Kathy and I had been looking at replacing our refrigerator. The old one was having problems and it was not large enough to meet our needs. We had looked around for several months and had pretty much decided on a particular brand and model of side by side with the water and ice dispenser in the door.

One day, I was in Best Buys when I spotted the very frig that we had in mind on sale for 20 % off. Excited about this, I asked the clerk about the frig. He told me that there was only one for sale at that price. When I asked why, he said that it was an out of box. He went on to explain that the frig had been delivered, un-boxed and then returned, probably because it didn’t fit.

I knew that it would fit in out spot because I had already measured for that size frig. So I called Kathy and asked for her opinion on the purchase. She gave me the green light and I said yes to the sales person.

We processed all of the paper work and I handed the clerk my Discover card. He proceeded to run in through the machine. A moment later, he announced that the card was invalid. How could that be? I never carry a balance on Discover because of the high interest rates but I do enjoy getting those cash back awards. Disappointed, I handed him my Visa card.

When I returned home, there was a message on the answering machine from Discover Security asking me to call an 800 number right away. When I called, they first asked me for my card number and I gave it to them. They then told me that the card had been rejected for security reason when I tried to use it at Best Buys. Then they asked for my SS# and my address for further verification and I also gave that to them. They then told me that they were going to issue me a new card with a different account number and that I should be receiving it in the mail in the next three days.

Well, this whole thing made me very uncomfortable. Were it not for the fact that they knew my telephone number and where I was shopping, I would have put the whole thing in the category of phishing.

I can appreciate Discovers concern for making sure I am who I am, but how do I know that I am really talking to Discover? After all, I had to give them my card number, my address and my SS#. But what did they give me? Only an 800 number, my phone number and the knowledge of my last purchase attempt.

I did receive a new card in three days, as promised, but I still wonder if the whole thing was really on the up and up. It has been a couple of years and I haven’t had any problems yet so we’ll see.