I used to work retail... let me tell you about credit

[CAMANY]

Cspan today was saying retail stores were one of the big backers of this credit bill passed in congress. This made think WTF?

When I worked retail only one thing mattered and I mean this in all sincerity - getting people the CREDIT CARDS.

It didn't matter if you didn't sell a single item for 6 months or slacked off all the time. Your job security would not be effected. All management cared about was knowing that each and every associate got at least two new credit cards out there daily. But my god - you fail to do that for a week or two and you had a serious risk of getting fired. It was sick. I can't count how many times a day management came by harassing you about how many credit cards you needed to get that day.

The credit cards were so important all employees were almost required to get one. I refused it and did NOT sign the form for one. They sent me one anyway. That's how bad it was. (I was half tempted to max it out after I left the job and then argue I never signed anything... though I have a feeling that wouldn't fly) The credit card also had to be used to take advantage of your employee discount. (which would quickly be nullified once the high interest kicked in) No loss though... cheap 1000% marked up crap dropped off in boxes from nations I never even heard of prior.

Anyway - this really makes me wonder. Why were retailers so interested in passing this bill when so much of their merchandise is sold on credit? Surely they realize this will cause credit as a whole to vanish over time thus making them less profit/sales?

If you ask me retail should be boycotted entirely. There's not a single thing bought retail you can't find many times cheaper some place else. For example, ebay.

I have to say though I don't think people ever get it. They don't realize how the retailers and banks rip them off with credit. I knew people out work who took their employee credit card and maxed it out. I remember speaking to co-workers saying "Gee, have you ever thought about how much interest you're paying to the company?" the answer from many was a "duh" look. Think about it... work for the company, get money, give money back in form of interest. Great scheme they have going. Essentially slavery to the corporation.

I remember one person asking me how high of a credit limit they gave me and how much in the hole I was. I told him I never used the damn card and I saved most of my money. He then spoke to be in some disbelief tone like *I* was the idiot for not getting in credit servitude to the company. Hey they gave you credit? Gotta spend it or you're fool. That was his attitude.

Then there was another day when I went over and said hi to a co-worker who was shopping at the store. In the conversation I told him I never bought anything there with my employee discount. He was like "WHY?" like it was bizarre I wasn't using the "discount". Of course the discount meant nothing. You could find everything in the store on ebay more towards its true price. (in many cases perhaps $15 for something that was $200 at the store) Guess all the boxes from Sri Lanka in the back never clued him in. This was towards the end of my employment and I was so tired of it I didn't even bother to explain it to him.

It's too bad the dems in congress didn't educate people about this instead of voting with the republicans. A LOT of votes can be had here should peoples eyes be opened. I don't have a lot of faith in people though. They just don't think about how the credit and retailers and banks are screwing them over. Enjoy serfdom.

[CAMANY]

1. One more thing

it pissed me off having to push credit cards on everyone. I know many people did NOT need one of those cards and it upsets me to think how many might now be in credit slavery because of it. Part of the reason I got out of that kind of job.

[DesEtoiles]

2. you should post this as a diary on dKos

I know every time I go in to a Target, EVERY time, they ask if I want a credit card. I always say no.

[Melodybe]

3. I agree, send it to him, this is very well written.

[SlimJimmy]

33. Yeppers

I would sure send this to dKOS.

[newyawker99]

113. Hi SlimJimmy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Autobot77]

99. Every store these days is pushing store credit cards

I get sick of hearing about it also.

[AuntiBush]

7. Glad to hear you're out of that business!

You sound like you've got a good conscious. A rarity these days, especially in the $$ corporate world & regarding credit.

A local retail store drove everyone away. You couldn't walk in the store without employees running for you, literally shouting you down asking you to sign-up for their credit cards. Most everyone I know got so tired of it, the store is like a ghost town now. Even w/big sales signs in the windows, no one ever goes in and besides, their prices are higher then all.

A gal I grew-up with was a Credit Collector Mgr. I use to ask her how she could do what she does, going after people whom for the most part were down on their luck, like becoming disabled, sicknesses, job loss, divorce, etc. She said, "Easy!" She rec'd a bonus each time she literally terrorized someone on the phone.

Of course, she had filed bankruptcy countless times; was dishonest and glad I choice not to keep in touch with her. I hear she's on her 3rd, if not 4th husband now. She was mis-treated as a kid, picked-on a lot, and was 2-faced, gossip-like. That's why I think she enjoyed that job.

Anyway, welcome :hi: And very, interesting posting!

[Javaman]

57. To me, hawking credit cards is like selling fast food...

Both are extremely hazardous to your health.

[RobinA]

71. What's the Big Deal?

I worked retail, they wanted us to push credit cards, I simply didn't do it. They aren't going to fire you, then they just have to train a new person. Don't be so scared of The Man.

[trogdor]

81. The "training" takes a couple of hours.

That's the point. Jobs are designed so that workers are expendable, and they have a foot-high stack of applications sitting in a file cabinet. - Wal*Mart Nation in a nutshell.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

79. Credit Cards are a GREAT deal -- IF YOU KEEP CURRENT

The number freebies associated with Credit Cards is astounding. If you keep current, you get stuff for nothing (or rather - to be precise, you get stuff for buying things you would have bought anyway).

Take a look at Credit Card Goodies once in a while, especially their user forums. Free shipping, free monogramming, free airline miles, free gas, free admission, free hotel stays, etc., etc.

The best part is this: these are all hooks for rubes who can't handle credit. By taking advantage of them without paying a dime in interest, you are costing the credit card company more than you give them in transaction fees less operating expenses. So there's no guilt.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

p.s. CAMANY, if you were going to buy something at your own store anyway, you should have used your employee discount and paid off the card every month.

p.p.s. The easiest way to handle credit is to keep a stack of ones in your wallet or purse. Whenever you feel tempted to buy something on credit, take out the cash and count it out. If it feels like you still need it, then buy. Otherwise don't. I have credit cards I haven't used for years.

[InformedSource]

108. Credit cards are the old "owe my soul to the company store" trick updated

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Company Store

and by teh way, we have two credit cards, but we use only one... and we mostly pay it in full every month... god I got a taste of that paying and never making a dent over the last three months, we had to buy some stuff for hubby... and I went... WOW how do people live this way? I mean took me three months and tax refund to pay for it... in full.. I'd rather save that money

Oh and yes I know how retail works... a trnket taht starts at 25 cents ends selling for oh seven bucks retail... people need to figure this out

[CAMANY]

5. That's exactly what it is

The new company store. Unfortunately due to poor public education I doubt most people remember the old company stores.

