We’ve always noticed the way the sales person looks so depressed and angry every time we say we don’t need an Express or Victoria’s Secret credit card. Reader Jesica says its because when she worked there, the managers would threaten to fire anyone who didn’t meet their quota of new credit card accounts. Jesica writes:
As an ex sales person, I will tell you that we did not work on commission, nor did we get any sort of bonus for opening these cards. What we did get was threats of being fired for not opening a certain number of cards per shift. Because of this I saw many sales people who feared for their jobs basically trick non-english speaking customers into opening these cards. I am not sure that this is illegal, but it is certainly immoral in my eyes.
Yikes! We hate being bullied by clerks to open store credit accounts! Hate it! Read Jesica’s entire email inside.
Jesica writes:
I would first like to start out by thanking you for all of the wonderful information that you make available to the public. As a result of all of the ex-employee confessions about unethical business practices I am grateful that I now know not to give these places (such as Best Buy, B of A, etc.)my business, or to at least be cautious upon doing so. I would also like to give you a little tidbit about the Limited Brands, owner of The Limited, Express, Victoria’s Secret, & Bath & Body Works.Though this is not a horrifying story (as many of your other features are), I think that people deserve to be cautious of these things. I worked for The Limited for a few months (fell upon some hard times, needed a job… ANY job), and the one thing that bothered me was the pressure that is put on the sales people by management to open the store credit cards. As an ex sales person, I will tell you that we did not work on commission, nor did we get any sort of bonus for opening these cards. What we did get was threats of being fired for not opening a certain number of cards per shift. Because of this I saw many sales people who feared for their jobs basically trick non-english speaking customers into opening these cards. I am not sure that this is illegal, but it is certainly immoral in my eyes.
Let me also go on to say that I once opened one of these cards (to meet a quota), and very much regretted doing so! I put a charge of about $25 on this card (hey you can’t afford much when you make minimum wage!), paid this off completely, and to my knowledge closed the account. About 8 months later I had moved, taken a much better job, and forgotten all about it. Then I started to get harassing phone calls from the creditor stating that I owed over $100 in late charges. I will not detail the chaos and upset that ensued, but it involved many hours of phone calls with moron CSRs, being juggled from department to department, and them trying to make it as hard as possible for me to close the card even after I paid off the “alleged” balance.
I can only imagine what these people have gone through who were bullied or tricked into opening these cards. This is why I would like to encourage people not to patronize these establishments, or at the very least SAY NO when hassled with “saving 10%” by opening a store card. That ten percent you saved will miraculously turn into a big fat bill and harassing phone calls after you “close the account.”
Thank you for letting me vent!
Sincerely,
Jesica
—MEGHANN MARCO
(Photo:spinachedip)
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@gruffydd:
So you were behind this gem?
http://montysbluff.com/delldude.jpg
@gruffydd:
“I do like an associate that recognizes that I am spending money with their company and not something that is taking away time from their precious go-backs.”
You really think that’s what they’re doing?
I stand by my previous assessment.
@gruffydd: I think the primary objections are not related to “doing what is on one’s job description”, but to undue pressure from pushy and greedy management.
@gruffydd: you know, my sister was 16 when she worked at express. & i don’t think i’ve ever seen a girl in there over 19.
b/c i don’t know you, i’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt & pretend that you didn’t threaten to fire them or bark at them when they didn’t meet their goals or otherwise make their job horrible so you could “meet your numbers”.
if you did, congratulations, you win the “gaping asshole of the year” award.
not to be a shill, but y’all should read this book “Maxed out” by James Scurlock which delves into very scary detail about the practices and history of credit and credit lenders. You will cut up your cards and use cash for ever after, I swear it! Get it from the library, it’s cheaper that way.
I actually just witnessed a clerk named Chong at Old Navy in Ala Moana Mall, Honolulu successfully pressure a woman who didn’t appear to understand english very well into signing a credit card application. He was also holding up the line while he did this. I dropped my merchandise in disgust and left when I realized what was the cause for the hold up. I’d write a letter about the whole thing, but I’m not sure who it’d be worth sending it to. Any suggestions?
@mac-phisto:
Actually, I had a monthly contest – every application equaled one entry, and if we made the store goal, I split the manager bonus with the winner.
BUT, when I created the schedule, the associates with the best UPT, ADS and Credit Card app numbers, got the most hours….
@anacoluthia: Old Navy is owned by Gap, Inc. You could try corporate headquarters for starters:
Toll Free: 800-333-7899
“actually just witnessed a clerk named Chong at Old Navy in Ala Moana Mall, Honolulu successfully pressure a woman who didn’t appear to understand english very well into signing a credit card application. He was also holding up the line while he did this. I dropped my merchandise in disgust and left when I realized what was the cause for the hold up. I’d write a letter about the whole thing, but I’m not sure who it’d be worth sending it to. Any suggestions?”
