@Anonymous wrote:Don't feel bad, its not you, its Discover.
Last month I tried for a CLI on my two discover cards, both denied due to the fact that I have out an unsecured loan. But isn't a credit card an unsecured loan too??
Anyway, I called them up on the phone. I spoke to a rude man, I told him I have a 786 FICO score according to the Discover site, I have a 7 figure income and $250,000 in my Discover savings account. He then laughed at me and told me to move my money to another bank. Discover does not need customers like me. He then hung up on me, so no CLI for me to say the least. I have not moved the money out of my Discover account as of yet, Kind of lazy here but still surprised at his answer. So don't feel bad, they do not seem to want anyone at all as their customers LOL
Thanks
Mark
@Anonymous: You encountered the "What does God need with a starship?" conundrum. You already have an auto loan to help with the credit mix portion of your FICO scores, so other installment loans are redundant. Someone with a seven figure income and an auto loan doesn't need to borrow $39K and keep that unsecured loan open for more than 24 months thus far, unless there was a very serious cash flow problem in the past that's still not resolved, or else there's fraud involved with that loan. In either case, Discover doesn't want to extend more credit with CLIs, because Discover CC charges might not be repaid.
You can prove to Discover the former reason is not the case by immediately paying off your unsecured Lending Club loan. It's about $9K by now, correct? No sweat with a seven figure income.
For the latter reason, it's not unheard of for a relative or employee of a seven figure income earner with dozens of open credit accounts (more than five dozen in your case) to take out a loan and make monthly payments unbeknownst to the seven figure income earner. So, the other reason Discover specifically noted the unsecured loan as the reason for their denial was in case this loan was a surprise to you.
I'm sorry to hear of the rude Discover CSR. You didn't deserve that. You should report him to Discover so it doesn't happen again, either to you or to other customers.
On the phone, someone in your high income situation with a foreign accent can easily come across as "entitled." This occasionally results in unpleasant phone conversations one doesn't soon forget. However, one can nearly always avoid this with CSRs.
Like most things in life, there's a trick to it:
Speak to the CSR as if this is the wonderful person who can, and will, do whatever it takes to accomplish what you're asking for. Speak every word with a genuine smile on your face, because you believe the CSR will do the favor you ask if it's at all possible.
Your voice changes when you genuinely smile, and you speak with a different rhythm and energy when you're happy and hopeful. The CSR will notice this, respond positively during your conversation, and help you if possible, because you're not the obnoxious, entitled jerk he has to deal with several times every hour. The exceptions to the positive experience are when the CSR is working at the wrong job or is having a really bad day. In that case, tell the CSR, "Sorry, there's a fire in the kitchen! Thanks for your time." Hang up and call again for a different CSR.
