Broadband Tech > General Questions > Discover card - any good?

Discover card - any good?

Only problem I have had is that may places (though probably still less than AMEX) don;t take it. And frankly the number that don't gets smaller all the time... been told enough time I guess "you don't take Discover, fine then I just won't do business with you."

Other than that...

I like....

Unlike many cards they bill on the same day every month, so an easy date to remember (like your rent due day).... and why I just cut up and returned my 12 year old Bank Amer card.... in changed by days EVERY month sometime incurring $40 late charges as a result...finally they refused those even though clearly I always paid on time in that week swing.... enough of that BS!!! YOU ARE DONE BA/VISA.
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»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)

reply to slyphoxj
Go ahead and get the Discover card, but don't close the MC account, since there are still a few places around where they don't take Discover.
Silly, I think, a credit card is a credit card?

Customer service is very good, should you ever need to call, in my experience.
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~Proud Member of Team Discovery ~

reply to slyphoxj
Discover is alright, but I would still keep the MC for the places that don't take it. I do like their 5% cash back promotions they have every few months. However there are also very good reward cards that come in the MasterCard version too. Chase Freedom seems to come to mind but there are others for different areas of spending.
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reply to jack b

reply to slyphoxj
Getting and using another credit card will not adversely affect your credit score.
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reply to slyphoxj

quote:

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I also wonder how much of a hit my credit score will take if I add another card.

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reply to slyphoxj
If you pay on time and in full each month, it is as good as the others but not any better.

I did have a little snafu with them when someone got my cc number in the DSW Shoe card processor hacking and Discover took the cheap (and ineffective) approach that they would just issue everyone a new card with the same account number and only change the expiration date. Someone figured that out pretty easy and tried to buy 5 plasma televisions at Christmas on my account.

The good side was that Discover quickly took appropriate action with the retailer and the transaction did not go through.

The bad side was that I had to strongly demand that since it was their sloppy practices that got us there in the first place they should next day or second day me a replacement card. They wanted to put it through standard processing and get me a replacement in 10 days. Ultimately they sent it second day, but I feel that I should not have had to demand they do that.
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Team Discovery

reply to slyphoxj
I really like Discover Card, for the rebates, and also because they have been the most consumer-friendly of the big four to me in terms of giving me plenty of time to pay the bill from the time they mail it, and also for having a particularly easy-to-navigate website. AMEX is also good if you get a fee-free AMEX card for supporting the customer in warranty claims. I had an $800 LCD monitor die on me a few months out of warranty, and AMEX refunded it, hassle-free, without the protracted fight I was sure was coming. (If you get an AMEX with an annual fee, which I don't have, one bonus is that you can get access to good seats at sponsored concerts that other people don't get.)

Since both American Express and Discover charge merchants a higher fee than MC or Visa, not as many stores take them, so an MC or Visa should be your first credit card.

reply to slyphoxj
I'm happy with my discover card. It's accepted pretty much everywhere, the customer service is good, and you get someone on the phone pretty fast. I had to request a chargeback a while ago and it was very easy.

Another thing I like: if you keep a balance on your card, it's easy to renegotiate your interest rate.

reply to slyphoxj

reply to slyphoxj
actually closing is better if you plan to NEVER use it. If you never use it eventually it will be canceled for inactivity. It will show on your credit report as closed by issuer which is much worse than if you close it yourself voluntarily.

Of course the way around this is to just charge something small on it every 6 months or so.

Also keep in mind with most big issuers, you can convert your card from one type to another.

reply to slyphoxj
I have a Discover card and it's O.K. but their method of doing virtual card numbers is lousy compared to Citibank. Try applying for the card below. It offers both cash back and virtual account number creation. I have it and love it.

»www.citicards.com/cards/wv/cardD···enID=923

»www.citicards.com/cards/wv/detai···ntnumber

Oh, and applying for one new card will not significantly hurt your credit score. Maybe 5-10 points max.

reply to slyphoxj
Join the Pentagon Federal Credit union and get their rewards Visa card.

Anyone can join Pentagon Federal Credit union by joining the National Military Family Association. You just need to pay $20 for the first year membership and then let it expire.
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reply to slyphoxj
I have it and sometimes, it does have a good rewards program. Used it a few times for gift cards to restaurants.

reply to Jim Gurd
My virtual number experience was just the opposite. I had a much easier time using Discover's application than Citi's. logging into Citi for a virtual number requires a double logon, once to the main card website where you can select the virtual card link which brings up a second login window where you have to reenter your user ID and password. they also have a use agreement page that you must acknowledge each time you login to the virtual site regardless if your still logged into the main card site. bottom line, a lot of jumping around and typing to get one virtual card number. why they require a double login with the same info and the agreement escapes me but that's the way it's been for at least three years.

Discover's fraud monitoring process can be problematic. Their systems monitor your buying patterns/habits and will refer your account to their fraud people for followup if something (they consider) unusual occurs. a good example is a recent interstate road trip I took with my family to visit a sick relative. we drove from friday afternoon through the night to arrive the next morning. I stopped three times along the route for gas. I attempted to use the card next day to pay for our rooms and card was declined. when we returned home, I called Discover who explained that the interstate gas purchases had triggered referral to their fraud people. the account was blocked automatically and as it was a weekend, they backburnered trying to contact us to confirm we had our card. took me a couple of hours on the phone to get this straightened out. Discover's explanation was that the purchase monitoring was a new system that was being fine tuned. I have since closed the account.

reply to slyphoxj
I love my discover card.

The 5% promo every so often is great, I like it when the run it for gas purchases. A local gas station will sell 50 dollar gift cards for 45, if i put the gift cards on my discover instant 15% off.

There disputes department is great as well. If you do use a secure number make sure that you have them cancel it if it was a one time use. Because they will allow transactions from that merchant to go though forever.

The only thing I dislike is there fraud dept. They can be a major pain in the ass. Whether it is because I'm moving, (they blocked it 3 times) or if I run out of gas and need to get a gas can (1 time) they block it.
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STOP THE NSA WIRETAPS


They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security
~Benjamin Franklin

Meh, I just send an online request for them to cancel it after the transaction I need to go though.

reply to slyphoxj
I've had my Discover card for a long time. Never had any problems. It's still the only major card accepted at Sam's club. I also like their online temp card system. »www.discovercard.com/deskshop/ I tried some other online temp cards from Visa and they only worked with certain retailers or only computers the software was installed on. With Discover desktop, you can use the browser version to do it from Linux or Mac. If you are into such things, they also recently added a whole lot of new card designs. I got one with a Sheltie on it.
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