Discover disputing a transaction

[Weights]

I'm wondering if others have had similar experiences to that of my own. Mind you, I don't look to do business with a merchant that's likely to give me a problem, and even if it occurs, I make multipe attempts to work things out. I'll even let the merchant know of my intent to dispute the charge should the issue go unresolved. To be fair, I do like that Discover has all their customer service based in the US, in addition to their promotions and overall treatment of cardholders. I've had my account with them since 2007. 

That said, I'm extremely disappointed with them in regards to their policies on handling transaction disputes. It seems with them, the burden lies squarely on the cardholder, and that they will almost always side with the merchant. This is even if they didn't provide a full and satisfying response.

For example, I returned a couple of accessories Verizon Wireless sent me on an order that they said was cancelled. Still, I was charged and sent  the items anyways. After almost a month of not receiving a credit, even after verifying with them that the items were received and signed for, in accordance with their return policies, they didn't refund me. After not getting anywhere with their CS, I filed a dispute with Discover, and provided them all the tracking and policy info needed to convince them I should receive this credit. Three weeks later, they sided with Verizon, claming that Verizon couldn't locate the items in their warehouse. Excuse me, but why is that my fault if I did everything correctly on my end?! Thankfully, Verizon finally admitted they were wrong shortly after, and credited me back, with hardly no help from Discover.

In another example, I was on a trip in Wheeling, WV and purchased 18 holes of golf from Wilson Lodge in Oglebay. Their terms of sale stated that I was to receive a voucher in the case of inclement weather which prevented me from finisihing all 18 holes. After about 2 or 3 holes, thundering surfaced, and everyone had to vacate the course. The front desk, instead of giving the voucher to me, claimed they gave it to someone else in my group, which he subsequently denied (wouldn't surprise me if he lied about that though). Regardless, they refused to issue me one, even after talking with managment. I filed a dispute with Discover on this and even included a copy of their policy in this regards, in addition to the receipt I signed.  Discover once again sided with the merchant, on the grounds that Wilson Lodge stated they fulfilled the terms. Yet, Discover admitted that they failed to ask Wilson Lodge for a copy of any vouchers given to me. After escaliation to the executive team, they did issue me a courtesy credit (appreciate the gesture), but didn't give me a clear answer as to why a thorough investigation wasn't carried out. I proceeded to express my disapointment to them, and that while I appreciate their good points and the courtesy credit, I can no longer use this card in confidence, as it seems they go in with a bias towards the merchant in the event of a dispute.  What if this transaction had been for a much larger amount in the hundreds or even thousands? I doubt that they would've issued a courtesy credit had they sided with the merchant. 

I've never had this problem with any other card processor or bank (includes chase sapphire preferred, barclay ring). With others, it seems that a full investigation was conducted and a fair resolution was bought about. I'm not saying that similar experiences don't happen elsewhere, but Discover has been seemingly consistent in not being fair to the cardholder after asking others around me about their experiences. I told the executive team that because of this, I would no longer use this card nearly as much, as I can't trust them to conduct an impartial and full investigation in the future, should another issue surface. 

I recently applied and got approved for an AMEX gold premiere rewards card (decided to give it another chance after being declined and receiving less than stellar service for reconsideration in 2011). So far, I've had no issues with them, and others tell me that they're typically the best with disputes should they become necessary. Granted, I can't speak from experience, but they seem to be much better about this than Discover from what I've heard.  For this reason, in addition to their overall reviews from others, I plan to make this my primary card from now on. I know that a FR might occur at some point, but it doesn't concern me, as everything on my app was truthful. 

Sorry about the long post, but I'm just so disappointed with Discover. I'm glad that I've never had to deal with fradulent charges thus far on this account; I can only imagine what a nightmare that might be. I'm curious if others have had similar experiences to me, and if things ever changed for the better afterwords. Thanks for letting me rant. 

[Open123]

Your experience has been consistent of what I've read about Discover over the years; namely, they almost always side with the merchant.  This has been their reputation since their launching in the mid 90s.

For this reason, I've never used my Discover for any tangible purchase.  They're fine for things I'd never return or may not require the "90 day accidental" warranty thing.  For any purchase that may go wrong, I always use an Amex.  For big tangible purchases, unless the merchant accepts Amex (especially over the net), I'll go elsewhere and find another merchant/vendor.

[enharu]

Thanks for sharing.

I never expected the whole process to be such a pain with Discover. I can't really say much about your golf dispute since that's quite a unique and out of the norm compared to the usual disputes, but I'm surprised they gave you such a hard time over your Verizon order.

Looks like I'll just stick to using Discover for ShopDiscover with the merchants that I trust to not screw me over.

Over the years I didn't really have to file much disputes, since most of the merchants, Amazon especially, have been extremely accomodating if I ever needed help for any reason. Luckily, I have only needed to file about 4-5 disputes in total with Chase, Wells Fargo and Citi over the span of 8 years approximately, mostly because of fradulent sellers on eBay. The process was pretty much simple and painless, even for Citi, which is known for their terrible customer service. Most of the time, the credit shows up within 24 hours on my account and the most I had to do was to sign an affidavit and email / fax it over.

