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Advice from a retail clerk: Don't get a store credit card

Posted Feb 28 2008, 07:44 PM by Karen Datko
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You may have read here that blogger JVW of The Good Life on a Budget works part time at a chain home-decorating store and posts occasionally about her retail experiences. The most recent one is quite enlightening: Her boss instructed JVW and the other employees to push the store credit card.

"We are now supposed to ask every customer who comes through our line if they would like to put their purchase on their store card. If they showed any interest, we should then spout off the benefits," she writes, adding, "Of course, nowhere in there do we mention any of the pitfalls of opening store cards ...."

What did she do? She refused.

Sure, there are bonuses, she says, like 20% off your purchase the day you apply for the card, plus coupons and gifts. But it also comes with a 21.99% interest rate and fees, and you can't pay online or at the store.

"I told the boss that I wasn't going to ask every one of our customers if they would like to go into debt, regardless of the 'benefits' of the program," she writes. "I know that every person should be responsible for their own way, but I don't need to show them the door to debt."

Blogger S.B. at Be Thrifty Like Us also recently urged shoppers to turn down store credit card offers: "You'll save money in the long run by not giving yourself the chance to rack up debt."

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Comments

 

I used to do the same thing when I worked in retail! Why should I encourage other people to get themselves in debt?  Way to go, JVW! :)

Adee (Posted 02.29.08 2:58 PM ) Report Abuse

I don't see store credit cards being pushed anymore. What I see are the even more annoying "club cards" which offer you nothing for the low annual fee of $9.99.

Jordan (Posted 02.29.08 5:50 PM ) Report Abuse

Why not ask them if they want their details sold to spammers and telephone solicitors every time they use the card. Also, I can speak for myself, that having credit is not having debt. I pay my bills.

Gordon (Posted 02.29.08 5:50 PM ) Report Abuse

Apply and use it when purchasing large items (such as TV, appliances, etc.) and then pay it off immediately when the bill comes and cancel the credit card. I have done this numerous times at Target.

Jack (Posted 02.29.08 6:12 PM ) Report Abuse

This is great advice! I was in the exact same situation at 2 retail stores that I worked at. I was good at my job and good with customers, but I was one of the worst at getting people to open cards. They had a variable interest rate of over 25 percent! And since those cards didn't even have a major credit card logo, you could only use them at that family of stores.

Since this racket was the only thing that this store valued in their employees, some would turn to absolutely underhanded tactics and flat-out lies to customers to get them to open the cards. I'm sure some people opened them, used them for one discounted purchase, and then closed them again...but this damages your credit score! Unless you're going to use the card on a regular basis, earn valuable rewards, AND pay it off in full each month, do not get a store card.

EM NC (Posted 08.19.08 11:34 AM ) Report Abuse

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