Complaint Review: Discover Card - Salt Lake City Utah

How is a fixed income bad?  My "fixed income" is a little over 8k per month.  Yea, that's gross not net.  But then who cares.  I wonder if Scottw's "working income" is that much!

ScottW has it all wrong.  I don't presume to know whether the author of this report has a "fixed income".  But I want to talk about this fixed income thing and dispel the bias here.

There is no special reason why a person with a fixed income should not carry credit card debts, or why such debts are especially risky to a lender.  The very fact that the income is "fixed" gives the lender confidence that the income will continue into the future, and thus be available for repaying the debt.

There is no similar confidence for banks lending money to people who derive their income from employment.  Employment income is "variable", not fixed.  And in recent years, the continuity of such income has become increasingly difficult to rely upon.  Sometimes people with variable income make borrowing decisions, while incorrectly factoring future income into the decisions.  That is risky for lenders, and a major reason why the economy is such a flop right now.

Trying every trick in the book to spend one's future wealth in the present moment is most definitely not the dominion of people with low incomes, or of people with fixed incomes.  I have a low fixed income and am a responsible spender.  I have learned to live off of less than most other people that I know and even manage to have a savings.  I hear people with more money than me (and also poor spending habits) complain all the time about how they are not making it.

I live in a hot attic apartment, but I don't use AC in the summer.  I just open windows.  My car is not new; it is old.  I drive under 10,000 miles per year.  I am posting from a 6-year-old computer.  Powdered milk is a staple of mine, and I mostly eat at home, selecting other very cheap commodity foods.  I do not subscribe to television.  I do not have a drug dependence.  The list goes on.

Applying for a balance transfer is not a way for a fixed-income debtor to continue borrowing while forestalling repayment.  For the debtor, it is just a way of negotiating lower interest rates.  Making such applications is a smart thing to do if the debts are going to take a long time to repay.

So take your bias about people with fixed incomes and shove it.

WOW! All I have to say is "your a complete a$$". Hey, just my opinion!

WOW! All I have to say is "your a complete a$$". Hey, just my opinion!

WOW! All I have to say is "your a complete a$$". Hey, just my opinion!

Pal, what in the world are you talking about? The ad didn't say you'd be approved, the representative didn't say you'd be approved. There are no guarantees in life, there are no guarantees you'll be approved for a credit card, nor any other offer for credit. And with all due respect, what difference does it make if you're a "stroke survivor?" Does Discover now offer a 0% APR Stroke Card? The bottom line is you did not meet Discover's credit qualifications for approval for that particular card. Furthermore, one inquiry on your credit report will not adversely affect you in any way, shape or form. Why the heck is a "stroke survivor" applying for credit anyway? If I read between the lines correctly, you are on a fixed income. You are on a fixed income, and yet you are carrying credit card balances? For a creditor, this is a recipe for eventual disaster. Credit is far more than just your credit score NOW. How would you ever be able to repay Discover for paying off your existing credit card if you can't even afford to repay what you've already borrowed? Sorry, but you are a very poor credit risk for a cash balance transfer. THAT is why you were denied.

Robert: You were quite correct in your one assumption upon just looking at my FICO Scores it now shows TU673/EXP695/EQF696 and Experian was at 702 so the assumed impact was correct. I hope that you are correct about the future impact on my CRA file due to this event. With this economy in the Toliet right now is not the time to have this foolishness occuring. I have since then also asked to opt out of any and all of these offers. I can take pride in my past credit history as being perfect except for this one Medical Event and everything since 2002 has remained flawless. It may not be a true Rip-Off per-se but you shouldn't put untrained people into customer Service positions that have the ability to not only access your CRA Reports and gather sensitive information and disregard any information that's disclosed beforehand and stating that shouldn't affect anything when it really does!

Robert: You were quite correct in your one assumption upon just looking at my FICO Scores it now shows TU673/EXP695/EQF696 and Experian was at 702 so the assumed impact was correct. I hope that you are correct about the future impact on my CRA file due to this event. With this economy in the Toliet right now is not the time to have this foolishness occuring. I have since then also asked to opt out of any and all of these offers. I can take pride in my past credit history as being perfect except for this one Medical Event and everything since 2002 has remained flawless. It may not be a true Rip-Off per-se but you shouldn't put untrained people into customer Service positions that have the ability to not only access your CRA Reports and gather sensitive information and disregard any information that's disclosed beforehand and stating that shouldn't affect anything when it really does!

First your credit report does not show if you were approved or declined for a credit card. The only "damage" to your credit is for the inquiry, which for most people is only 3-8 points. Yes the inquiry does stay on your report for 2 years, but it has a very short term effect on the score. Within 6 months the effect is almost nothing and after 1 year it is ignored. With a 702 Credit Score you do not have anything to worry about because of this "damage". Second you received a "Pre-Approved/Screened" offer. Here all the company does is request a block of say 10,000 names that meet a broad range of criteria from a credit bureau. This is considred a soft inquiry and does not effect your credit at all. All Discover(or any company) gets is your Name and Address. There is text in the disclosures you receive that it is not a guaranteed card and is still subject to final credit approval. When you call they then pull a full credit report. The rep has no idea if you are going to get approved or not until they actually submit the inquiry. If he mis-lead you into saying that you would be GUARANTEED a card then that is a training issue but not really a RipOff.