topic Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card? in Credit Cards

When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Lel — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:18:24 GMT

When it's a Sears Mastercard. That's the answer DW got today.

I've been on her case about using her idle credit cards, especially the Citi-issued Sears MC. She hadn't used it in ages, and I've been encouraging her to revive it to ward off an involuntary closure. She finally took my recommendation.

Sears was having a promo today, and she should have gotten an additional 20% off her purchase for using her Sears card. But when she presented her card, the salesperson told her that her Sears MC wasn't a "real" Sears card, it was a Mastercard. DW was told that to get the discount, she'd have to apply for a new Sears store card. She declined, then called me to complain.

I think the salesperson is completely confused. It is a Sears card - it says "Sears" in big gold letters across the the top. All her correspondence refers to it as a Sears card, too. I want her to go and complain and get her discount. Am I correct in assuming that a Sears MC should be eligible for promotional discounts?

We have a Macy's Visa. Macy's always accepts it as a Macy's card.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

DI — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:45:47 GMT

@Lel wrote:
When it's a Sears Mastercard. That's the answer DW got today.

I've been on her case about using her idle credit cards, especially the Citi-issued Sears MC. She hadn't used it in ages, and I've been encouraging her to revive it to ward off an involuntary closure. She finally took my recommendation.

Sears was having a promo today, and she should have gotten an additional 20% off her purchase for using her Sears card. But when she presented her card, the salesperson told her that her Sears MC wasn't a "real" Sears card, it was a Mastercard. DW was told that to get the discount, she'd have to apply for a new Sears store card. She declined, then called me to complain.

I think the salesperson is completely confused. It is a Sears card - it says "Sears" in big gold letters across the the top. All her correspondence refers to it as a Sears card, too. I want her to go and complain and get her discount. Am I correct in assuming that a Sears MC should be eligible for promotional discounts?

We have a Macy's Visa. Macy's always accepts it as a Macy's card.

I have to differ with you on this one. The MC only carries the Sears name, and should not be treated or given the same perks as the store card. The store card is used exclusively at the store. Cardholders with the store card should be entitled to better perks since it can only be use at Sears family stores, and not Macy's or other stores. It's a Citi card endorsed by Sears with Citi 's name written all over it.

Message Edited by DI on 11-02-2009 04:45 PM

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

haulingthescoreup — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:37:48 GMT

I thought I'd get some sort of extra wonderfulness for using my Sears MC for Lands' End orders, but no.

I do get all sorts of junk in the mailed statements that they persist in sending me, many of which are things carried by Sears, but I don't seem to get any offers about regular sales at Sears. But then, I don't go to Sears more than once every year or three, so maybe they gave up on me.

My Borders Visa and Barnes and Noble MC weren't like this --my e-mail inbox was cluttered with offers. But I think that's because I was a member of their little sales clubs, whatever they're called.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Lel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:18:13 GMT

Interesting take on the not-really-a-Sears-card issue. Funny thing is that DW got the account in a Sears store to specifically take advantage of a 10% instant discount for opening the Sears card. She saved a whopping $3 on her purchase (I know, I know, this was in our pre-myFICO days). She used the card to get another Sears-card related discount a couple months later. And the Sears card website seems to indicate that the MC is eligible for those promotional discounts.

Anyways, it used to be good for the special promotions, but I guess the rules are changing across the board.

She still might take it up with the store customer service. I'm still glad that she finally used the card though.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:13:45 GMT

I have two contacts for Lel to try.

(1) (Sears) National Consumer Relations Department: 1-800-549-4505
It was explained to me by a Sears phone rep that a person can use this phone number to make a complaint about any bad experiences at Sears stores and about any problems with your Sears card. I haven't had a reason yet to use that phone number, so I don't know if that

(2) Sears Presidents office: 800-323-9396
This is supposed to be the absolute highest level to which a person can escalate a problem concerning his/her Sears account.

I can't recall ever seeing a Sears Sunday ad which stated that discounts on select store purchases could be received only by Sears charge card holders and not by Sears Mastercard holders. Earlier this year my local Sears store had a discount on clearance items which only Sears charge card and Sears Mastercard were eligible to receive.

It was Sears itself (back when it was Sears that handled the Sears accounts) that invited me to have my Sears charge account upgraded to the Sears Mastercard. During the entire time that I've had the Sears Mastercard, I haven't ever been notified that any benefits were being reduced or removed because I had a Sears Mastercard instead of a Sears charge card.

Message Edited by MojaveMoon on 11-02-2009 07:13 PM

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:21:29 GMT

Two more comments.

I visited Sears' website just now. This link says that there are exclusive benefits for Sears cardholders -- this terminology is inclusive language that does not exclude Sears Mastercard holders. Also, an image in the link shows two card pictured. The card that is in the foreground is a Sears Mastercard.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/dap_10153_12605_DAP_Sears+Card+Member+Offers?storeId=10153&vName=Sears+Card+Member+Offers&catalogInd=DAP&catalogId=12605

Second comment. Here is Sears' link for card appliation information. There is not any information in the disclosure that I could find in a cursory read that supports DI's interpretation that Sears Mastercard holders are eligible for fewer store benefits.

http://www.searscard.com

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Lel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:49:35 GMT

Here's my update: DW called the store back and spoke with a manager, who confirmed that she should have received her 15% (not 20% as I wrote above) discount for using her Sears MC. She also found the same ad online that MojaveMoon posted. So as we speak, she's out the door to get her money back. Kind of a hassle, especially since it was not a huge purchase, but I guess it's the principle of the thing.

