Discover Card Under Fire
MIAMI (CBS4) - One in four households in the United States owns a Discover card. All of those households, including those in South Florida, may be getting some money back from Discover, but it has nothing to do with a rewards program.
Discover is facing a class-action lawsuit accusing the credit card giant of selling unwanted services to consumers across the country and bilking them, in some cases, out of thousands of dollars.
The attorney general of Minnesota has also filed a lawsuit against the company demanding Discover Card stop misleading consumers and refund fees to customers who were sold unwanted identity theft protection, wallet protection, payment protection and credit score protection.
As "Early Show" Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen noted, "Experts say credit card companies are trying to make money any way they can. So if you don't do it already, it's time to start reading your statements, looking for hidden fees."
"Discover played 'Gotcha!' with customers instead of playing fair," Swanson said. "If they're going to sell these optional financial products; they should do so through a square deal. Do it fairly, not through fraud."
Discover made more than $300 million last year from selling protective financial products, up 37 percent since 2007. Experts say it's another way credit card companies are finding to add fees to make up for lost revenue from new regulations.
In a statement to CBS News, Discover says they don't comment on pending litigation but they "take any customer complaint seriously" and have "worked with millions of Americans for 25 years to maintain the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty in our industry"
