back forever.  Some may forgive, but they never forget.  The real PITA is when some lenders get acquired and negative history just gets consolidated together.

[zasx]

Never commented here before, but felt compelled to write.  Not a fan of Discover and, yes, they do have long memories.  A little history....Up until a year ago, I had a pretty high UTI, although I never had a late payment report to any credit reporting agencies for any account.  Borrowed against my 401K and paid everything off (wanted a fresh start).  As I had no late payments, my credit scores shot up from the mid 600's to the low to mid 700's.  Wanted the Discover-It card and i applied for it (I already had a Discover card since '08) .  Asked to call in and when I did they offered me a crappy $1K limit on the new card.  When I inquired as to why it was so low (other cards were giving me $8K - $12K limits), they explained that they were a conservative lender.  Whatever.  When I balked they offered to split funds between the two cards (other limit was about $2K).  I declined....wasted a hard pull too.  Fast forward to last week.  FICO's at the time were 800 (Equifax), 798 (Transunion) and 789 (Experian).  I am starting to contact the credit card companies to reduce my APR's, which shot up during my high UTI period.  I decided to start with Discover, as my APR was highest with them - 26.24% variable. Initiated a chat ("Michael" noted that I had $0 balance) and, to my surprise, would NOT offer me a permanent rate reduction - just a temporary one.  Again, I registered my disappointment and declined.  Thankfully, I now have much better options.  The Discover card will be sock-drawered, used sporadically and PIF going forward.  I can understand them not wanting to extend credit if they are "conservative" (that is their right), but to not lower my APR from what is essentially a penalty rate is pretty ridiculous.