Why? So they can name him employee of the month?
Okay, two things:
- There are an awful lot of people out there who want to hold store brand credit cards, who enjoy having these cards, and who are even passionate about the benefits they get from these cards. Most of you may not be in this group, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a great many others out there who are.
- Using threats of firing someone to get them to do their job is probably the absolute worst way to motivate an employee ever.
I worked at Old Navy about 8 years ago and they were pushing us hard to get people to get their Old Navy account credit card – “ONAs.”
They would tell us we would have to get “X amount of accounts opened today” but they never said we would get fired.
I never liked pushing 30% APR ONAs on people, so I didn’t. They soon took me off cashier duty and put me on the floor – I later quit (i.e. stopped going).
@gruffydd: Yes, it is horrible to expect retail drones to HARASS PEOPLE. How would you feel if someone walked up behind you while you were minding your own business and pushed a credit card at you?
I guess you weren’t in kindergarten the day the Golden Rule was covered?
I just usually tell them I’m visiting from another country and they leave me alone.
This article convinced me to never get a store cc. I only have one cc (Visa for United Mileage) and that’s enough!
When I worked at Target, they’d do the same thing. You’d have to get so many ‘points’[credit apps] per week or something or you’d be denied a good review when it came time. Like, even the best cashier ever would be called inadiquite if they didnt have enough apps. That and your managers would get so pissed if you didnt ask every time. It’s bullshit. I think these stores would get a better responce if they didnt harass customers (and employees) with these credit cards. I would only ask if it would really help them, then i would instruct them on how to pay it off and cancel it after they got the discount. The managers used to scold me every day…
I worked at VS for three months over the summer and at times I forgot that the store sold lingerie, since credit sales were constantly being push for so hard.
Since I was cashier, I would ring up credit applications that people working on the floor would get. After processing the application, and giving the temp card to the customer, most of the customers would be shocked since they didn’t know that they were signing up for a credit card. They thought they were signing up for a “frequent buyer” card.
There was also a time that I processed an application for a customer and it turned out that she already HAD a VS credit card.
Although it should be part the customers’ fault for not knowing what they’ve signed up for, I always felt horrible when processing apps or when trying to “convince” customers to apply for one esp. when you’re telling them it’s a “great deal” when it has 22%+ APR.
When I worked at JCPENNY in highschool we actually got 5.00 per card we setup and it was super simple.
I know that even around xmas time I went to the gap and the girl told me they actually fire people that don’t get enough store cards.
When I worked at Casual Corner, we were also supposed to push the credit cards. I don’t remember a threat of firing or being written up, but the manager did hound me for the first few days to ‘make sure people knew about the card’. I solved the problem by asking, “Will you be putting this on your Casual Corner card?” and if they said no or they didn’t have one, I let it drop. Only two people in eight months asked me for more information and opened an account. My boss seemed ok with my compromise.
Worse, in my opinion, was the number of people who ALREADY had the cards, and would buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff on an already nearly-maxed out card. They’d get $200 worth of stuff, then go grab another $50 worth so they could get a 10% discount or something like that.
When companies like VS or Express ask if I want their credit card, I just tell them no. There’s no reason to take it out on the cashier, who doesn’t have any control over what she’s supposed to upsell to the customer, and despite what a previous poster on here said–working retail is not like working in telemarketing. You usually don’t know about pushing the cards until you’ve been trained on everything and are already working. You go in assuming you’ll be selling or folding clothes, and suddenly it’s like you’re working at a bank selling credit. Everyone’s got to work, I don’t fault them for finding work in retail.
Why do people who work retail find that the concept of making money and doing your job is so strange? Perhaps before one takes a job at store X because they like the clothes, they should research a little. Does this store sell credit cards? Does this store take advantage of unfair international trade laws to have their clothes/products made? Will I have to wear the clothes head to toe to show off the brand which pays my bills? How come it’s not silly to think if one works for a major sports franchise, they should love the team, or if they work at a zoo, they should love animals…but somehow, retail is exempt from these qualifications. The quality of service would increase greatly (I’m speaking as a retail manager) if the right people applied for and were hired for retail jobs. People that take it seriously as they would any other job.
When I’m asked if I want to open a store account, I smile and say, “No thanks.” If they persist, I’ll say, a little more firmly, “I said, no thank you.” If they do it a 3rd time, it’s more along the lines of, “What part of no don’t you understand?”
It’s unfortunate that some of these companies are shortsighted enough to fire good employees because they fail to hawk enough credit card accounts. But I’m not going to jeopardize my financial health over it.
The last time I opened a store card was to save 15% off my $300 purchase at Macy’s. I paid off the card and have a zero balance — good thing since the rate is about 26%.
@smallestmills: Apples, oranges. The other jobs you mention are career jobs. A sweater folder at The Gap is a low-skill, (hopefully) temporary job to get someone through school or unemployment. Stupid, stupid comparison.