Apparently the salesperson didn't even attempt to see if the discount would ring up. She just told her to that she had to apply for a new card. Strange.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

DI — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:53:49 GMT

@Lel wrote:
Here's my update: DW called the store back and spoke with a manager, who confirmed that she should have received her 15% (not 20% as I wrote above) discount for using her Sears MC. She also found the same ad online that MojaveMoon posted. So as we speak, she's out the door to get her money back. Kind of a hassle, especially since it was not a huge purchase, but I guess it's the principle of the thing.

Apparently the salesperson didn't even attempt to see if the discount would ring up. She just told her to that she had to apply for a new card. Strange.

Good news!!

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Lel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:58:10 GMT

DI wrote:

@Lel wrote:
Here's my update: DW called the store back and spoke with a manager, who confirmed that she should have received her 15% (not 20% as I wrote above) discount for using her Sears MC. She also found the same ad online that MojaveMoon posted. So as we speak, she's out the door to get her money back. Kind of a hassle, especially since it was not a huge purchase, but I guess it's the principle of the thing.

Apparently the salesperson didn't even attempt to see if the discount would ring up. She just told her to that she had to apply for a new card. Strange.
Good news!!

Well, uh, mixed news. She got her discount, but on her way out she saw more things that she liked....at least she got the 15% off her additional purchases!

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:03:54 GMT

I'm not trying to see the worst in people -- but maybe that salesperson flat out lied to your wife in order that that salesperson might receive the employee bonus for signing up someone for a Sears card.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Kay_Cee — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:02:17 GMT

Having spent some time working at Sears to supplement my unemployment, I know first hand that the cashiers are financially incented to get people to open credit accounts, regardless of whether they are Sears cards, Sears Mastercards, Sears major purchase cards or HSBC Sears Solutions cards. In fact I knew several cashiers who encouraged their customers to open all three in one day. They got a bonus of $2.00 per app once they reached the threshold of 5 applications in a month. In some cases they were pulling in an extra $200 a month from CC apps. Not bad for a 17 or 18 year old high school student!

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Lel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:57:50 GMT

Kay_Cee wrote:
Having spent some time working at Sears to supplement my unemployment, I know first hand that the cashiers are financially incented to get people to open credit accounts, regardless of whether they are Sears cards, Sears Mastercards, Sears major purchase cards or HSBC Sears Solutions cards. In fact I knew several cashiers who encouraged their customers to open all three in one day. They got a bonus of $2.00 per app once they reached the threshold of 5 applications in a month. In some cases they were pulling in an extra $200 a month from CC apps. Not bad for a 17 or 18 year old high school student!

We had our suspicions that this was the case, and that the salesperson was trying to secure another application. But I wasn't sure if the salesperson really got a bonus or not.

ETA: what have I done? DW just called me - she's back at Sears, shopping again. And the promotion doesn't end until Friday!

Message Edited by Lel on 11-03-2009 09:57 AM

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:45:48 GMT

DA-DA-DA-DUM..........CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!!!

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:07:46 GMT

A lotf the clerks at Sears seem to be sneaky and deceptive like this.

I had one try to talk me into applying for a store card (while I was paying w/ my Sears MC) - since the "benefits are better, and you get better coupons."

This is an outright lie (as OP found out, late) - she was just looking for some bonus $$.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Kay_Cee — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:32:36 GMT

It's not just the $2.00 per application that drives that behavior, in some store the hours a cashier gets to work is tied to the # of applications they get. So, no apps means very few hours and no $.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Jazzzy — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:51:22 GMT

I am a nurse and recently worked at a psych hospital. I worked with a nurse who also worked part time at a similar (but different) department store. She said she liked to do something different from nursing once in a while and used the employee discounts for her family (single mom w/ kids). This woman had worked at the hospital for many years.

All of a sudden, she was gone. It was discovered that she was filling out credit card applications for the dept. store using patient's names, SS#s, etc. Some of our patients have been instutionalized for years, and, so, likely had good credit. I don't know how this was discovered...could have been discovered by a patient's relative.

Apparently she had quite a little business going on making extra income from the applications she turned in. She ended up losing her nursing license.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

DI — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:30:13 GMT

@LynetteM wrote:
I am a nurse and recently worked at a psych hospital. I worked with a nurse who also worked part time at a similar (but different) department store. She said she liked to do something different from nursing once in a while and used the employee discounts for her family (single mom w/ kids). This woman had worked at the hospital for many years.

All of a sudden, she was gone. It was discovered that she was filling out credit card applications for the dept. store using patient's names, SS#s, etc. Some of our patients have been instutionalized for years, and, so, likely had good credit. I don't know how this was discovered...could have been discovered by a patient's relative.

Apparently she had quite a little business going on making extra income from the applications she turned in. She ended up losing her nursing license.

I hear that type of thing going on with nurses all the time. I never understood why they steal from patients. I thought nurses have high salaries. But, I guess when the debt is more than the salary it doesn't make a difference.

Re: When is a Sears card not a Sears card?

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:35:42 GMT

First time poster but long time reader and I appreciate the help on the site and it helped me tremendously. DI, I am a nurse and just hope that you put all nurses in the same catagory as one story posted on this site. Nurses do not make that much much for the care that they provide and hours they work and a second income becomes necessary for those with large families or as a single mother. Other than that statement I appreciate all of your wisdom and advice that you provide. It has helped me realize the errors of my ways on the credit front.