Discover card - am I paranoid?
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| Tue, 06-02-2009 - 1:32pm |
Hi! I am a sometimes-lurker on this board, and when I do come here, I always find wise advice from a very well-informed group....
Just a thought/story/experience to put out there:
I have a balance on a Discover card account - it is 2 years old, and is at 0% for the life of the transfer, as long as I make two purchases each billing cycle. So, I buy $5-10 worth of gas a few times a month and put it on the account, and have been successful in holding on to the 0% offer (so far).
A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail notice to call their Frauds department and was told that they had just declined some charges they thought were fraudulent and that my account would be closed and a new card issued. To make a very long story short, I just got my second replacement card in the mail (there was a problem with the first one) and activated it. Their customer service, as always, was very helpful, but I swear they gave me the hardest sell for payment protection, rewards programs, etc. This was the case when the first card came, and now that I think of it, the last few calls I've had from them. Here is my paranoid question - I wonder if there is a possibility they just issued a new card to me in order to get me on the phone a few times and give me the sales pitch??? I doubt they would be that desperate for new customers of their special features, but I swear the last rep I had on the phone almost got me to sign up for something without my realizing it, and I think I am pretty savvy.
Just curious if anyone else had had something similar happen? Please tell me I am overly cynical and I'll just go back into lurker-mode :)

First
Thank you! Yes, I've been watching the interest that is getting charged on the new purchases, because of course they don't apply the payment to that balance, but to the 0% balance. So, there is interest, but so far it is minimal. I think what they really wait for is for you not to make the required two purchases, then the 0% is hiked up. So far, I've been ok, although this month I was without a card for over 2 weeks while they "re-issued it", so there was less time to remember to make those purchases. As I am typing this, I am realizing how much work this all is, and what room for error on my part there is, and I'm thinking you are right, it's definitely time to find something the else. The good news for me is that for the time I've had this, I've paid down the balance from $7500+ to around $3k.
Thanks!!!