Over the weekend my wife and I did quite a bit of shopping. I needed some clothing and a shop vac to clean up in our garage after a long winter. My wife wanted to get some dishes. We also needed to stop by the grocery store.
While we were running around town from store to store I noticed something extremely annoying. The offers for store credit cards seem to be getting more in your face and aggressive.
Accosted By A Roaming Credit Card Salesman
The first store we went to was Kohl’s because I needed to buy some new work shoes, as well as a package of socks. I found the shoes I was looking for and then started looking at some electronic goods on a shelf in the men’s department. Out of nowhere appeared a sales associate who promptly asked me if I would like to save 15% today. Sensing this was a come-on to a Kohl’s charge sales pitch I said, “Nope, I’m not interested”. She responded, “You seem pretty sure about that, huh?”. I said, “Oh yeah, I pay for everything in cash, and don’t need any store credit cards. Thanks though”. She responded, “Oh, I see. Well, let me know if I can help you with anything!”
She walked off towards another customer 20 feet away, and I heard “Would you like to save 15% today”?
Later on I was walking around the store trying to find my wife, and walked around the corner, only to bump into the same sales associate. She started her pitch, then realized she had already talked to me. “I already asked you if you’d like to save 15% didn’t I?”
“Yes you did, and I wasn’t interested. Thanks though”.
I finally got to the register where the clerk asked me one more time – “Would you like to save 15% today?”. I refused the offer one final time. Wow, they sure are persistent aren’t they?
Would You Like To Add A Credit Card To Your Order?
At Target we walked in the door and right by the carts was a display for the Target credit cards – as well as a nice sign telling me how I could save 10% today off of my order just by signing up! No thanks!
We continued on through the store. I bought my shop vac, and my wife picked up some dishes. We headed to the checkout. We stood in a line of 3 or 4 shoppers, waiting as each and every one of them was offered a credit card by the checkout girl. She wasn’t very into her job of selling the credit card, but it was obvious that she was required to ask everyone in line if they would like to sign up and save 10%.
The stores make millions off of the store credit cards, otherwise they wouldn’t be putting such a huge effort into selling them with the signage, promotions and checkout sales pitches.
Credit Card Sales Pitch While Getting My Deli Meats
We finally ended up at our local grocery store. When you walk in the door you find yourself in the produce section, and whether you need anything there or not you have to make your way through produce and frozen meats to make your way to the rest of the store. Right at the choke point before you head into the aisles of boxed goods was a nice young man trying to get people to sign up for a bank credit card and a free checking account. He was giving away free blankets!
He had a captive audience as people made their way past the deli counter, and whether they liked it or not he gave them his spiel. He grabbed my attention at which time I promptly told him I already had an account at his bank, and didn’t need a credit card.
After checking out I had to walk by the in-store bank branch, at which time they approached me again to open an account. Once again, I told them that I already had an account.
Don’t Give In To The Sales Pitch
I would never give in to these sales pitches to sign up for a store credit card for a few reasons:
- Horrible Interest Rates: Many of these in-house store cards carry interest rates in excess of 20% APR. Does that sound like a good deal to you?
- Small Savings: Usually when you’re offered to save 10-15% on these cards you’re making a purchase less than $50. Do you really want to get a credit card just for $5-10 in savings? Is it worth it?
- Having To Give Personal Information While Standing In Line: When you say that you’d like to sign up for a card the clerk will ususally ask you for your social security number and name right there while waiting in line. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Who knows who’s standing in line behind you, waiting to hear your personal information?
The only time i would ever even consider giving in to one of these offers is if I was making an extremely large purchase, like on a $2000 television. In that case I’d be getting a couple of hundred dollars back and it might be worth my while. I’d get my savings, pay off the card, and then close it!
Have you been noticing an uptick in pushy sales associates offering you store credit cards as well? Have you given in to any of them? Tell us about it!
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A couple of months ago my wife and I were shopping for clothes for her. After choosing about $500 in clothes we attempted to pay for them. The girl at the checkout was so overly agressive and basically demanded that we get a store credit card.
After the 7th time of her saying we had to get one so we could save 10% I picked up all of the clothes laid them on the counter and walked out the door. My wife and I both agreed never to go back to that store again.
The sad part is that I don’t think they will ever learn that it is not a good business practice to assault their customers with credit cards.
I didn’t really think about it until you mentioned something, but you’re right: There is a little more aggressiveness going on. I was asked again about a credit card — even though I had already said no. Desperate times call for desperate salespeople. Anyway, great post. You inspired my post for today!
Mirandas last blog post..Avoid Department Store Credit Cards
I work at Sears, and getting credit from customers is such a big thing that if you don’t get a certain amount each month you get written up so I had to switch to another position in the company. Its really sad when you see someone who wants to pay their bill and the balance is over $10,000.
I have noticed this also. I can hardly go to any store, especially a department store, without being bombarded with credit card offers. It gets annoying sometimes doesn’t it?
