please sum up all discover dislike in this thread

[Anonymous]

Meh. I got started with a pretty small CL too $1500. They gave me some auto luv last week though of 500 bucks. Sent me an email for a free sbux drink. I'll take that. I love it, I get a lot of cash back on my shop discover shopping. Customer service is good too. I wish more people accepted them. I ended up getting CSP and FRDM because most of my everday purchases only accept visa or amex but never discover. I could go on and on about why i don't give much business to my BoA card, but I'm going to keep it open until I buy a house in two years unless I can get them shake off the AF otherwise I will be closing up all my BoA accounts and shifting over to NFCU or Penfed later this year. 

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am sort of mildly annoyed at Discover because A) They are among the worst lender for recons, if not the worst  B) When I applied for a Discover It, they wouldn't offer me an individual acount (understandable given my scores) but also would not offer me a secured card. They instead countered with a joint account, which from my understanding can't become an individual account later (so eventually I'm going to have to close the joint account after I get in their good graces and get an individual account). I asked if I could do a secured card instead and they said no --  that the secured card is only available as an option for certain qualified applicants.

This struck me as strange for two reasons. Firstly, I've read of people on myFICO being extended the secured Discover It card with their scores in the 500s. Secondly, a secured card would be much more safe for Discover than a joint account. If I default on a secured card, at least they have my deposit to recoup the charge off. If I default on a joint account, they may or may not get their money back, depending on what the other joint account holder does.

In any case, I really would have preferred a seccured card because at least when it graduates it is more or less the same as an unsecured Discover It account. As it stands, I'm eventually going to have to take another hard pull with Discover to get an individual account after they see my payment history on my joint account.

EDIT: Popa, what are these "free" $1.99 Amazon Gift cards of which you speak?

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My impression of how Discover works, and to some extent AMEX, and CapOne, once you get the card with them, they don't really care what your FICO score does. They want you to use their card, use it heavily, and if you use their card to the max, to the detriment of the other cards in your wallet, then Discover (and AMEX and CapOne) is very happy, FICO be darned. (and FWIW, the "hit" to your FICO score from maxing one card is probably overblown).

Then, once you decide you really want a Discover card, and are using it heavily, paying it and using it, they are quite happy with that, and that may lead to future CLI. Asking prematurely for a CLI, however, is counter-productive with a card like Discover. Their thinking is, "we gave you a $1,000 limit. You haven't maxed that out yet. Why not?" While the thinking of MyFICO members is, "if I go over 10% on this card, my FICO score is going in the toilet". totally at odds with what Discover wants, which is heavy usage of THEIR card, not seeking OTHER cards.

So, as to the joint Discover card you do have, with the $1k limit, are you maxing that out?

[Anonymous]

I was putting some heavy usage on my Discover card, at about 60% usage, I know I know. But I always payed before the statement cut.

[NRB525]

and as I thought I read elsewhere, the $1.99 "free Amazon Gift card" is another trick used to put a small charge on a CC to get them to credit you off, via the $1.99 Amazon Gift card. It's Free!

Another non-standard trick propagated through MyFICO to get the CCC annoyed at the card holder, and lead to card closure, in my opinion.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I was putting some heavy usage on my Discover card, at about 60% usage, I know I know. But I always payed before the statement cut.

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In my opinion, this is not productive. It does not use the time value of money, which is what the CC PIF after ~45 day cycle is there for, and it does not get the card pushed to the limit of its CL, which is part of the CLI strategy of using the card heavily.

[Anonymous]

It makes for a Janky version of the BoA BBR.

[BarryNTexas]

i'm now "whatever" about Discover... low initial CL and got the 20% increase at 6 months.  200 bucks seemed stingy.  In December I did the "call the number on the back of the card and do automated CLI... once it states need to speak to a rep, hung up" trick.  Next day had a $1K increase... no HP.

It will be 1 year old on the 20th and I plan to hang onto it for another year to play with category spends. (edit typo)

[Anonymous]

I get nowhere near to maxing it out every month -- less than $100/month. The rotating categories don't help me much this quarter with my Sallie Mae offering 5% back on gas. And I'm hoping for a CLI on my Sallie Mae when my 6th statement rolls around so I use Sallie Mae over Discover It almost every time. I only make one or two charges per month on my Discover It since I really don't care about getting a CLI on a card that is eventually going to be closed anyway, since I'm only doing this to have built somewhat of a relationship with Discover when I eventually apply to get an individual account.

[mikelo22]

The biggest thing with Discover that annoys people would be their inconsistency with CLI's. It's hard to find a rhyme or reason for Discover's madness as to why some people get CLI's and others don't, especially when the credit profiles are often so similar. 

That said, at least Discover does allow for the LUV button on occasion. They could be worse and act like Barclays and absolutely require a HP for any customer-initated CLI request.

As for myself, I've been sitting on $3k since I opened the account last June. This continues to be my smallest CL. The LUV button has appeared finally but they always want a HP. Frustrating, yes, but overall I'm still satisfied with Discover. Great Customer Service.

[bdhu2001]

Right now, the only reason I keep them is the free TU score. They dropped my CL (from 5K or 10K to $500) during the bank crash and never brought it back up.  When I've requested an increase, they're ask "is there a major purchase you'd like to make?" and I'm honest, "no.  I need a credit limit that's decent enough so I can use it without going over or screwing up my utilization."  

They do a hard pull, but never give me the CLI. I understand that they don't have much incentive to raise it, because I use the card for very small purchases. But I use it for very small purchases, because the CL is too low for me to make the type of purchases I would normally put on a credit card.  I know catch 22.  At some point, I'll probably just apply for a different card that will give me my TU score and be done with them.  What's the kicker is that I know with my FICO score, and income,  I can apply for a new Discover card and get a very good limit. I just refuse to add a new TL for a card I already have, but they won't increase my limit.

Anyway, I've recently bought a new home and put 13 inquiries on my record. I'm in the garden until 6/2016.  When I leave, I'll decide if I really want a free TU score that much. If so, I'll decide whether or not to apply for one of the other cards that provide a TU FICO score. If not, I'll drop the Discover card then if I don't do it sooner.