Discovery Bank iPhone Benefit Nightmare

I recently upgraded my bank account with Discovery Bank and moved my car insurance to Discovery in order to qualify for the Iphone 12 benefit.

Discovery's website offers vague and unclear information about the product and only when you read 7 pages of the terms and conditions (which no retail client will do), do you realise the extremely punitive measures Discovery will and does take against you for arbitrary actions (that I will describe below) with no warning.

On activating the benefit, a budget facility is activated equal to the cost of the Iphone. Having not seen this referenced on Discovery's website, I settled the budget account as I did not want to pay interest as indicated on my app (but NOT EXPLAINED on the website - the website does not reference the budget facility, that interest is charged on the facility or that settling the facility irrevocably cancels the product and its benefits). Furthermore, the app, when settling the budget facility, does not warn you that you are about to irrevocably (but arbitrarily) cancel your benefits.

This is where my nightmare with Discovery began. I phoned the call centre on another matter and was told by the agent that my benefit had been cancelled. This did not and still does not reflect on the app, i.e., it shows that the benefit is still active. I only stumbled across this issue because I happened to phone Discovery on another issue - this is totally inappropriate and your retail banking clients should not pay your school fees for your ineffective and underdeveloped app that clearly doesn't link properly to Discovery Bank systems.

To reiterate, at no point, on settling the budget facility, which I assume is the reason the benefit was cancelled, is there a warning that the benefit would be cancelled.

I have phoned numerous times and the matter has been passed from consultant to consultant. I merely want to reinstate the benefit but have been told that the system does not allow for that. While in itself a terrible excuse, it is indicative of the poor quality of the Discovery Bank systems which caused this problem. If this was Investec, a plan would have been made.

The consultants have told me that this has happened to multiple clients but there is nothing that they can do. They refer to page 7 of the terms and conditions where one sentence references that if you pay back the budget facility, the benefit will be cancelled. Discovery clearly does not understand the nature of their retail client base as they do not talk you through the arbitrary consequences relating to their products, nor do they reference them in their marketing materials. This is inappropriate conduct for a digital bank offering highly complex lending products and associated “benefits”.

I bought an Iphone for R19000, assuming that if I meet my goals, I would earn back R15000 in 24 months. So effectively, Discovery Bank has cost me R15000 for no good reason and is totally unwilling to assist. Additionally, they charge interest on the amount outstanding which is not referenced in their marketing and is inappropriate financial conduct for a retail financial institution like Discovery Bank.

I am disgusted in the service I have received, appalled that Discovery is happy to let their clients loose R15000 arbitrarily due their opaque, vague and over-complicated products.

Given what I have gone through and the financial loss I have suffered, I intend to do the following:

1. Report Discovery Bank to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority for inappropriate conduct in relation to their retail client base 2. Report Discovery Bank to the National Credit Regulator for the opaqueness and hidden fees and interest in their lending products offered to retail clients with an inappropriate level of explanation and disclosure 3. Report Discovery Bank to the banking ombudsman 4. Cancel all my products with Discovery Group 5. Request that my family and friends cancel their products with Discovery Group 6. Help educate other potential victims about the severe consequences emanating from the arbitrarily complex products that Discovery Bank offers to retail clients by posting about my experiences on social media and sites similar to HelloPeter so that they do not suffer a material financial loss due to Discovery Bank’s lack of disclosure and arbitrary rules.

I am not asking for a lot - I want the product to be reinstated (which would put Discovery in the same position as it always was - without the pathetic excuse that the systems do not allow for this) or I want 100% of my money back on the purchase of the Iphone.

I expect a call from someone at Discovery Bank senior enough to make decisions on Monday 22 February 2021 or I will begin steps 1 to 6 detailed above.

Regards, Kayla