[Elwood P Dowd]

6. A DVD player that sells for $150.00 at Best Buy

can be purchased used, or sometimes even new, for $75.00 on eBay or through Amazon a few months after it's introduced. If you put it on plastic at Best Buy, take forever to pay off the balance, you wind up paying $300.00 for the damn thing.

I no longer buy anything new. I stash away a few bucks and wait for the deals months (or years) after the new toy is released. I like Apple computers, but I don't buy them new. I'm typing this on an iMac I bought for $25.00. The owner abused it, so I had to put a new CD drive in it along with some extra RAM. Also had to buy a keyboard (cost me ten bucks). For less than $100.00, I have a perfectly good iMac. It's not the latest G5 with OS 10, but it does everything I need it to do.

I'm now buying almost everything used, refurbed, or at thrift stores. I've stopped eating out. Recently canceled cable and installed a dish I share with a neighbor - dual LNB cost us $20.00 a month each.

It's time for all of us to find ways to screw corporate American every which way we can. They're screwing us every way imaginable, so fuck 'em.

[AuntiBush]

9. You're right on target!

Doing the same thing on my end, too! Luv those iMac's. Have you a blue?

And, I didn't know one could share a dish w/a neighbor... really!?!?

[Elwood P Dowd]

12. It's an old blueberry G3 350MHz

I had a friend find me a used drive for $30.00, bought 256 MB of RAM, cleaned it up, replaced the battery & keyboard, and presto....It works great.

You can pay a little extra for a dual-LNB dish and share with someone. It's still way cheaper than digital cable.

[Tux]

13. $75 DVD player?

I seen them for $50-100 at Target. Cheaper ones weren't fancy but they played DVDs.

[Elwood P Dowd]

15. The real cheap ones are junk

and will wind up in the landfill in 1-3 years. They also are not universal players that will play SACD and DVD-Audio. I know someone who has purchased about half a dozen over the last 4-5 years. He's spent enough on gas exchanging these things to buy a good one.

[CAMANY]

18. Better thing to do possibly

is get a TV card and DVD drive for your computer. A great DVD drive can be obtained for $20. Connect it to your TV and watch. (or your comptuer if you don't mind the monitor) Cheaper, better, and possibly more feature rich.

[Elwood P Dowd]

20. But

They won't play DVD-Audio or SACD, and my computer is in my office. My AV system is in another room, and I don't relish the idea of listening to music or watching movies on a computer. Even computer systems with expensive sound cards and $200.00 speakers are not in the league with my AV system. Now if I had a cheap Wal Mart system, it might be different.

[B3Nut]

26. Recycling computers is fun!

I love putting older hardware back to good use...even a PII works great for net, word processing, etc. I found an old K6/450-based IBM Aptiva on the curb around the corner from where I live. It now sits on my home network as a file and print server, feeding my inkjet and a LaserJet 6P I rescued from the scrap bin at work. I have a scrapped Dell P2 laptop I got free, just needed a charger and a fresh Win2K install. Added a wireless card, and it works perfectly. I might have $100 into the thing. 366MHz is plenty of speed for what I use it for (mIRC and Firefox whilst lounging on the sofa hehehe).

I love thrift stores too...I scrounge for 70's-era silver Pioneer, Sansui, etc. gear to restore. I've sold a few pieces and given away quite a few. If you find a pair of say, classic vintage Large Advent speakers and the foam surrounds are rotted, you can buy a kit to re-foam them. If all drivers work, you'll have a pair of speakers for peanuts that handily outperform anything at a big box. I love thrift shops. :D We have a local speaker shop called Madisound that sells raw drivers and kits, I bought a bookshelf monitor kit from them. Used and DIY is where the real audio fun is... :)

Todd in Beerbratistan....inveterate scrounger

[RT_Fanatic]

49. Gosh!

With all of you computer recyclers out there, anyone interested in a beige Mac Performa 5260 with a 1 GB HD and 128 MB RAM? It's just sitting here!

[DebJ]

109. trying going to the Yahoo group called FreeCycle. People give

stuff away for free to avoid filling up the landfills. If you post it, someone will take it!

[Geekscum]

53. I like to reuse old systems too

But there is one thing slowing me down. Mrs. Geekscum. She has put her foot down on how many I can have.:-(

[durablend]

114. Bought a flatbed scanner for 6 bucks last week

At the Salvation Army store (yeah, the "evil red devil", I know). I'm assuming the previous owner got rid of it because they couldn't get it to work with XP (it's an old Visioneer 6200 USB that the company dropped support for).

Just happened to luck out to find that somebody modified a driver for it to get it to work under XP and it works perfectly.

[carnie_sf]

39. Yeah

vote with your pocketbook.

[Blue Belle]

48. I bought my New IBM Thinkcenter PC

on Ebay for half the price that I would pay at Best Buy or Circuit City. Same thing with the monitor and printer. In fact, the HP All-in-One printer I bought for $45 retails at around $150 in those stores. I shop for just about everything on Ebay now.

[LSK]

75. ive been buying used computers at computer shows for years

You can get an awesome 2 year old laptop for around $500 (paid cash!). These same guys sell on EBAY. Used computers and electronics are definately the way to go.

[bobbieinok]

97. this is a very 'anti-american' attitude /sarcasm

only in America do we fight <terra> by 'shop til you drop'

[ariellyn]

8. People are stupid, no if's and's or but's about it....

I have a friend who goes shopping when she gets retail coupons in the mail and she and she buys everything she gets a coupon for thinking she's "saving." She's an executive. It never occurs to her that everything she's buying is marked up to the hilt. Education and status don't exempt people from stupidity.

I don't buy unless it's with a debit card and when I have to use a credit card (if I lose my debit card, or leave it at home) I pay the bill in 30 days or less--in full. I throw away all credit card offers. I keep a few cards just in case but I don't use them. I do call the creditors and get updates on the interest rates because you can get a card initially with a 0% interest rate but if you don't use it, the interest will climb into the double digits.

