Friday, April 23, 2004
(1:53 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
An Open Letter to Discover Card
Dear Discover Card,
It's been about five years since we first crossed paths, and we've had some good times. I can still remember when I first got my card and immediately went $150 into debt to pay for overpriced college textbooks, then went to Denny's that same night. Since then, I've paid a finance charge or two, and you've given me my token cash back awards -- we've basically had a good, mutually beneficial relationship. That's why I've waited so long to bring this up. You see, there's apparently been some kind of miscommunication between us:
Yes, the checks.
I understand totally what your motivation is. You want me to take full advantage of my card by writing Discover checks -- whether for convenience at a merchant who doesn't accept Discover, or to help get out of a pinch with the utility bills. You're just trying to help out, and that's great.
The thing is, I've systematically thrown every one of those checks into the garbage for the past five years. I can see the value of persistence. I can see thinking, "Well, maybe the first batch of checks got lost in the mail." But it's been five years. At this point, you're just wasting my time and yours.
And honestly, I'm starting to wonder if you're just trying to trick me into paying unnecessary high finance charges. Is that what it is? Do you feel like I'm getting all the benefits out of this relationship by paying my statement in full every month? Do you feel used? We can talk about this if you need to -- the important thing is that we can't allow this lack of communication to go on, or it could spread like a cancer throughout our whole relationship. After five good years, I don't want that to happen.
Love,
Adam
