Reader Sue saw this sign at Circuit City and snapped a picture of it for us.
We’re thinking CC might be on to something in this new economy. Next up, “Sign up for credit today and get a free bag of flour! Bring a friend and get a packet of yeast and a potato!” If you let Firedog delete your unwanted desktop icons you’ll probably get a free bowl of soup.
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where do i sign up?
jc penny has been doings this for years.
Didn’t Best Buy and Wal-Mart do the same thing?
I think Wal-Mart started it. It’s sad that they are following Wal-Mart’s guidelines for being idiots.
But then again…
Would not recomend it for most people, as it will bring down your credit score when they go to process your application and do a hardpull. Case of water or watermelon seems more tempting.
@razdigital: My rule of thumb: don’t do anything that requires a hard pull unless I will gain at least $150 by doing so. And of course, don’t do it period more than once a year or so.
Circuit City has been doing it for years at certain stores. Not like it helps Credit Apps.
Hey, I didn’t bring lunch today… I think I’ll pop by CC and get a bowl of soup and a side of credit card today.
They could at least offer a free T-shirt. A bunch of students at my college would apply for a credit card to get a shirt. I thought they were kind of crazy, but better to get scammed for a free shirt than a free soda, I guess.
@lalaland13: Actually, maybe that’s an idea. Sign up for our platinum credit card, get free underwear and socks for the cold cold winter ahead.
@lalaland13: I signed up for a yo-yo and a CD in college.
What’s even worse? It’s a generic brand soda.
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy–>: I actually saw “store brand soda” the first time. Mmm… Circuit City Cola… reeks of failure.
When I was in college and had no credit, I used to apply to Sear about twice times a week, just for the free stuff. Later on I found out that the person who approved the credit cards almost never approved anyone, so I never had to worry about actually getting a card.
I once went to Sears to apply for a card because my friend’s Mom wanted a set of Ginzu steak knives…
@mmcnary: Doesn’t that ding your credit report every time?
@mmcnary:
Ginzu knives are the best! They slice! They dice! They jullieen(sic)!
@mmcnary:
I’m sure all those hard inquiries did worse for your credit score than a new line of credit.
I will give Circuit City credit for one thing… for as long as I’ve had my Circuit City credit card I’ve never paid a penny of interest. They tend to have a metric ton of “90 day no payments!” specials that they run. Buy a lot of stuff, pay it off… never look back.
I don’t know if that’s worth a soda. Maybe some energy drinks… so I can chug back to celebrate my EXTREME SAVINGS!
If you don’t like BoA credit cards, affinity cards are even worse! I know it’s hard to imagine that.
Psssh, I can go to a car dealership or furniture store and get a free soda without signing up for anything.
@mugsywwiii: Go to a Lexus dealership and get free scones! *spits out scones* I hate them, but they were FREE!
Wait, wait, wait… is the soda cold? That might just change everything.
K-Mart/Sears has done this for a long time too. But only if you’re approved
I always wondered what the C&C in C&C Cola stood for.
So, do they wait for approval before you get the soda? Because I’d just write something fake, take the soda and scram.
Wow. Offer me a free PS3 or a Blu-Ray player and I might consider signing up (though I wouldnt ever use the card). Otherwise the time eaten up and extra risk in having another account out there is not worth it to me…
If any businesses still aren’t clear why we are in the financial mess we are in, let me spell it out: People who would take out a credit line just to get a free soda are probably not the safest people to loan money to.
Here’s a line of people waiting to open Circuit City credit cards.
Its funny, but offers like this offer a HUGE ROI for them. How much did that sign cost? How much will the coke cost when played out over the lifetime of the average card holder in comparison to the revenue they bring in?
It may seem slimy but its effective marketing nonetheless.
And now to share my own story…when I was in college I’ll admit that the first credit card I ever signed up for was in exchange for free pizza. The guys hawking it tried to tell me I had to apply for two cards, and me, being the slick new advertising student, informed them that no, I only had to apply for one because nowhere on their flier did it state I needed to go for 2.
Yeah…fast forward several years and I realize how stupid I was. At least I got a card with good terms and a non-insane rate (which doesn’t matter to me much as I always pay it off every month) and decent rewards.
I wish there were student advocates who would stand by the places that this was occurring and hand out information about why it is stupid to sign up for a card for a coke (or piece of pizza).
@Haltingpoint: Once some guys were going around campus handing out “Free sandwich at Subway” (or maybe Quizno’s). The trick was, once you got inside Subway, you had to sign up for a credit card to get the sandwich. Stupid. I think the flyers were illegal and the university cracked down on them, since only the alumni association was allowed to scam students into applying for credit cards. Go team!
You mean people still shop at Circuit City?
Not all circuit city stores are doing that . Actually there’s no such
promotion what probably happened is the store manager is paying for
those sodas or actually he better be or his job is on the line. Each
credit card that gets approved n used (I’m not sure if it’s the store
manager or the store) gets $50
oh, i saw this one at TJ Maxx this summer. Hilarious
wait!?! Shasta Cola? no deal!
At a local //alMart they were giving away those whole roasted chickens for applying for a CC. I couldnt help but laugh my ass off as I walked pass. I have seen the same place offer 2 free bottles of 2 liter sodas as well.
I would love to meet some of these people that took em up on the offers.
I thought walmart was the only place to stoop this low.
It is somewhat sad to see the walmart worker haggling people as they go by, trying to get them to sign up for a credit card, and get a 2 liter bottle of soda.
What sad times we live in..
I just give them BS info. I use the same made up SSN each time, just in case they ask you to verify. However I wouldn’t waste the time for a free soda unless I was really thirsty. Now if they offered free porn or a pound of bacon for applying, that would definately be worth the time.
How about at least a liter of the Captain too.
Toys R US gets you a pack of batteries too.