[Technowitch]

10. Great post, Camany

And welcome to DU!

cheers,
-Technowitch

[Tux]

11. I hate credit cards

I think they're stupid and a factor in the decreasing wages. Once people practically have to live off credit cards, they're just paying off interest and little else. Corporations love it when customers keep using them too. It is a form of slavery and they can lower wages even more knowing people must have the newest thingie like video cards, SATA hard drives, or even a modified iPod. I did a temp job at Dell and there is one thing they hate: a customer that pays in full. Remember that next time.

[CAMANY]

16. What people don't realize

is that even new things don't have to be expensive. Want that SATA drive? You don't have to go to best buy and get ripped off by the corporation. You can get it OEM (or, again) for ebay a fraction of what they are trying to sell it and laugh all the way to the bank for.

[Tux]

64. True

I only buy PC parts online. I built a PC doing that (except for the RAM which I already had) for about $300. I recommend TigerDirect.com and NewEgg.com.

[MinneapolisMatt]

14. Great Post!

I have a friend who works in retail also, and she's always so upset about pushing the credit card onto people as well.

We were discussing it the other night, and I jokingly said, "You should start saying 'support our troops, get the credit card!' They could even put a big flag and a soldier on it and stuff."

The very next week, in a meeting at her store, that was one of the ideas management tossed out.

SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Matt

[eridani]

17. Another story from a friend by email

She doesn't mind if you spread it around--

On the proposal to make it much harder to file for personal bankruptcy, the propaganda being used is that people need to take greater "personal responsibility" to keep themselves out of debt. However, this ignores fact in favor of partisan rhetoric.

The credit card companies caused this problem themselves. They started loosening credit card requirements years ago. When I was first applying for credit some 30 years ago, it actually wasn't that easy to get. You had to have an income, your debt-to-income ratio had to be fairly low, you had to have something in the way of assets, etc. Now they give credit cards with $5K or $10K limits to college students with NO income and no prospects of an income. Their lending practices have become more and more predatory.

My husband's older brother is mentally retarded. Charlie cannot understand concepts like credit, amortization, or interest rates. He did not have a job, just a small income from SSDI. A credit card offer came in the mail, and his (very elderly and somewhat confused) mother helped him complete it.

He got a credit card in the mail with a $5,000 limit. Now, neither he or his mother really quite understood what that meant. He thought it was some kind of gift or supplement check, like the IRS tax refunds he used to get when he was working, or his monthly SSDI check. He went out and bought a car when his died - not a fancy car, but a good used car that, unsurprisingly, the used car dealership priced at his credit limit once they figured out he was using a credit card. Then the bills started to come. He had no way to pay them. The account went into collection. He! still had no way to pay them. The car was repossessed, but he was still being harassed by the credit collection agency. This confused and frightened him.

Finally, my husband and their sister had to sit down and figure out how to get him filed for bankruptcy. It was the only way to get the lenders' attack dogs away from him. Even after he filed, the collectors continued to phone and visit, despite the law forbidding that after bankruptcy has been filed - they knew someone who didn't know his rights when they saw him.

Yeah, let's make it harder for people like that. What a good idea. Let's not go after predatory lending practices, which cause this kind of thing in the first place. After all, the credit issuers are big campaign donors.


This also ignores one of the primary causes of personal bankruptcy: health care costs and medical problems. Between 1981 and 2001, medical-related bankruptcies increased by 2,200%, an astonishi! ng explosion in a relatively short period of time. This far outpaces the 360% growth in all personal bankruptcies during the same period.


Until 25 years ago, filing for bankruptcy because of debts from a medical problem was virtually unheard of. In 1981, University of Texas law professors conducting bankruptcy research noticed that a handful of the debtors they were studying could never quite pay off their medical bills, but while these bills certainly didn't help, they weren't forcing people into bankruptcy.


Today, by contrast, medical-related debt is the second leading cause of personal bankruptcies, topped only by job loss (and how many of those job losses are caused by health problems?). There are two reasons: First, there's been a dramatic rise in healthcare costs. In 2002 Americans paid an average of $5,440 in medical expenditures, up $419 from the previous year.

A September 2004 study by Families USA found th! at 14.3 million Americans now spend more than one quarter of their earnings into healthcare costs. Let me repeat that. ONE QUARTER.


Second, the past fifteen years have seen an enormous increase in the number of Americans who either don't have health insurance or have such rudimentary coverage they might as well have none--there are currently some 45 million uninsured Americans, a jump of 10 million since 1990. How many of those filing for bankruptcy were wiped out because of co-payments, deductibles or uncovered services, which add up to thousands of dollars in bills? How many were denied coverage by the very insurance companies to whom they pay thousands of dollars in premiums, through some trumped-up excuse claiming their condition is "pre-existing" or not eligible for coverage?

How long are we going to let this go on? WHY are we letting this go on? No other industrialized country has this problem. Penalizing the poor and the sick is not the proper function of a humane government.

[NVMojo]

24. Excellent points and excellent post, Eridani!!!

I wrote a letter with almost all of these points you've raised here a few weeks ago and sent it to our dear Senator Harry Reid. Got one of those form letters emailed back that said pretty much that debtors have got to learn to be more responsible. Like Reid even remembers what it was like for his mom back in Searchlight days ...

[truth2power]

36. Excellent, Eridani! And this should be a meme:

" Penalizing the poor and the sick is not the proper function of a humane government." Say it over and over.

[Blue Belle]

52. This is Debtor's Prison...

in year 2005. Welcome to the 7th circle of Hell.

[LSK]

82. great post!! nt

[thecrow]

19. I have rediscovered the Dollar Store

It's great for cleaning products and basic meds.
Why pay $5.00 at CVS for some fancy brand of ibuprofen when you can get a generic branc at the Dollar Store for well, a dollar?

I've noticed that they are getting more name brands in there too.

I got Banana Boat tan lotion that costs about $6 at Target or CVS for a Dollar...
They had all kinds of toothpaste and cosmetics and stuff, too.

[Piperay]

21. Dollar stores

are TERRIFIC...I just LOVE them! :thumbsup:

[solinvictus]

22. Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Fred's Pharmacy..

All of these stores are budget savers and most of them have pretty darn good selections of essentials. Our local Dollar Trees are nearly as big as a small department store.

[KlatooBNikto]

23. Do you realize you are committing blasphemy? The entire American

economy will come to a grinding halt if people were convinced that what they are buying is junk and not worth ten percent of the price they pay for it.