Keiths last blog post..Programming The Ultimate Computer
You are completely right. everywhere you go there is someone trying to get you to sign a credit card application for whatever gimmick they’re offering. It is annoying i agree.
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I had a very similar experience at Kohl’s. My mom and I were there, and bought things separately, and we got the same schpiel twice. When I politely declined first, I said ‘no thanks, one credit card is enough for me’, and the sales person argued with me about how it’s silly to not save 15% of my purchase. I smiled and nodded. She did the same thing to my mother 30 seconds later, who said, ‘nope, I taught my daughter right: no store credit cards for us!’ and the sales person became disgruntled and muttered under her breath.
I kind of feel bad turning these things down, because I know that it isn’t the individual sales person who wants to push them on us. It’s part of their job requirement, and in this economy, many people have to take jobs where they can and do their best. That’s why I try to be friendly, but when they start to become unpleasant and critical of MY financial choices, it upsets me.
I used to work for Sears, like another commenter above did. We were told that we had to hear no from the customer three times before we could stop asking. If we didn’t sign up a certain percentage of cards for each month, we could be written up. If we didn’t ask every single customer, we could be written up. If we refused to sell the cards, we could be fired. You know how we were told to sell them? “Would you like to save 10% off this purchase? It only takes a minute and it’s off your drivers license.” No mention of a credit card whatsoever and some poor older folks thought they were getting a discount for simply having a drivers licnese. Imagine their surprise 7-10 business days later when a credit card arrived in the mail!
Stores are getting very pushy about the cards. I wish more people would say no to them.
It’s amazing that these deals are still proliferating in such a debt-stricken, economic disaster environment. It’s the same problem that got everyone into this mess, and now it’s being toted as what will get everyone out.
MoneyEnergys last blog post..Are Credit Card Cash Advances Ever a Good Idea?
It is getting quite ridiculous. Almost every time you go through the Target check out they ask you. The same goes for Belk, Sears, and all of them. When I worked at Reed Jewelers, we had a quota every month for credit card applications. I fell short each month. I was not a sales person and I felt badly for trying to sell things to people that they couldn’t afford.
Karen @ Thrifty Mommys last blog post..$10 Capris at Avenue
Funny, I went to Kohl’s just yesterday with my 30% off coupon. It’s the only store CC I have. Pay it off monthly & have it only because of these periodic offers.
Another thing…I understand that the more credit cards you have, the lower your credit rating becomes.
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Good Servants last blog post..What do you think?
I too only use a Kohl’s credit card – I always wait until I have a %off coupon for everthing in the store – then pay the card off immediatly with scrip from my children’s school – they give the school like 5% of the total I buy and then the school gives me 75% back of their take to take off my tuition. I can’t beat that.
Great post,
Those store credit cards are just horrible when it comes to the fees! Customer service is pretty bad too. I’d prefer to just stick with the good, old rewards visa or mastercard and pay it off each month!
Blessings,
-TAM
Brandons last blog post..Should I buy a franchise?
I live in a small town with only a few chain stores; but one is Target and they do this every time. I’ve never given in to it, but if I ever bought something major there I would do it.
Meanwhile, next door to Target we have a supermarket with a bank branch inside. That bank always has some promotion going to attract accounts. Coffeemakers, toasters, free gas . . . but I already have an account elsewhere. Would I switch for a toaster? Their location is certainly convenient, and they are open about 12 hours daily, so this is all appealing, but I just don’t need them now.
Most people don’t know how to treat their credit and respond to these offers. They think it’s all peachy and normal. It’s so mainstream to do this now. We’re indoctrinated.
I’m glad I don’t have a retail job like this, I’d just have to tell corporate to go fly a kite. I ain’t pushing these cards no matter what commission you’re giving me.
PT Moneys last blog post..Opening a Roth IRA for the First Time
I always do the math when they offer me one. It’s not that I’m going to take them up on it when the money’s good enough, it’s because the amount I’d save is always laughably small for the hard pull on my credit, the commitment to having a card, the need to cancel the card if I don’t want it, etc. $5? $25? $50? Maybe if I saved over $1k, I’d consider signing up. Otherwise there’s not enough benefit.
Mrs. Micahs last blog post..The “Find a Need and Fill It” Approach to Small Business
I currently work for Sears. And its tough having to offer credit to EVERYONE and having people become upset with you for doing your job…I only ask once, and do not intentionally annoy people or bombard them with questions. When I offer credit I am legitimately trying to save the customer money…for instance when approved for our cards you get either 0% financing for 6 months $10 $15 and $10 dollars off, if you make $35 worth of purchases you get it for free, and theres no monthly fees or obligation to use it…so u can just cut it up when it comes in the mail…no APR or interest rate to worry about…I think its weird that people complain about it, and then brag about paying the cards they do have off every month…if you pay the card off why are you worried about it?? Our cards also come with FREE rewards programs, as well as Account Care Protection, if anything was to happen to you where you could not pay the bill you would not have to, up to 10,000. AND its only $0.96 for every $100 you have on your card…so people who have the card AND pay it off every month get Account Care for FREE!!! Plus certain days card holders get extra discounts throughout the store. I dunno,sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Maybe if people didn’t turn their noses up and look down on people working in customer service, and actually took the time to listen before shunning us, they would find out all of this information. You don’t know how many times Ive offered someone $15 off and they’ll say “no I’m not interested in saving 15%” People don’t even listen. Ok, so the economy is bad, minimum wage customer service employees know this all too well. We get credit for every credit we process (and YES we do feel bad when people get denied, we are not robots) Take this month for example, they are worth $4 each. There are people are my job working full time that get 100 – 200 apps a month, thats 400 – 800 extra dollars in your paycheck to feed your family…some people find that worth pushing for…especially when they don’t get raises. So please don’t be mean to us, a simple “No,thank you” would suffice, no need to yell at us for trying to survive in this world and do our jobs.
