topic Re: Discover IT going to the SD in Credit Cards

Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:35:22 GMT

Anyone else really disappointed with this card lately?

A pair of headphones I purchased with the card got damaged accidentally, so I went to check how long the accident protection went back. Turns out they've discontinued it. Not only that, they've discontinued pretty much all of the consumer protection benefits on the card (extended warranty, return guarantee, price protection, etc).

Now I just really see no use for this card. I guess it's good for some of the category spend each quarter, but why would I use it for any major purchase when other cards offer way better consumer protection benefits, and often equal or better rewards?

Sorry for the small rant....just had to get that off my chest.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:33:47 GMT

I only use mine for gas and restaurants so I don't need to worry about that but still manage a decent amount of cashback.
I use another rewards card for purchasing items. The other card has total product protection.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:35:00 GMT

Mine no longer gets used, but it had good use for the the first year so no regrets.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

mkhan1093 — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:24:06 GMT

Agreed. I only ever use mine if a 5% category is useful and it doesn't overlap with the Chase Freedom's categories. Definitely don't use mine for products that could get damaged and I'd need protection.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Adkins — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:13:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Anyone else really disappointed with this card lately?

A pair of headphones I purchased with the card got damaged accidentally, so I went to check how long the accident protection went back. Turns out they've discontinued it. Not only that, they've discontinued pretty much all of the consumer protection benefits on the card (extended warranty, return guarantee, price protection, etc).

Now I just really see no use for this card. I guess it's good for some of the category spend each quarter, but why would I use it for any major purchase when other cards offer way better consumer protection benefits, and often equal or better rewards?

Sorry for the small rant....just had to get that off my chest.

This should not have been a surprise. They sent emails and physical mail, informing customers of the change before it happened. It was discussed at length here, once the news broke about it last year: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Discover-losing-benefits/td-p/5104214

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:25:52 GMT

@Adkins wrote:

This should not have been a surprise. They sent emails and physical mail, informing customers of the change before it happened. It was discussed at length here, once the news broke about it last year: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Discover-losing-benefits/td-p/5104214

weird. I never got anything from them. I knew they cut out Discover Deals a few months ago. Sometime last month, I noticed the price protection was dropped, but I seem to recall that everything else was in place at that time.

It seems like an odd move though. These changes have made the card a far less competitive choice.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

kdm31091 — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:27:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Adkins wrote:

This should not have been a surprise. They sent emails and physical mail, informing customers of the change before it happened. It was discussed at length here, once the news broke about it last year: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Discover-losing-benefits/td-p/5104214

weird. I never got anything from them. I knew they cut out Discover Deals a few months ago. Sometime last month, I noticed the price protection was dropped, but I seem to recall that everything else was in place at that time.

It seems like an odd move though. These changes have made the card a far less competitive choice.

The average consumer doesn't know or care about these benefits, and they cost money to provide. Removing them upsets a small fraction of the customer base, and really we're complaining about the removal more than we ever talked about actually using the benefits!

The card is still useful for non "important" purchases where you truly expect to need price/purchase/whatever protection.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

K-in-Boston — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:33:17 GMT

As I've moved further away from cash back cards, mine is generally sock drawered. DW and I both use ours for balance transfers. The 5% categories have either overlapped with the other cards we have (including Freedom, but there's also the 5% from Amazon and BJ's that have overlapped) or they have been in categories where it's not even worth the headache of carrying an additional card.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:37:16 GMT

Lots of people are getting away from this card. My buddy did the same. It's too bad because at one point this was a pretty hot card.. but just like with ANY product, you must continually support and change it otherwise people stop using it!

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:42:51 GMT

It seems more and more that all that price protection hoopla is on cards with AF anyways. Non AF cards simply cannot compete with all the perks.

I typically SD Discover since I've had it, only use it for category and BT offers. It's my highest CL, so I'm not gonna close it either.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:47:25 GMT

I really like Discover it. Perhaps they'll notice the change in people's spending (like only using for gas and restaurants), since they cut back on certain perks and will decide to bring them back

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Remedios — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:49:40 GMT

I loved on it for the first year during cashback match.

Now we're in the *meh* stage

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Schwartzinator — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 22:02:00 GMT

This card lost most of its appeal after the first year. I now seldomly use the card outside of the quarterly targets, and when I do, it's on products that don't warrant purchase protections.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 22:43:29 GMT

Yeah I am SDing mine when I get my match in April. It will come out for Amazon 4Q since I’m gardening which means no Amazon cards.