[CAMANY]

28. Yes I realize that

scary isn't it?

[Wapsie B]

77. That's the general idea.

And the Dems who voted for this bankruptcy bill are going to cripple the party. First tort reform, now this. I think the only way out of this is to make everything come to a grinding halt and start over.

[CitySky]

88. envision an alternate economy

one where the dollars we spend support people in our community, like the farmers who grow food locally, neighborhood bakeries, people who know how to build stuff, local musicians and artists who add color and clarity to our lives...

[Ellen Forradalom]

25. I get offered a card

each of the infrequent occasions that I shop The Gap, Banana Republic, Victoria' Secret........

I treat the question like a fly buzzing around my head and brush it off.

Last thing I need is more plastic in my wallet and papers in my mailbox.

I dont think I even carry one card now.

[ucmike]

27. relating to the bankruptcy bill....

if they want to take away the protection regular people have against financial problems, they should have added language that would have regulated the predatory techniques of the credit card companies. its not fair for them to throw credit cards at people who don't understand them, then to take away the safety valve for people who actually get in trouble with them.

i get 2 credit card offers a day and i get 4-5 a week that have checks in them. thanks for sending me checks i want nothing to do with and will never use. i don't understand how that is even legal.

[newportdadde]

29. You asked why the retailers/card companies want this?

Because they think they can have it all. They think they can pass this, have Joe Public charge up go bankrupt and spend 20 years paying it off.

What they don't understand is how this is really going to work. Before maybe due to medical illness someone went bankrupt. They get a clean slate and in maybe 10 years they are back up and running good, maybe even better then before and they are back spending away.. not now. This is a bad move. Its not enough they got the eggs they want the chicken too.

[StuckinBFE]

30. I remember when I worked at Target they did the same thing

I worked at Target when I was in college for three weeks before I went insane with all the stupid corporate American shit. They would have us push credit cards on people and if we did not get enough people to sign up we would get pulled aside by the manager and talked to about pride or some shit like that. I would only ask people if they were buying a large amount of stuff because you got 10% off the first time you used it then I would tell them to go over to the service desk pay off the card balance then cancel. My manager didn't like that idea.

I never wanted a card but when I was filling out my paper work they put it in their and I just signed a paper never realizing it was a target card. Still to this day I have never used this card but they keep sending me shit in the mail even though I moved a half dozen times.

Good post and I agree screw these large box stores.

[radwriter0555]

31. I spoke VERY loudly to the store manager at Victoria's Secret a month ago

in front of many customers about this. To paraphrase, they always ask at the check out if you found everything all right. I LOUDLY said "NO! I didn't get any assistance at all, because all your clerks were too busy trying to get everyone to buy credit cards!" She kept apologizing and I kept up a steady stream of barbed commentary, directed at the practice of ramming high interest rate credit cards down our throats.

[amazona]

42. you ought to reconsider their card if you shop there semi-often

No, I don't work in retail, and I'm not a Victoria's Secret model, either. I wish. But the card is a good deal. A couple years ago, when I was buying something, they asked if I wanted the card and that I would get a discount and some free stuff in the mail. I said sure. I got the discount. I also got a book of discounts and coupons for free panties in upcoming months. A little bit later, I got in the mail a "challenge" from them that if I bought a certain bra during such-and-such week, they would give me their Gold Card instead of making me spend $500 (!) a year to get the gold card. I bought the bra and now they send me the Gold card. To this day I get gift cards for free panties and other gifts in the mail, in fact, I just picked up another pair of free panties this week. The most useless gift was the perfume, but we can all use panties, right? And they're constantly giving them away.

I really think it's a terrific deal although I figure that sooner or later their computer is going to kick me out of their Gold Club since I never spend any money. Some of these credit card offers are actually great deals for the disciplined person.

Just to be pre-emptive, since we've already hashed it to death in the other thread -- NO, having a lot of credit cards doesn't really harm your credit if you pay on time. In fact, being able to prove you can handle unsecured credit was the only way a person like me could have ever dreamed of getting a mortgage and a home, since I was very low/irregular income at the time I bought my home. But if you can show you can handle unsecured credit, they KNOW you can handle credit where your home is collateral. The credit card companies and credit scoring companies say otherwise for two reasons -- to sell you unnecessary credit records (a big scam until a stop was put to it by requiring them to give you the credit report free) and to discourage you from trading in your old credit card for the new credit card that is offering you the great promotional bonus. My experience is if a credit card is giving me gifts and cash to take the card, I'd be a pee-poor financial manager of my household to refuse.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

76. Thanks for debunking that myth

about multiple credit cards hurting your credit rating. My 23 year old son and I had both bought into this myth. Thanks again for clearing this up

I agree with you about using credit cards and the special offers to our advantage. Why not get a Target card to get 10% off a big ticket item I went there to buy when it was on sale? I only buy what I need and can afford. I'll pay the bill in full when it arrives and probably never go back to Target again

Others have made good points too about eBay. I always look there first when I need something. When I was first on my own, I shopped at secondhand stores and at tag sales. I've recently signed up for a freecycle list. I haven't gotten anything yet but have given away something I got for free and didn't end up using.

Frugality is fun and profitable!

[demigoddess]

102. that is a good tactic but i think there is a flaw in that they now

have your name and address and phone number and what else and will sell the information to other companies. That is why they try so hard to get you to sign up.

Also all those wonderful brands can be found at your local goodwill store. I have bought my daughter victoria secret, Liz claiborne and other names. My son has two ralph lauren shirts and my husband has Geoffry beane. I furnished our new bathrooms with towels etc from goodwill, and value village.

I have boycotted most of businesses exc ept local mom and pop operations.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

106. Good point

There is an optout form that came with the new Target card - you can opt out of them sharing your info. I'll be sure to do that!

[Tracer]

32. A new twist on credit card offers.

Maybe I've just been asleep, but I've noticed recently that when I get credit card offers (and I get 2 or 3 a day), they are not simply pieces of paper to sign, but there is an actual PLASTIC CARD in the envelope.

How much more tempting is THIS to people!?!

[brystheguy]

35. If you're getting 2-3 a day

then you need to go here. . .

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

It takes you off of the list so that you won't get so many offers. I only get about two a week now.

[DebJ]

110. I like2-3 a day...having fun returning them in the postage paid

envelopes saying NO YOU BOUGHT MY CONGRESS.

