I had an interesting encounter with a sales clerk while checking out at Kohl’s this past weekend. I rarely shop there, but I had a one hour window of time with my daughter to find her some jeans that fit. I know Kohl’s carries a particular brand that fits my daughter and the store is convenient to my house.
This is how the conversation went with the clerk while making my purchase.
Clerk: Hi! Do you have a Kohl’s card?
Me: No
Clerk: Would you like to sign up for one?
Me: No, thank you.
Clerk: What, you don’t like saving money?
Me: I don’t do debt.
Then I pulled out my envelope system and handed him my cash from the clothing envelope.
I know that many store clerks are required to ask and meet a sign up quota to keep their job. Somehow I had forgotten this and I was caught off guard and shocked by the clerk’s insinuating tone. He was insinuating that I don’t like to save money, because I don’t use their store branded credit card.
In that split-second before I replied I was totally disgusted that he would even suggest that I would save money by using a credit card. I facilitate Dave Ramsey’s FPU and this kind of stuff makes my blood boil. Credit cards very rarely ever save you money.
The store is in the business of upselling a shopper a line of credit, because it is very profitable for them. Kevin Mansell, a Kohls Chairman said in 2011, “We continue to benefit from strong profitability in our credit card partnership with Capital One as bad debt expenses declined significantly over last year.” They gladly give you a measly 10% off your first purchase and future “rewards” in exchange for the possibility of you using the card again and not paying the balance in full.
I was at their store to purchase my daughter a pair of pants and not their credit product. I’d rather pay my cash and be done with the whole thing. No mail containing a pending balance will come to remind me of a t-shirt and pants that I purchased three weeks ago.
Be prepared with a comeback if a clerk asks you to sign up for a credit card. Usually a polite ‘no thank you’ is enough to answer them. They are just doing their job after all, but sometimes you’ll encounter a pushy sales clerk and it’s best to have your answer ready.
Here are a few more statistics about credit card debt:
According to Nerd Wallet credit card debt is the third largest source of household indebtedness, averaging $7,193 per household as of November 2012.
According to Fox Business U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) released a report that found that many store-branded cards charge interest rates that are much higher than traditional credit cards — the average store credit card interest rate is 24%.
According to Simple Dollar store cards have very low minimum required payments and it would take you decades to pay off the balance.
Have you ever been a store sales clerk pushing credit cards? How have you responded to credit card offers in a store?
“No, thanks” usually does it for me, too, but boy, I would have been equally taken aback with that “What, you don’t like saving money?” question. Snap. Kohls is really OK with them saying that? Ugh.
I’ve gotten variations of the “you don’t like saving money” line, including the suggestion that I could go right home and pay my balance off online. My standard reply is, “I don’t do credit. Ever.”
My wife had an interesting experience at Kohl’s that I thought I would share. We are just starting to use the DR envelope system for things like clothing. My wife went to Kohl’s the other day to get some items for the kids and when she got to the register the cashier asked her if she had a Kohl’s card. My wife said yes (of which we have a zero balance), but I want to pay cash for the purchase and not use the card. The cashier said that if you use the card you will get an extra 20% discount on your purchases. The cashier then told her that she can still pay cash by immediately paying off the balance right here at the register (Kohl’s allows you to pay your card payment at the register). So that is what my wife did! So right after they finished the transaction the cashier went into the card payment screen and my wife handed her the cash to pay off the card balance and we still got the 20%. So this is what we will do from now on at Kohl’s. We don’t have any other credit cards and I won’t be getting anymore, but since we still had the Kohl’s card why not take advantage of the savings and still pay cash.
Hi Kelly, I am glad that the Kohls card able to work out for you. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out for everyone. Not everyone has the discipline to keep their purchases limited to the cash they have on hand. Others may be tempted to spend more, because they have space on the credit card or to get more of a discount. Maybe I could save $8 bucks on my $40 dollar purchase, but I don’t want to worry about managing another account. I’d rather pay in cash and be done with that purchase forever.