Sears Mastercard - New annual fee - $45, beware

the heads up is a good one --- because a lot of folks have this card because they took advantage of the 10% on a purchase and may have no clue that the card will be accumulating a balance from the fee

Did they say which cards are affected? According to the Citibank site there are no annual fees, unless their goal is to get new cardmembers then slap them with a fee right away.

http://www.citibank.com/us/cards/srs/credit_options.jsp

Received letter today........ card has been canceled

Hmmm...we just opened one of these the other day. Does it charge you after the first year or something? I didn't see naything about that.

I just got a replacement card yesterday but it didn't mention about the annual fee.

I got the letter yesterday, just said my APR was going up, no mention of an annual fee. I have a Sears mastercard that i opened in 2001 or so. I use the 0% interest purchases and pay them off before they hit the interest point so i was thinking i may get that annual fee hit but looks like we missed it.

Thanks OP, Sears has simply become a company that is not to be trusted. Out of three recent rebates I have had nothing but trouble. The latest rebate, I received an "allowed" by email, then about 4 weeks later a "not allowed" note.

I just called CSR at this number and was told "yes, there will be an annual fee." I said: "close the card." Then I was switched to another CSR and I bellyached about Sears recent shortcoming's especially in the rebate arena. He told me that not only that there was to be no annual fee for me but that he would reverse the recent rate increase to original terms and he offered me a $25 gift card because of the "failed" rebate deal, which I graciously accepted.

I rarely use this card, and do so only with Sears purchases or when a Master Card is necessary for some deal. My credit is squeaky clean. So the bottom line is if you are getting charged a $45 annual fee it's a sort of "we don't really want you anymore note," and the "we don't want you crowd" is getting bigger and bigger by the month.

As to the 24 month 0% offers --- they are DEADLY. Consider: A couple buy's a $1000 item (fridge, tv, etc) on this sort of a deal thinking "free" and "we'll pay it off later.

The months roll by, "we can pay it off just before the deadline" they think. In the meantime, Sears increases things. $45 annual fee (you are stuck--either pay up in total and close the card, or pay the fee. The interest rate changes from 14.99 to 23.99 to 29.99% and then one in the couple loses her job. Uh oh, there isn't a grand to pay on time. Instantly, you are charged ~$500 for interest (if not paid on time, interest accrues from day one) So the real cost now is: $1000 + $500 (accrued interest) $100 (two annual fees) and *poof* the $1000 TV just cost you $1600 and is now accruing about $528/year if you can't pay it off (plus possible late and over-limit fees). It's simple math, and I think, very scary math.

Today credit on this sort of card is deadly. If you have some, I suggest paying it off. If you can't pay it off, I suggest getting a part-time job till you can even if it's at Mickey D's.

Shandril said:
I think they hope many people will ignore the notice and they'll start raking up $45 annual fees until people catch the deal. Most people shopping at Sears are so passive about their use of credit that they may not read the letter thinking it's advertizing again.

I may be in that camp. I only use my Sears cards when I make a large 0% purchase. I'll have to look into this.

I worked for Sears for 6 years total during high school and college and I am somewhat perplexed as to why they would do this. The kickback the corporation gets from the credit cards (now that Citi owns them) is huge. Every person that works for Sears in a customer service position has to push the cards and get so many applications or they get fired, I probably opened up hundreds over the years. Nearly every single time I was asked whether or not the card had an annual fee - I don't think they will be very successful on getting new people to sign up if the answer to that is now "It depends."

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to who gets the fee and who does not. My Sears mastercard was my first credit card and even though I never put more then $25 on it and have not used it for years, when I called I was told I would not get an annual fee.

I too will be cancelling my Sears MC if and when I am informed that they will be charging an annual fee. Also have been having problems with Citi CCs. Recent statement closed on Sept 9th, which I didn't received until Sept 19th, and the "Payment Due Date" was Sept 29th....10 calendar day notice to pay my Citi Professional CC. Whatever happened to the approx 21 day notice to pay one's CCs?
I called Citi to complain, but after trying to understand the CSRs with their heavy foreign accents, they were not receptive to my complaint.
I plan to keep my several Citi CCs open, but not use them.
Citi doesn't deserve our business.

I guess I'm lucky, I just received a closed notice from Sears for too infrequent use.