[formernaderite]

34. First thing I did....

when we downsized..GOT RID of the credit cards. My wife keeps one for things we have to purchase via credit only.

[Catherine Vincent]

37. Thanks for your post Camany.

You've been here 5 days and already have a thread on the homepage. Cool!:thumbsup:

[bcingu]

38. I work in retail now.

It's not the stores themselves who issue the credit cards any more, more often than not, you'll find that the credit cards are issued by some large bank or credit provider. GE credit (yes, that GE) once handled Credit for Montgomery Ward and is now doing the same for Home Depot. Sears credit, once run in-house, is now another CITI branch as are many of the oil company credit cards.

My current employer wants us to push credit cards, too and is doing so by posting quotas that each store has to meet and posting the names of the people who are helping the store meet those quotas. The company line is that when a customer uses our card, the company does not have to pay MasterCard/Visa/Discover/AMEX the usual handling fee. The company pays out less and adds to its own bottom line. Sears used that rationale to insist that employees either use a Sears card or pay cash when making an employee purchase (pre CITI)as mentioned in the original post.

If the banks and the stores who are acting as agents for the banks really wish for consumers to pay off their debts and not declare bankruptcy, perhaps they should lower their interest rates to single digits and quit issuing credit cards to anyone who breathes.

[jmowreader]

100. Citibank is Home Depot's credit provider

Stores push credit cards for three major reasons:

* Customer loyalty--someone with a MasterCard in his wallet can buy building materials anywhere, but someone with a Home Depot card will buy them at Home Depot, because we're the only place that accepts that card.

* In our case, higher purchase amounts; we've found that customers with Home Depot cards buy more product than customers with other-brand cards.

* And no merchant fees. This is good for us because when you buy $100 worth of shingles with a HD card we get $100, but if you buy the same number of shingles with a MasterCard we only get $97. Three bucks here and three bucks there adds up when you're a $20 billion company.

My own store doesn't get real heavily into pushing credit on people. This isn't a universal; I went to one in Spokane last August where the store manager was running some sort of contest for credit applications--get more than anyone else during August, and we'll give you Labor Day weekend off with pay. I'm standing there at the special order book flipping through the James Hardie section looking for a kind of siding my dad wanted for his garage, answering customer questions and generally acting like I owned the place (and with the very obvious lack of associates on the floor at that time, they needed the help!) and four associates asked me if I wanted to sign up for a Home Depot credit card. Finally I asked for an apron. "Why?" 'Because if I clock in, maybe you'll quit offering me credit!'

[luvLLB]

40. I don't have a single credit card...stopped using about 8 years

ago. Kinda tough getting credit for a car or house ( they look at us like WE'RE the crazy ones.) But if I can't pay cash, I do without. At least I know I own everything outright. Interest for cc use is such a scam.

[brystheguy]

43. LuvLLB, how do you rent a car if you need to?

I don't have any credit debt but I can't imagine not having a card. I pay off the balance every month so I'm not at the mercy of the companies, but how do you reserve hotel rooms and the like without a card of any kind? Just curious.

[LynneSin]

50. Actually, some rental places will allow a cash deposit

:D

I was in a no credit card phase for about 5 years and I gave them a $200 deposit which I got back about 3 days after I returned my rental car

[catmandu57]

61. There are companies who will rent

cars if you leave a deposit. We needed a rental a couple of years back and Enterprise rented us one, but we had to leave a deposit.
You can use a debit card in place of a credit card to secure reservations, use debit whenever you can.

[DebJ]

111. Hertz at Reagen Intl Airport will not allow you to rent a car with

a debit card. I know; I got stranded last year because of this.

[luvLLB]

67. I don't rent cars....I use mine for what little travel I do these days.

I do use a bank check/credit card...most places will let you. If I can't use it, I go elswhere.

[Divameow77]

94. Visa Check Card

just about every bank has that program now, for free. You can't spend what you don't have.

[amazona]

45. er, most of us can't do without car and house you know

I wasn't willing to live in my mom's basement, even if she had a basement in her one-person condo, until such time as I had saved up $60,000 in cash to buy my home.

We are really going down the wrong track when we advise people not to use credit. We should instead be advising people of ways to use credit wisely and to their profit.

I could not have gotten a bank loan to start my business because no bank would have taken a chance on that business. Instead I used credit cards and kept rotating them so that I never paid interest. There are zillions of banks offering Visa and Mastercard and plenty of them will be offering 0 interest promotions at any given time. If I'd taken out a conventional loan, what is the chance I could have gotten it for 0 percent interest anyway? About zero, I'd say. Without credit cards in those early days, I hate to think where I would be. A stripper or something, I suppose. Just so you won't worry, yeah, now the debt is paid off. But the money was there when I needed it.

Credit is a tool. Teach people to use it to their advantage and to cherry-pick the best deals. Don't feed them scare stories.

No great or even the little independent business was ever started without debt. Damn few homes are bought without debt. Damn few advanced educations at the best schools are bought without debt.

The people running around buying MacMansions and Hummers on credit are not reading DU anyway. Most debt is incurred to good purpose by people on this board. Even those who have gone bankrupt -- many point out their debt came because they were sick or disabled. Better to be indebted and/or bankrupt and alive rather than let illness go untreated, right? Their debt was not a bad thing, and they should hold their heads high. It is our country's punitive attitude toward debt that should change. But the opportunities to borrow money on credit should not necessarily be restricted.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[bearfan454]

62. That is very smart.

They will never be able to own you.

[luvLLB]

68. It ain't easy, but besides the car notes and mortgage...I have

zero debt...makes it easier to sleep at nite. I am teaching my 14 and 12 year old kids to live without it, not to get trapped. Granted, cc's make life easier, but it can be done.

[jbnow]

41. When I first applied for one

I was turned down...at Sears yet!

Not long ago they sent me a card I didn't want after I had closed my account!

The first time I had no credit history.
I hated credit cards just because so many people I knew got in trouble with them. I hated interest so even saved up and paid cash for cars.

Mortgage companies loved me when I bought a house though...
I wanted to buy a couple of new appliances and not deplete my cash. Sears said no. No credit history.

My bank gave me one though. I didn't build debt but for phone orders, reservations and so on it became a necessity.

