Discovery Card now going back on an agreement

Good day.

Over the last month, I have been in the process of applying for a Discovery Credit Card. The reason for my application was to maximize the benefits offered by Discovery - one of which being the Apple Watch offer. I had been looking around to get the Apple Watch for health reasons over the last few months, and this seemed like the best way to do it. To obtain it through Discovery, one needs to have a Gold Discovery Credit card with a limit of at least R15 000. Now, I absolutely do not need any more credit facility than I currently have, but this was the only way to get the Apple Watch through Discovery. So I had decided to apply for the credit card.

I had initiated the process with an online application from their website and there were basic questions which you have to answer for Discovery to give you a preapproved credit limit. I was pre approved for roughly R15 500 according to the website. One of the questions was about additional income (if any). In my case, I have additional income that I earn, over and above my monthly fixed salary. It was asked as a total annual income. Once I completed the online application, I then submitted all relevant documents which were asked for by the Discovery team. They asked for 3 months' pay slips from my fixed employer as well as the employment contract for my additional income due to the fact that the additional income was a new contract that was signed in November 2017. I therefore sent them all of the requested documents, plus the first pay slip from the secondary employer as an additional document from my side so they could see that I did in fact receive money as additional income. Mind you, you have to wait approximately 3 working days for them to respond / process documents when you send them emails. So I waited, and someone came back asking if I had started a new job and if that was the reason I added an employment contract from another company - even though, in my application I clearly stated that I had additional income AND I even labeled the file of the contract and the pay slip, Additional Income Contract and Additional Income Pay slip. If that is not clear, then I don’t know what is. Nevertheless, I responded and clarified the matter. Now this was the next set of 3 working days that I had to wait - which was a wasted stage if you ask me.

They came back saying that they needed 3 months' bank statements (why wasn't this asked for initially?) So I went on to send them my bank statements, as well as a letter from the Managing Director from my secondary employer confirming payment - this now being the third set of 3 working days to wait.

They came back with an official quote stating that they would be providing me with a Discovery Gold Card with a Credit Limit of R18 800. I was happy with this offer and therefore signed the quote and sent it back to them. After all the waiting and effort that I had put into completing the application, they responded saying that they will only be taking into account my fixed salary and not my additional income because the additional income isn't a monthly income. The credit limit then dropped to R14 700.

This annoyed me for the following reasons:

1. At the very outset, they asked for an annual income, not monthly! If they do not accept ad hoc income as additional income, then they should state it at the outset, so people know not to waste their time. 2. There were unnecessary delays in the process - for e.g. when they asked if I had changed jobs even though I was clear about my fixed salary and additional income. 3. I cannot understand why they did not tell me that they only look at monthly income at the stage when I sent the contract of my Additional Income in December last year. Instead, they continued to ask for documents and continued the application process. This made me feel like they wasted my time.

As seen above, I went out of my way to assist with the application process, by providing excess information to make this process as smooth as possible, however it feels like they wasted my time by stringing me along. There is no synergy / proper communication between Discovery staff members, as well as to their customers.

I called them to express my dissatisfaction but they are not willing to assist in any way possible. One of the managers suggested that I sign the quote for R14 700 and use the card for “one or two” months, and afterwards, they would be able to increase the limit to R15 000. This was recorded telephonically and can be used against them. According to FAIS, this is not an ethical statement to make. The manager also stated that my application for the credit card which gave me R18 800 had expired on 06 January 2018, whereas on the quote – it says that the offer expires on 27 January 2018. Also, it states on their quotes that the quote is binding – now they are backing out of the contract that was agreed to by both parties! This is *******.

This whole situation seems ********* and I believe that I have been wronged. I want some objective advice as to what the next step should be. All I want out of this is a credit limit of R15 000 in order to qualify for the Apple Watch. As we can see, the affordability is there. My bank had given be a credit limit of much more than that when my salary was much less than what it is now.

Right now, after all the pathetic service I’ve received from Discovery for this application, I feel like pulling away all my other business from them because I do not know what else they will go back on.

Please help.