Friday Question #22
By kilax, April 18, 2008 5:48 am
Would you open a department/specialty store credit card just to save money on a purchase? How much would it have to save you – $10, $50, $100, $500+?
I am annoyed by the sales clerks at Target / Macy’s / wherever that continually ask me to open a credit card, and try to entice me by saying, “It will save you $20 off your purchase today!”
Guess what? $20 isn’t enough for me. It’s gotta be at least $100. And even then… I’m not so sure.
My sister worked at Sears for awhile and was required to open a certain amount of new credit cards a month. Any insight into this?
Themocracy
Ugh, I’m with you 100% here! I almost feel like tipping the Target clerks when they FAIL to ask me!
In all seriousness, I’d have to be dropping a giant wad o’ dough to bother with this, certainly well over $100. (My) Time is money, after all.
i completely agree with you… they way oversell the credit cards but i know a ton of people that do that, every single time… i have done it once… i was buying a pair of tennis shoes and if i opened an account it ended up my shoes would be free (because i had a coupon as well- from opening an acct)… an added bonus, if my shoes wouldn’t have been free i could have made a payment on my credit card at that time with a check… that’s the one and only time i’ve done that… but i figured it was worth it, a free pair of shoes!!!
If I’m making a huge purchase (like a washer and dryer) I probably would go for it. But in general, it just annoys the heck out of me. I actually got into an argument with a clerk over this. I said no thanks, and they went on to press – why? Why didn’t I want one? Because I just didn’t. Not good enough, why? Because it would be irresponsible to open a new credit line when i don’t want or need it. Irresponsible?!?!? It’s not irresponsible to SAVE 10%! That’s being responsible!
That’s when I stopped looking at my wallet, looked her dead in the eye and said “every time a person opens a new line of credit it marks on their credit report that it has happened. open lines of credit, even if you don’t use them count against you because it’s the possible amount you could suddenly run out and charge. Additionally, I don’t like credit cards. They pander debt like it’s flowers and everyone should have some. I don’t want debt. I wanted this shirt. Are you going to stop pushing your credit cards and sell it to me or not?”
She shut up, but she was really, REALLY angry with me. The lady behind me said “Good show, maybe she won’t try me next.” 😉
I’d probably have to SAVE at least $100 before opening one, and even then I’d have to think about it a little.
I think if it was gonna save me $100+ I’d go ahead and open one – but cancel it at the first chance. ** But I never spend that much at one time so it’ll probably never happen!
No way. I have one credit card and one credit card only, and that is because I once lost my debit card and had to cancel a trip to Seattle because of it. So I want to have at least one backup. And that’s it. I think credit card companies are evil.
We talked about this once on Kapgar’s site, but yes, in retail you are often required to open x number of credit cards per month. It can impact everything from bonuses to actually being able to keep your job.
Cash=good
Credit=bad
We got rid of ALL our plastic and live on a cash only basis. If we can’t pay cash for it, we don’t get it. It has made life so much simpler and rewarding. There is such satisfaction in saving for something.
OMG, great post – when they say in their most chipper sales pitch, “Would you like to open a credit card and save 10% on your purchases today?” I get the urge to turn that same question back on them, only saying it in a retard voice just to see how they react. That’s how they sound when they talk to me, like retards. Sorry, but it’s true. Their whole approach makes me look at that as a form of harassment…. very annoying ! It’s right up there with door-to-door sales people….
I’m with you – I hate being prompted like that! Not only do I find it annoying, but the 5 people behind me would be royally pissed if I decided then and there to sign up for a card. C’mon people – let’s keep the line moving!
I never sign up for those things. Not because I don’t want the discount but because I can’t qualify! So I save everyone time and my own embarrassment and just stop them when they start telling me about it.
I would not open a department/specialty store credit card just to save money…it doesn’t matter what amount I could be saving. Credit cards just get me into financial trouble and give me a false sense of financial security.
*Also posted on my blog along with #20 and #21. I hope to answer the rest of the questions soon!”
I hate disappointing people so I REALLY hate when they ask me. My friend used to work at the limited and she had to ask people. She hated it but it was kind of important to her keeping her job. I only said yes once, because I was Christmas shopping, spending a ton of money and was going to save a lot. After some credit card fraud (totally unrelated to opening that card) they put a thing (have no idea what it is called) on my credit so that no one can ever open a card in a store without me calling from my home and approving it first. That is excellent because then you can still get the discount the store offers sometimes if you say you will open one and then they turn you down. I don’t know if it still is the rule, but if you say yes to opening a credit card with them and then they turn you down, they used to (maybe still do) have to give you whatever discount they offered with the card. (This is totally confusing, I wrote it bad and can’t think of how to write it so it makes sense, so I’ll just hope you understand my insane rambling!)