A few years later I did get one from Sears because they had the year same as cash deal going for something. No problem then. I wasn't about to use it other times with their rates. (Didn't store rates use to be usury?) I called to close it but then happened to open a letter from them that unless I returned this form they were issuing me a new and better card. I returned it saying NO and also called to confirm it.
Later I got a new card in the mail, a yet better one. Evidently I had shredded yet another letter that said "return this or get this new card"

Now isn't that illegal? To have to take an action to not get a card when you have no open account with them?

Every retail card I have seen has disgusting rates...17% to 23%. Good for "same as cash" deals but a killer to ever carry a balance on.

[tecelote]

46. Supporting America

If you are really bothered by the big retailers and corporate giants, then do your part by avoiding Dollar Stores and Wal-Mart. Go to your local hardware store and do your best to support independent grocers and clothing stores among other local and independent retailers. Avoid chain stores and put in the effort to support businesses that support your community on a local level.

Yes, you will have to pay a little more because these store owners generally pay above minimum wage and have to buy their products in smaller quantities. This will raise their prices. But, they are generally good people that care about you and your community, good people worth your support.

Low prices are not generally an indicator of good retail. In fact, usually the opposite. To get low prices, retailers pay the lowest wages possible, many times to employees that are in third world countries. Never mind the use of chemicals to increase production of our food or the common practice of hooking customers with new credit offers that may not be able to afford. The list of bad practices to obtain low prices goes on.

This is just one part of American Consumerism that irks the rest of the world. We only care about buying stuff, we really don't care about anything else. The consequences of low prices are not something we have time to consider.

I believe that it is worth the price to support your local retailers, your neighbors, over big multi-national corporations. It takes a lot of people to stop shopping at Wal-Mart to make a difference, but if that would happen, we would live in a better world. But first, you have to get out of the lowest price is the best mindset. My bet is that Wal-Mart's growth will only be slowed by market saturation or by another corporate giant discovering a better way to exploit labor or cut manufacturing costs. It's too radical to ask Americans to begin paying a bit more. That would mean buying less. Perish the thought of having less stuff. What reason would there be to live?

[Jimbo S]

44. Rent-To-Own stores are worse

I had a friend who once worked at one of those places. He passed along to me a typical payment plan for a rent-to-own TV. I plugged the numbers into an Excel sheet and it calculated an interest rate of 297%.

Shame on the stores for doing this. Shame on the customers for being stupid enough to fall for it.

[Old and In the Way]

98. They are bad news.

We have one in town. I was killing time a few weeks back and thought I'd check it out. Really strange operation. They (2 sales guys) were all over me as soon as I walked into the store. I made it clear that I was just checking things out. I got the distinct impression that they really didn't want me in the store! No wonder....I can tell you the stuff they rent is pure schlock....really, world-class crap.

Anyway, I managed to get a pretty close look at a home entertainment center they were promoting. Very big speakers, a big receiver with big buttons....but pure crap. All sizzle, no steak. I asked how much that sysem was....."only" $40.00/month. I said..."OK...how many months?" 36 months. I was astounded. I doubt the workmanship value of the center was worth 100 bucks....and some poor sap would end up paying $1440.00 for that piece of crap.

The fact that places like this can even exist makes me wonder about the intelligence of a good portion of our society.

[IronLionZion]

47. credit card companies profit by NOT providing their service

They'll do whatever they can to stop you from paying your bill in full. They changed my billing address without my permission and sent it somewhere else for no reason. When I called and asked them why I didn't get a bill, they fixed it and sent another one to me. This one had late payment charges and interest charges. I had always paid my bill in full until that time. I don't trust online banking because I'm in the IT field and know how insecure it is, but I was forced to sign up for it because my bank can not be trusted to send me my bill. They say its my responsibility.

[RaleighNCDUer]

51. Several years ago divorce and under-employment drove me into

bankruptcy. I sign up for every card I can -- if they are offering a premium for signing up. I've gotten plenty of ball caps, pens, a couple t-shirts. Getting a little of my own back again.

One day, one of those offers is going to be approved and I'll have to stop doing that.

[Divameow77]

96. You probably shouldn't do that

everytime you apply for something doesn't it make a slightly negative remark on your credit report? Too many inquiries is a bad thing.

[BurtWorm]

54. Thank YOU for educating me.

I know this. I'm just in denial. (I can't speak for anyone else, though I wish I could stand behind an "us" so I wouldn't feel so foolish and alone.)

I am guilty of buying almost everything at retail. I'm too lazy to change my habits, frankly. To me the whole freaking capitalist shebang is too absurdly stacked against me as a consumer that I just say fuck it, I'll be dead soon enough and then NONE of this shit will have mattered.

[tecelote]

56. You just have to try.

There is nothing wrong with buying at retail and there is nothing wrong with our system. It's the people.

And, yes you do have the power. It's your dollar.

[tecelote]

58. Oh!

Imagine what would happen if the average American realized the power of the dollar?! Everybody's got them, it's just that we use them without regard. Wake up and use this power morally and ethically and the corporate world will tremble.

[ArkDem]

55. I've been fortunate in that I am able to make everything I need

from what people throw away everyday. When I need parts I just ride my bicycle and search garbage bins for the GOOD STUFF!

[CitySky]

91. it's good to be "handy" with stuff

wish i were more so myself. but i'm the type who can't cut a straight line with a scissor on paper, nevermind a saw on wood. :shrug: i have to pay somebody to come in every now and then and keep stuff working right in my house.

do have a veggie garden tho. it's nice to be able to grow at least SOME of what I eat!

[Ron Green]

59. There's nothing wrong with buying at retail if you do it consciously.

Retail means simply that you're paying for some added value, such as expertise from the sales staff, good service after the sale, or maybe even a pleasant shopping experience, which is at times certainly worth something. The problem is that people shop unconsciously, to fill some emotional void, and fall victim to the "credit pimps," who share a large part of the blame as well.

I think that eBay is a good way to go when you know exactly what you want or need, but remember that honest and thoughtful local retailers are who we need to support and nurture in our communities.

[Missy Vixen]

69. I own a shop

>I think that eBay is a good way to go when you know exactly what you want or need, but remember that honest and thoughtful local retailers are who we need to support and nurture in our communities.<

I work hard to have a nice store with a good selection of merchandise.
Let me tell you how angry it makes me (after I pay my overhead, give great and caring customer service and go out of my way to make a nice experience for those shopping in my store,) to have people visit the store solely to check out MY merchandise before purchasing it off eBay. Usually I bite my tongue. A few weeks back, though, I didn't.