You are right to the extent that employees should love the company that they work for. But that kinda goes both ways – the employers simply see the retail staff as easily replaceable parts, and they make the job as mindless and low-paying as possible to keep it that way.
And yeah, employees should go above and beyond their job descriptions to serve the customer. But somehow, I don’t think hawking crappy store credit cards is going to improve my experience as a consumer.
@smallestmills: Oh, if I work at Wal Mart, that means I should adore every hideous piece of crap they sell and not shop anywhere else if I can help it, even for my business suits. Yeah right.
You know the turnover for these kids working retail has to be something like at least 50% every couple of months. How can you possibly expect some kid fresh out of school to take a low-wage job seriously, especially when they have to put up with shitty, pushy management practices at one end, and rude and abusive customers at the other?
Do only approved credit applications count for the salesperson’s quota?
The two times I’ve worked in retail, for MotoPhoto and for Books-A-Million, we had to sell a certain number of “memberships” each month, but I only pushed it (if you can call it that) on people who would see an immediate savings beyond the membership cost at the time of purchase. I’d hate to have had to try selling it to people who I knew would never benefit from it.
I’d have no problem helping out a salesperson by filling out phony info on an application if that wouldn’t cause trouble for them. (And isn’t illegal. Is it?)
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Between the credit card solicitations and requests for my phone number, I’m about ready to do all of my shopping online!
I’ve found that the easiest way out of the credit card solicitation is to just tell the salesperson that you already have one. There’s nothing to argue about that way, and it saves us both time.
Geeze. I`m a cashier at Sears, and wow, they seem really lax compared to some of these other companies…
I mention the card to every customer, if they say no, so be it. The other cashiers are the same way.
We don`t get in trouble or anything as long as we mention it…if we get 50 credit apps, that`s great. If we get 3, that`s fine too.
Actually, I don`t think I`ve known anyone who has gotten in trouble for NOT mentioning the card.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that one of our cashiers gets like 70 apps a month…heh.
@yg17: What sort of messed up Target did you work in?
Or were you just part of the old system?
In October of 2006 Target changed policy and so now the only people we’re supposed to ask to apply are those that the register prompts us to. We’re still told to inform the guest that they can save 10% and such, but unless they were making a big purchase ($100 or more) it was generally never pushed.
I work at Victoria’s Secret and this is the kind of atmosphere I had to get used to. Not only do they make a big deal out of not getting credit card sign-ups, they rank us by how many credits we get. The people in the lower ranks get less hours for the week, making it potentially impossible to earn money especially only at minimum wage. What’s worse is that I don’t even get paid for how much I work. I keep waiting around for a paycheck only to find out that I didn’t get half the amount I should have earned. All I have to say is Victoria’s Secret’s employers are disorganized and I’m on the verge of QUITTING! If I had the money, I would sue them while I’m at it.
I worked for Macy’s from 10/07 to 1/08. They terminated me last night because I only opened 5 new credit card accounts in my first 90 days of employment (I was short by 2). I can’t believe it’s even legal to fire someone for this. You can’t force people to open credit cards! Besides, I DID ask every single customer and they either already had one or they didn’t want one. I don’t know what more I could have done. I am furious about this. I have never been fired before…EVER!
As a former Macys employee the reason they bully the sales associates into forcing the credit card on everyone is because the company makes its money off the interest charges on the cc, not on the merchandise.
They have figured out that a credit card customer will spend 30% more than a cash customer, and that 70% of all cc holders carry a balance. So, at 25% interest on 70% of the cards that is an enormous sum of money. It’s also why they’ve tied all their “sales” to the cc and did away with the coupons. They are trying to force everyone to use the Macys card ~ so if you want the sale price (and the pricing games they play is another story altogther) you have to use your card to get it.
Sales associates are trained from day one on the importance of the cc to the company and even in the interview they make it plain that you are required to open so many cc accounts per week if you want to work there ~ or else. Associates who don’t make their quotas have to go to “credit counseling” so they can teach you how to get cc accounts, meet with their managers, and all kinds of foolishness. If you still don’t get your quotas after all of that you’re out the door so like one person said those of us who made our quotas for the week/month would ring credits under other associates’ numbers so they wouldn’t get fired.
So no, we aren’t badgering you about the cc just because. We are badgering you because we have bills to pay and we can’t afford to lose our jobs however crappy they may be and however much we may object morally and ethically to Federated’s business practices.
Yep, I was just fired form Lord and Taylor for poor performance. The HR cited that during my probation period I did not open one store credit and failed to capture enough emails. When I told her that my customers did not want to open emails she told me that that was not possible because the store was at least 50% for both email capture and store credit applications. Forget that I worked in the cosmetics department where the figures do not reflect the stores figures at all.