I just hang up on them when they mention the plan. They eventually stopped calling. Yeah, it might seem rude, but they called me.

But even if the product isn't worthwhile, which is up to the OP to decide, two different callers assured him he would only be receiving an information packet. The service itself is not the bad part, it's the way the first two callers duped the customer.

Now, as far as closing his account goes and all that, I would say not. If only because it was completely hassle-free to cancel the service. Her right makes up for their wrong and I'd say learn from the lesson and just tell the cold-callers to fuck off.

But that's just me and how I'd handle the situation.

Why are these emails always written with such a vindictive tone? The OP has had a great experience with Discover, and now because someone with or without Discover's approval signed them up for the protection plan, they are all about threatening to cancel and go to a different company that treats them better.

Especially with a comment like, "(or a good faker)" in there, these emails come off as someone who wants reimbursement of some sort and is using threats to get them instead of someone who wants something more constructive and less material. This may or may not be the case, but regardless, it's not the way you open constructive dialog with your credit card company of choice after one mistake. I've always known that friendly elicits a better response than self-righteous.

PS - did you have any trouble getting the fees refunded?

@JustinSane07: Bank of America tried that with me a few times. When I ask for info, they start to enroll me, when I ask them to mail the info they say after enrolling I'll get a packet in the mail and I can cancel with no strings attached within a probationary time period.

Such a scam

This is one reason why I never bother answering the phone any more unless I recognize the name/number my CallerID display shows. If my credit card company is calling me for anything I actually care about, like notifying me of irregular behavior on my account, they'll leave me a voicemail message. If they're just trying to sell me something they won't bother.

Ahh, Discover. How i hate thee. We canceled ours a few years back. Someone had gotten our number somehow and charged a bunch of stuff online that showed up on our bill. We called to dispute the charges, they said they also saw some charges in the past 6 months at Sears and Home Depot that were denied in California. I live in Wisconsin. Never heard anything about these charges from them. When we were canceling the card because we didn't trust them to not give our money away, they tried to sell us some fraud monitoring service, for their card only. Of course it's not free. Didn't really see a need to pay for something that my other credit cards provide for free.

The majority of credit card company offers I've seen are things that they're willing to explain the top layer of in glowing detail, but never send you any detailed information that you can go over before accepting. (For example, when they tried to shift me to a slightly different credit card that would "be better for me".)

He did the right thing in asking for the terms in detail and in writing before signing onto them. The funny thing is, had it not been for the rep actually enrolling him in he plan, the credit card company likely would NOT have sent the details to him in advance of accepting them.

I used to get these calls ALL the time. One time, years ago, I got signed up when I explicitly said no ... Go figure. It was probably the strategy back then. Sign everyone up and see how many don't ever even notice or complain.

I assume the last line should read "One reason cold callers RESORT to these hard, shady sales techniques..."

On topic, I hate these types of products. I have been sucked into getting them when I was younger and less savvy.

@EBounding:

I hang up on Sprint when they call me to offer me anything with the word "exciting" in the title. And no, I don't feel bad either...don't waste me time and I won't hang up on you.

I also received several phone calls from Discover. I could not get the guy off the phone. And he barely spoke English. I repeated, several times, that I was not interested and not to sign me up. I know the call was being recorded so I made sure to repeat myself several times and slowly so there would be no mistaking that I wasn't interested.

He just kept telling me it was a free trial offer... blah, blah, blah. After 20 minutes of this inane conversation I finally hung up the phone. I'm waiting for my bill to come in so I can check for any extra charges.

I am guessing that Discover contracts with a telemarketoing firm to do this. The person calling you is paid a commission. If they are not hitting their numbers, they will do whatever ti takes to make the sale including signing you up without consent. Tell your story to Discover, and they will contact the company they paid to do this

@gaywolverine: Bingo. Bottom line is NEVER CONSENT TO ANYTHING, not even an "information packet", that's a commonly used trick to get you to sign up for something.

This is a non story .. Just say no ... I got the same exact call for free info .. i said no do not send me anything .. the end.

I am a Discover Card account holder, and a similar thing happened while on the phone with them regarding a malfunctioning card.