A couple came in right after I opened one morning looking for items for a son that has taken up knitting. Of course, they immediately asked for organic yarn, hemp yarn, etcetera. (Organics are a bit more spendy, and that's even at wholesale price.) I showed them what I had on hand and even offered to special order if they wanted something different. They couldn't wait to tell me that they were very into "shopping locally," then in the next breath, informed me that they would be buying the merchandise I had just shown them off eBay. After all, "it's cheaper". I politely asked them why they were even visiting my store if they didn't intend to purchase anything from me.

They won't be back, and I'd actually prefer that. In the meantime, it gives me more time to assist the wonderful customers that let me know how much they value me and my store.

Julie

[CAMANY]

73. Buying from individuals

and buying from your store are both good options. Would you rather Walmart build up across the street, those people shop there, and Wal-mart crushes you like a bug?

Maybe they would have bought at your store. Maybe they saw something on ebay and decided to check and see if you had a better deal. In fact, it sounds like that's what happened. You can't expect to have zero competition when you run a business.

[TOhioLiberal]

78. I think you misread...

the post.

'They couldn't wait to tell me that they were very into "shopping locally," then in the next breath, informed me that they would be buying the merchandise I had just shown them off eBay. After all, "it's cheaper".'

they weren't checking to see if its cheaper local. They were checking local and then going to EBay.

[Missy Vixen]

90. I guess I did not explain well

>You can't expect to have zero competition when you run a business.<

No, I can't. At the same time, I also am not in business to subsidize eBay.

The people who visited my store and then bought from eBay were there to look at and touch the merchandise. In the industry my store caters to, it's tactile. Most customers won't purchase unless they can touch and see.

I am priced an average of $1 lower than my closest competition. I expect to be shopped. I don't deserve to be dissed by those who have no intention of shopping with me in the first place.

Julie

[CitySky]

92. i think this is part of why

my local bike shop will only work on bikes from a bike store.

my local bike shop, where people really know what they're talking about and love bikes, is one of those places i'll pay retail. i could have gotten my bike cheaper on ebay, but i don't regret it.

[Ron Green]

103. That's right, and a bicycle is one of those items that must be serviced

after a period of use, unlike a DVD player or a toaster. Anyone who buys a bike from a place with no real bike mechanics had better be an expert him- or herself.

[BuelahWitch]

60. Target tried to push one on me when I was temping there

one Xmas season. I was appalled at how this manager tried to shove an application in my face the first night I started work. I wanted to say to her, "I'm going to be here six weeks, how do you think I'll pay for it once I don't have a job any longer?" It's absolutely ludicrous...

[demokatgurrl]

63. There are stores I go in where they ask me EVERY

SINGLE TIME I buy ANYTHING, even a pair of stockings, whether I want to open an account. And recently I was in a department store where they were announcing names over the PA system with how many new accounts the person had opened that day or week or something. I guess they had a big drive on.

[EC]

65. I worked at fashion bug years ago

and we had to sign up at least two a day - they were aiming at what they refered to as the welfare queens..I didn't last long because I refused to sign up anyone.

[Chovexani]

66. AMEN!

I used to work at a huge department store chain, doing commission electronics sales (mostly computers), and store credit truly is a racket. Associates were "encouraged" to push store credit cards on customers (we got cash bonuses for each person we signed up). I never signed people up unless they specifically asked me, I couldn't in good conscience push these cards on people when the interest was upwards of 20+ %...and this was when the economy was only on a slight downturn, before it completely tanked.

STORE CREDIT IS A SCAM!

[leesa]

70. This is interesting. I always wondered why the checker seemed a little

annoyed that I didn't want a credit card.

When I bought my last car I noticed how the sales guy was miffed that I was putting so much cash down. He made it sound like I was crazy to put so much down when interest rates were so low. I guess it cuts into his total selling price.

[midnight armadillo]

72. I HATE The damn things

We are paying off our cards. Another DUer tipped me off the to Cheapskatemonthly.com website. I read the book. We operate on cash for almost everything, and haven't used the cards for months. How are we in debt? Medical bills, high cost of living, some general idiocy.

In about 14 months we should be debt free. Never again will I pay interest like this. As we pay off the cards (3 of em) they will be cancelled, and the last one, a Capital One card at 7%, will be reduced in value to about $3k, max. Aside from doting on our son, we live pretty frugally. Once the cards are paid off our one car loan will be paid off early.

Man, I see the same behavior with the insane housing prices here in eastern MA. People take mortgages out the wazoo, and then live on the edge and get tons of credit for fancy cars & high living. A co-worked observed that I could probably be in the housing market NOW due to our decent salaries and generous banks. But, why would I want to double my housing costs for a modest increase in space over renting? It seems to be better sense to eliminate our unsecured debt, move to a bigger apartment in 6 months, and then save a massive down payment to avoid being house-poor rather than scramble into a housing market that's at its peak.

[tecelote]

74. Personal Finance

It would seem to me that Personal Finance should be a very important subject in schools. Why isn't it taught? And, required? It affects everyone even before they graduate from High School.

[trogdor]

83. MONEY, that's why.

You'd need someone reasonably qualified to teach the class, which makes this one of those "nice to have" things for which there might or might not be money in the budget.

[AnneD]

105. I'm in the same boat

I always paid off or had a low balance, then wham....life happened (in 3 yrs I had a marriage, job loss, an out of state move, custody fight-that I lost and another move). I became one of the 75-80% that are in debt.
Although he is unabashedly GOP, I enjoy listening to Dave Ramsey. He is a no nonsense, been there done that, get out of debt adviser. I will this, he was so opposed to the Bankruptcy Bill, you'd have thought he was a Dem. I am just now getting started but have hope that one day I will be debt free. Once I get this paid off, I intend to live debt free.
Credit cards are indeed the modern day company store. They try at every turn to suck money out of your wallet-from interest rates the even the mob wouldn't charge, shortening the grace period, posting your payments late on purpose.
They sucker you in with all sorts of 'freebies'-why cause one they got their hooks in you, it is hard to get out. Well I have been to the puppet show and I see the strings. It will be cash only for this gal. I figure that all the money I save by NOT paying interest will make a nice retirement kitty.