Yes, I must agree that these stores annoy me; you can’t even walk through a store to just look around or try to buy something and the clerk insists that you open up a charge card. I was shopping at Motherhood and while I was trying to look the gal started in on the how much of good investment it would be to have one of these master card savings cards. I simply told her I don’t do credit cards, and don’t like gimmicks, and she didn’t like my response at all, I don’t care. She changed her tone and left me alone, but after I was finished shopping and made my purchase, she stuck one of those offers inside my shopping bad. I wish these stores would spend more time with quality customer service and less time with rip-off credit card offers….
The reason department stores push use of their own cards is to prevent from having to pay the large sums of money each year to the credit card companies like visa and mc.
The dept cards are not bad for individuals who are disciplined in paying them off in full each month. The cards provide their members an opportunity to receive exclusive special discounts throughout the year, which is smart financially.
One idea that will allow you to still get the discount is to sign up for the dept card to get the discount and then use the money you were originally going to use that day to make a payment on your card at the same time (at the register) for the full amount of the purchase. You will still continue to receive future discount offers where you can apply the same logic.
Happy shopping! :0)
i currently work at Kohl’s. managers are down our backs every move we make to get credit. the store i work in is in a small area and thousands of our customers already have the charge card, and use them when they come in. so the pressure is on whenever we have a customer without a charge, we receive .50 cents for every application, occasionally $1. i hate to ask people, especially when they say no and we have to keep asking and asking, we dont like doing it as much as you dont like hearing it. its part of life these days and i can only see it getting worse.
I was at Kohl’s yesterday and the previous Sunday. The previous Sunday there was pressure from the cashier to get a Kohl’s card, but yesterday crossed the line. My husband and I went to Kohl’s yesterday, proceeded to the checkout with our whopping $15 in merchandise and the cashier proceeds with the credit card spill. When asked “would you like to complete a credit application today”, I responded “no thank you”. She proceeded with how you get coupons, advance notice of sales, etc, etc, etc. I said “no thank you”. She then says you could charge on the Kohl’s card and then turn around an pay it right off…again “no thank you”. Second store employee starts in on the coupons, etc. again. I respond with “we have two major credit cards we use and pay off monthly, we do not need nor want anymore credit cards because open accounts effect your credit, which in turn raises interest rates when you apply for certain types of loans…” The cashier proceeds to tell me how that is incorrect because only major credit cards go against your credit, etc, etc, etc, she then says “I’m an accountant and I know what I am talking about”. My response “I’m a CPA and my husband here is an attorney…If you would like I will have our mortgage person or bank officer contact you and discuss with you what they look at on credit reports when people apply for loans”. This morning my husband looked up the Consumer Protection Act and found a paragraph relating to this situation. I called the store manager and told her what happened and supposedly they are going to correct the situation. I will go purchase a pair of socks (since $15 still got the credit card spill, I’m sure a pair of socks will too) or something in the next couple of weeks to see if they have changed their practice. If not, I will go to the next level. No means no and it is none of their business why I don’t want one of their credit cards.
Just Because some one pushed to you sign up for a credit card is not worth getting them fired its there job its what there suppose to do if not they get fired get mad if you must but dont go getting someone who is working minum wage trying to make a living fired you and your husband dont have to worry about that but people like me and the one your trying to get fired do we dont woek we dont have lights or food or any thing else so remember that when you get mad when someone pressures you its america it not illigal she didnt hurt you lighten up some its only are job.
i used to work in a department store, and they had us required to push those cards even if we disagreed with it. If we had low card sales, are hours would be cut short, but if we got X amount of people to sign up, we would get rewards on it. One girl got as many as 200 people a month to sign up and that was alot of money added onto her paycheck. I began to wonder if she cheated.. months later I found out that she was signiong peopple up for cards when they already declined the card or said that they would get so much off even if they were not approved. (This was not so.) I reported this to her manager and found out that he did not conduct an investigation either because her sales made him look good. Now I am trying to do a paper for my college course on the pressures credit card companies have on employees. Its surprising that there really is not alot of information on this.
Q – if I open a Dept. Store Credit Card to take advantage of the special savings, immediately pay the balance, then close the credit card … how does (or would) this impact my credit score?
Thanks. Sandy in Delaware