[andre181]

I've only had one dispute with Discover and it was ruled in my favor. 

I ordered an iPhone for a friend from a prepaid carrier (she paid me in cash and I charged it since she doesn't have any CC's). On the order form, it asks for the billing address, which I put mine, and it asks for the shipping address, which I put hers. The fulfillment company sends the phone to my address for some reason. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal as I could just bring it to her, but I was out of town at the time, and FedEx left it at my door without requiring a signature. Sure enough the iPhone was gone when I got home 2 days later. FedEx denied the insurance claim since it was shipped without requiring a signature and the phone company says it was my fault for the phone being lost even though it was never supposed to be sent to my house. Not to mention when I got the email confirmation that the phone was shipped and noticed it was going to my house, I called FedEx and the phone company to try and stop it knowing I wouldn't be home but no one listened. 

So I called Discover and they immediately put a temporary credit for $494 on my account while they investigate. 30 days later, they ruled in my favor because they never got a response from the phone company regarding this issue. Obviously the fact that the phone company never contacted them helped I'm sure, but I'm just glad Discover did what was right.

[Open123]

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@andre181 wrote:

So I called Discover and they immediately put a temporary credit for $494 on my account while they investigate. 30 days later, they ruled in my favor because they never got a response from the phone company regarding this issue. Obviously the fact that the phone company never contacted them helped I'm sure, but I'm just glad Discover did what was right.

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Glad it worked out for you!

You're very fortunate the phone company never bothered to reply or replied late.  If they made any kind of token reply within the time frame, Discover would have rejected your chargeback request, as would Visa/MC would have under the same circumstances.  Under these circumstances, only Amex may issue a chargeback even with a Merchant reply, since their Merchant agreement stipulates Amex has complete discretion on chargebacks.  For Amex chargebacks, they don't even need to inquire with the merchant and there is no right of appeal for the Merchant.

This is why I use Amex for all high value tangible purchases.

[Open123]

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@enharu wrote:

Looks like I'll just stick to using Discover for ShopDiscover with the merchants that I trust to not screw me over.

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These days, the only time I'll use ShopDiscover is for Groupon purchases for the 15% cashback.  

Everything else, you can find a better cashback elsewhere, e.g. UR, evreward, topcashback.  For every online purchase, I search and use the site with the highest cashback.  I prefer this method since the cashback is higher than most proprietary sites (with a few merchant exceptions) and I can use my Amex SPG for purchases.  

Now I realize why Amex got rid of their MR portal.  It only dilutes their points and eventually all smart shoppers will flock to the 3rd party sites which pay more, carry less restrictions and allow for the use of *any* card.

[2011beginnings]

I've had disputes with AMEX and they always sided with me. Two for over $200 and one for $129 between my AMEX Gold and my BCE. I did start two disputes with my BofA CR card and the information BofA wanted was so ridiculous I just let it go. In the event that I charge something I have any concern over, I choose AMEX every time.

[navigatethis12]

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@Open123 wrote:

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Under these circumstances, only Amex may issue a chargeback even with a Merchant reply, since their Merchant agreement stipulates Amex has complete discretion on chargebacks.  For Amex chargebacks, they don't even need to inquire with the merchant and there is no right of appeal for the Merchant.

This is why I use Amex for all high value tangible purchases.

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This is only one of many reasons some merchants will not take American Express.

[Open123]

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@navigatethis12 wrote:

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@Open123 wrote:

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Under these circumstances, only Amex may issue a chargeback even with a Merchant reply, since their Merchant agreement stipulates Amex has complete discretion on chargebacks.  For Amex chargebacks, they don't even need to inquire with the merchant and there is no right of appeal for the Merchant.

This is why I use Amex for all high value tangible purchases.

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This is only one of many reasons some merchants will not take American Express.

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Agreed!  

I've read their Merchant agreement and unless my business absolutely relied on Amex cardmembers, I wouldn't accept Amex under those conditions.  It gets even more one sided when Amex can place a Merchant on "auto" chargebacks even if cardmember disputes have been fabricated and entirely without merit.

However, as an individual consumer, I find this benefit comforting when making large purchases, especially over the internet.

[Open123]

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@2011beginnings wrote:
I've had disputes with AMEX and they always sided with me. Two for over $200 and one for $129 between my AMEX Gold and my BCE. I did start two disputes with my BofA CR card and the information BofA wanted was so ridiculous I just let it go. In the event that I charge something I have any concern over, I choose AMEX every time.

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Right, even on accidental replacement and warranty claims, most times they'll just credit the account without even requesting documentation or the item sent back.  I'd imagine they would for higher valued items, but it's leaps and bounds beyond what is required by Visa, MC or Discover.