After they'd activated my second card, the operator began telling me about the dangers of identity theft and how Discover offers a protection service. The operator was, to her credit, very smooth about how she tried to sign me up for the service. After she told me it was $10 a month, she said how Discover wants to go the extra mile with their customers and how she'd go ahead and enroll me so I'd be protected right away: "I'll go ahead and sign you up for that right now so your protection starts immediately. Is there anything else I can help you with today?" Too bad I hadn't had the chance to say anything since the beginning of her spiel. I declined the service and lost a little respect for Discover Card. I guess they're under pressure to start selling these value-added services...

"Snookered" used twice in a headline in as many days..?!

Is there a secret contest going on that I don't know about?

Snookered.

I think they're more devious than this. I never consent to anything, yet I found myself signed up for this as well from Discover. They assured me they had a recording of me consenting to this service. Yet in order to receive it from their legal team, I have to pay to have it sent to me. So either way, I have to pay them more money just to prove my innocence.

The "real" Discover customer service is usually pretty good. The marketing calls are outsources, with all the attendant problems. I got fed up with this one day and called the 800 number on the card. They put me on the "no marketing" list, and I haven't gotten a single call since. Bliss!

@mantari: I'm familiar with this payment protection plan, as I've sold it a few times in the past (inbound customer marketing aka card activations).

At least on the inbound side - the CSR doesn't have the ability to send you the full program information because it is provided by a 3rd party. That is why you have 30 days from the date of enrollment to cancel w/o any charges being put on your account.

All the CSRs are REQUIRED to read you the full disclosure before enrolling you in the program, they also verify some piece of information from you as proof of your acceptance of enrollment (city of birth, pets name, favorite hobby - something they don't already have on file).

Be diligent when offered the program - It's purpose is to pay your payments for you if 15-20 different events may take place in your life for up to 18 months. "Enroll" in the trial period, note the date, when you get your information - read it immediately - sign the consent form (online if you can) so you will get your free detailed credit report that includes your SCORE - and then call the administrator of the program (NOT your credit card) to cancel on the 20-25th day... administrators number is on the information packet.

If only any other card was as widely accepted in China, where I live... I've amazed countless retailers who insist that they're not equipped to accept foreign credit cards but manage to push through a transaction on mine. I'd sign up for a local credit card for the length of my stay but I have no credit history here (and no one is apparently prepared to help me start one without a local income source- I'm about to become a college student, and my visa prohibits work, so I'm stuck with this card since cash is inconvenient for large transactions).

@JustinSane07: My husband accidently signed up for "credit watch" or something similar when he opened a new card recently. Cancelling the service last month was certainly "hassle-free"...

Of course, we were charged again this month. *sigh*

OP should make sure that they're not still being charged next month.

@JonThomasDesigns: It is NOT a non-story. He was lied to. Now sod off and go knit your own credit cards or whatever it is you do.

I usually hear them out, sound very interested, and then when I tell I'm I'm going to get my wallet with my credit card in it the calls always seem to get "disconnected"...

As per above, it might sound rude, and it is, but they called me.

I got snookered into an insurance policy from a Bank of America affiliate in much the same way. I told them I didn't buy insurance over the phone but if they would send a brochure with all the pertinent info, I'd consider it. I promptly forgot about it.

The next month I saw a $12 deduction on my statement for some multi-digit number... no name ot anything. Turned out to be the insurance company.

BofA told me they couldn't cancel the payment and that I wouold have to call the insurance company to cancel, even though I explained to them that I had no name, address, phone number or any other means to identify the company. I asked the BANK to give me that information and they refused.

Took several months and a phone conversation with one of BofA's upper level customer service people whose number I got from this site. He put me in a three way call with the insurance company... so much for them being unable to identify them and the matter was resolved.

The bank refuse3d to credit me with the payments I'd made but I figured it was better to just cut my losses and accept the fact that there would be no more of them.

It wouldn't hurt to review Discover's privacy to solicitations.

I make it a point to remove my name off of any and everything (that I have membership of) that would solicit to me via telephone, mail, or email.

It really cut down on the junk mail and the interrupting calls.

@EBounding: I always talk over them the second they start with the pitch and say "I'm not interested" and hang up. They're trained to keep talking because most people won't interrupt.

@EBounding: You're doing them a favor, anyway. The sooner you hang up, the quicker they get to someone that'll actually get suckered into it.

