Got a letter from Sears credit card services that they not only increased all interest rates, cash out rates etc but also imposed an annual membership fee of $45 beginning Jan 2010. If you like to cancel, call 1-877-718-2851. Use your rewards before cancelling the card.
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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.
samboy said:Received letter today........ card has been canceled Why not wait until December? You may need the card before then or they may change their mind about these new fees.
Message edited by: lampy2k4 on 2009-09-21 21:17:39 CDT
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.
Well, dang, this card was great for the 24-month 0% financing offers on everything from TVs to appliances.
I don't know why anyone would want a store card of any type with an annual fee. This doesn't really surprise me, though, as Sears has been hurting for a while now.
I'm curious as to what accounts are being flagged for the fee. Do you ever use the card?
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.
jsflynn603 said: 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.
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 hope it backfires and they lose more money in lost business than they make with annual fees on unsuspecting customers. On the other hand, if they make a killing on this, I wouldn't be surprised to see others follow suit.
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 still have one and quite a few points that I have yet to cash in on. I don't use the card any more due to their moving due dates. I always paid my balances and they would move the due date so to confuse the customer to encourage a missed due date. Then they would put the due dates on the weekend knowing the payments would not post until after the weekend. This is deliberate trickery (I work in IT in the finance arena and this type of thing is always talked about so to imply motives is based on my personal experience in finance). I stopped using the card and like others, I only use if for Sears discounts at Sears. But if they want to charge a fee for this card after all the 200 grand I put on the card over the years...they can have it back.
Message edited by: twbradford on 2009-09-22 15:46:39 CDT
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.
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