It really doesn’t even have anything to do with the card features (I’m EXTREMELY unlikely to ever go through the hoops they demand to use such benefits) but rather the poor rewards rate. My Capital One has 1.5% and a slightly higher limit while my cashRewards has 1.5% plus Member Mall and the same CL as my Discover and both of those cards do have those aforementioned benefits plus they both give you your cashback when the purchase posts so guess which cards I am going to use instead of the Discover?

Disco needs to take the money they saved on these benefits that most people don’t use and bump to a 2% base reward.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

DaveInAZ — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 23:16:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Adkins wrote:

This should not have been a surprise. They sent emails and physical mail, informing customers of the change before it happened. It was discussed at length here, once the news broke about it last year: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Discover-losing-benefits/td-p/5104214

weird. I never got anything from them. I knew they cut out Discover Deals a few months ago. Sometime last month, I noticed the price protection was dropped, but I seem to recall that everything else was in place at that time.

It seems like an odd move though. These changes have made the card a far less competitive choice.

I was more disappointed when they cut Discover deals than cutting the price protection & other bennies. Last spring I decided to splurge on a 4k TV and decided on a 65" Sony model for around $1200. Sony makes all authorized dealers have to same manufacturer retail price price. I could have bought it at a local Best Buy but the local sales tax is 9.5% and I'm not going to pay over $100 in sales tax for a TV. So I looked on Discover deals and found it at Abt Electronics for the same $1200 but no sales tax & free shipping, plus 5% Disco Deals for $60 cashback, done deal! Disco still had those buyer protection bennies then, so no worries. Now with Disco deals gone along with the buyer protection bennies I'm very unlikely to put that kind of purchase on my Discover card.

(AZ Sales tax is weird. The state sales tax is only 5.6%, but the counties & cities are free to add their own local sales tax on top of the state tax, and boy do they take advantage of that!)

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

luxlight — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 23:30:42 GMT

Honestly I've been looking for a good card to replace my Discover IT once my 3% cashback offer runs out. With all the benefits gutted, I can't use the card for high value purchases and really only on consumables. I'm thinking of getting the Citi Double Cash once my offer ends and sockdrawer the Discover whenever a 5% category doesn't match up with my spending

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

pinkandgrey — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 02:08:12 GMT

I love my It card! Disco has been great to me and I’ve gotten a decent amount of cash back from them. Plus their customer service is about the best there is.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

wasCB14 — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 02:11:41 GMT

In Discover's eyes, people who pay in full, track bonus categories, and know about benefit terms are a bunch of unprofitable deadbeats. Discover knows they won't appeal to most big spenders and frequent flyers so don't even try to attract them.

Instead, they appeal to people who occasionally carry a balance. They give them a BT offer or promo APR and make a modest return with fairly low risk.

Remember, it's not really a CC company or diversified bank. It's a consumer finance company with a CC division.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 02:16:36 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
In Discover's eyes, people who pay in full, track bonus categories, and know about benefit terms are a bunch of unprofitable deadbeats. Discover knows they won't appeal to most big spenders and frequent flyers so don't even try to attract them.

Instead, they appeal to people who occasionally carry a balance. They give them a BT offer or promo APR and make a modest return with fairly low risk.

Remember, it's not really a CC company or diversified bank. It's a consumer finance company with a CC division.

yeah, their saving account has pretty good interest rate.

5% cash back is nothing to sneezed at. So I am sure it will have some use here and there for many people.

Re: Discover IT going to the SD

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 06:37:21 GMT

>The average consumer doesn't know or care about these benefits, and they cost money to provide.

You dont use the airbags in the car either, do you? The average customer would not even tell if thier car has them. They would assume it does.. like most car(d)s provide protection benefits.

You contradict yourself.. if noone used the benefits, it would cost very little to none to provide. Pretty much nothing.

They did a major screw up dropping the perks that were distinguishing them, just as they were picking up speed and customer base.

I think some smart manager got a fat bonus for this "smart" move, and checked out of the company, and now they will be hurting in the long term. Even if they reintroduce deals and benefits, i would not trust them. And i was thinking opening an account with them.. no way now.