I had the same thing happen with our Discover card - they cold called, I said they could send me the information but was very clear that I wasn't signing up (the operator assured me I wasn't), then the charge showed up on the statement.
I got a different card. It was trickery. Who wants to be lied to by their credit card company?

@snowburnt: That's what they told me and I said, "You can send me info but if you want, but I'm not paying for anything and don't enroll me" and they said they can't send info without enrolling, so I said to buzz off.

... At least she was honest though.

I worked for Discover 3 summers ago, and would get $5 per product sold to card activating members. If we were close to meeting our goals at the end of a month but not quite there, they would bring in cash and give you $3 extra.

They push really hard to sign you up and since there is a 30 day cancellation period you don't have any risk. Most people however don't call in in time so they at least make a little profit. I knew lots of people who would push through the recorded ToS reading and do anything they could to get a yes even when the customer obviously didn't understand what they were signing up for.

I roll the discover phone # to VM. Stopped these pesky calls since marketing never leaves a message, but security will.

I got one of those before and I vigorously declined to even receive anything in the mail. I just simply told them that I would call them in the future when I was interested in the program. They were, however, honest to me that if I had received the package, I would be automatically enrolled in the program until I call and cancel with a 30 days trial period.

It's odd this should come up this morning. My girlfriend recently ran her credit report (as she does once every 4 months) and saw discover had looked at her report a total of 28 (28!!!!) times over the past 3 months.

Last week they called her presumably to offer a credit card. The season Finale of Burn Notice was starting and the rep wouldn't shut up so she hungup on him without authorizing anything and lo and behold a week later she's recieved a shiny new credit card. What would be the correct course of action to take? I assume her credit has already been dinged for the "hard" hit. thanks.

@nullrout:

Now if they're calling with an EXTREME!!!! offer that's different.

Last week my girlfriend got a call from discover card about opening a new account. The person called right as the season finale of Burn Notice was coming on, and was very presistent (ie wouldn't get the idea she wasn't interested) so my gf hungup on them after refusing the card.

Lo and behold a week later (yesterday) she recieved a discover card in the mail, is there anything we in particular we can do? I'm sure the credit "hit" has already happened. thanks.

I received a cold call from Discover about a week ago asking if they could ask me some questions. I told them that I did not want to sign up for a credit card and that if I decided I wanted to then I would contact them to sign up. The representative on the phone persisted in asking questions saying that we were almost done with the phone call. I eventually got tired of answering his questions and hung up the phone. A week later I received a credit card in the mail without my authorization.

What do you think my next step should be?

I knew when I signed for my Discover that they would try this kind of crap on me. So whenever they called, I would be ready for them. It's pretty clean-cut when I decline their offers and they know it.

My wife told them NO about 12 times and she still got put on the plan. She had to call to cancel and get her money refunded.

kudos for using "snookered" .. a very undervalued verb!

Telewhores.

@EBounding: That's not rude at all. The phone is there for your convenience -- not everyone else's.

This same thing actually happened to me as well, according to the statement I just rec'd in the mail. I think this is the last straw with Discover. Time to cancel!

@jokono: Yea I love how they assume you're not busy or when you get 5 calls from the same 800 number

I had something of a similar experience, but not from a cold call. I got my new card in the mail, and when I called in to activate it, I was transferred to a CSR, who does the usual "thank you for being a longtime member" spiel, and immediately says they'll sign me up for the repayment system. I tell them I'm not interested, so she asks if they could send me information. Sure, they'd be more than happy to send me the program information... if I enroll at the exact same time.

I stopped using bank tellers once they started pitching me products. Now I can't even use my card without getting sales pitches. What's next?

@EBounding:

I used to get these from Citi all the time until one called me right after I had a bad day at work and I made it very clear that I never wanted to receive a solicited call from Citi again. I apologized for raising my voice to him but it got the message across.

@EBounding: I still can't believe people still carry discover cards. Is it because you called to cancel and they wouldn't let you even after 20 minutes on the phone with the csr (happened to me)...the trick is to swear like a sailor at the center manager until he relents.

God...I really miss MBNA...they were the best bank in the world.

@lehrdude: They called you... and yet you still come off like a jerk. Bravo.

You're more patient than I. I give them 2 "no's" and hang up if I don't know what they're calling about. If I know what it's about, I just hang up.

Call me rude if you want, but I'll probably hang up then too. :-)