[bdot]

80. For Sale!

There are the same people who HAVE to buy things because they have a "sale" sign on them. You can raise the prices 1000% and say they are on sale and they'd buy them. Most of the stuff they buy they say they don't need but it was on sale so they had to buy it.

[Chovexani]

84. Sneaky sale tactics

When those crooks at Cablevision bought out a popular local electronics chain called The Wiz, stuff like this was totally common. They would always jack up the prices of things by, say, 20%, and then the next day have a 20% off sale.

Luckily people wised up and the chain went out of business. But this is a very common practice. My local supermarket does all kinds of sneaky shit all the time. For instance, they'll have a 2 for $5 "sale" (that you need to use the price club card to get, of course), when the regular price of the item is like $2.49--and you MUST buy 2 to get the "discount".

Or my other favorite, something with a bright yellow sale tag for $2.49...and in tiny print is the usual price, $2.50. Yep you save a whole penny. No joke, I see this a lot...

[Divameow77]

93. I swear Kohl's department store does this all the time

they have their Super Saturday sales all the time where everything is 40-50% off, well I have never been there when things cost as much as the normal prices, prices I would never pay the regular prices but the "sale" prices are decent.

[R. A. Fuqua]

85. wake up call!

we all need to be very careful about credit--it is a tool that can be used wisely to help--but it can also turn around and bite us.

Excellent and informative post!

[sentelle]

86. sucky retail

I wound up applying for a Pier 1 card a few months ago. Let me just say it was a mistake. Sure I got 10% off my purchase, but here's where they screwed me.

They sent me a bill. Normally for me, I reply to all bills online: Makes it easier to track, and you can be certain that the vendor got their payment on a certain date. Ironically, the company above, has an On-line presence where you can buy crap, but you cannot pay your bill.

So I sent the bill in the mail, two weeks ahead. I pay all bills in fill, all the time. (I keep an AMEX for business expenses, and only put business expenses on it). Wouldn't you know that the company decided to credit the account the day after the due date? The next month, my charges are zero EXCEPT for their late charges.

Ultimately I wound up paying them the $2 or so in 'late fees' three weeks in advance via fedex just so they can't pull that again.

They tried it anyway..... and when they did, well, you should heve heard their voice when I pulled up the fedex comfirmation.....
Needless to say,i don't have that card anymore.

[newyawker99]

115. Hi sentelle!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Mrs_Beastman]

87. Another racket is 'free' checking accounts

I have said it before...80% of Americans do not know how to balance a checkbook and the average person bounces seven checks a year.

So, at least for the bank I work for...that's a $259.00 profit off a free checking account.

[Cobalt Violet]

89. Sounds like a Mays Confederated Department Store.

One of their brands of stores. They do this.

[wishlist]

95. At least Target card lets you pay by phone free instead of mailing check

I have had a good experience with the Target card so far and I like the discount coupons each time I have enough charges and after every 10th prescription. But the best thing about their card is that you can call and pay through your checking account over the phone without having to mail in your payment. Target does not charge for this convenience. All my other charge cards do not enable phone payment, or charge $20 to pay by phone instead of by mail (what a ripoff and poor service) Hopefully Target keeps this policy because it really helps us to keep our payments on time especially since we travel a lot.

[SuffragetteSal]

101. when I was a single mom

I told people my children probably wouldn't have shoes if it wasn't for the credit cards. It took me years to pay off those shoes! Now I only use for emergencies, but then my children are grown and I am old enough to find shopping for dogfood on-line and delivered to the house very convenient...:) Thanks for the post, good job.

[sarahlee]

104. Join the Plastic Revolution!

The Plastic Revolution!

The idea is simple:
1. Take a credit card of yours cut it up.
2. Take half of the pieces and send it in with your next bill with a letter stating you have stopped using the card.
3. Send it in by registered mail.


and/or

The 2nd part to the effort:
1. Take all credit card offer letters and collect them.
2. Open them and separate out the postage paid envelopes.
3. Shred the rest of the contents to protect your identity.
4. Print a letter to put into the business reply envelope. sample (use the sample if you want)
5. Put these in a a pile and build them up until the send date on this web page.
6. Send them in!

Quote:
A member wrote in: "We received 5 of these offers today, but you need to warn people of the following. some of these companies put a customer tracking number on the envelope. And carry a warning saying it's illegal to tamper with the envelope. We went ahead and sent it back anyway, and used a permanent marker to black out the "tracking" number and warning. But we need to find out what is the best way to deal with it."

---

Yes, this is something I've found and blacked it out myself. The tampering message refers to preventing identity theft but is left intentionally fuzzy, possibly to intimidate people. Just use a black ball point to make marks on the bar code then use a permanent marker to completely black it out.


http://plasticrevolution.org/

[Bouncy Ball]

107. I have a fail-proof way of dealing with credit card offers in retail

stores (not that I shop retail very much): when they ask "would you like to open up a Junk-A-Lot card with us today? Saves you 10% on today's purchase!" I smile and say "Not if I want to stay married!"

That usually makes them laugh. Now, husband and I keep separate money and separate accounts, so that's not actually true, but it works every time and usually makes other people in line laugh, too.

I also refuse to give out my phone number when they ask for it at some places before they ring up your purchase.

Does anyone remember right after 9/11 everyone was encouraged to SHOP SHOP SHOP!!!!! Total opposite of the days during WWII when people were encouraged to save, re-use, use as little as they could, etc. Whatever happened to that kind of sacrifice? Everyone felt it, everyone noticed, everyone was affected, so no one could go around being deluded enough to think everything was just hunky-dory like they can today...

[woodsprite]

112. I was hired by MBNA to work in the HR offices

They showed me the office, explained the job, then took me to the phone bank. They told me that the HR job was what I was hired to move into, but EVERYONE began their life at MBNA calling for credit app references.

They gave me a huge stack of credit apps and put me at a phone cubby. I was calling for Platinum card references in the Mid-Atlantic states. Needless to say, with some of those, I was actually calling government offices - one was the Pentagon. Like those places are really going to confirm salary info on people.

There were quite a few in my stack where I talked to people, but they refused to confirm the personal info given on the form. They did confirm the applicant worked there. THAT was not counted as a completed app. The goal was to COMPLETE 14 credit card apps an hour! This calling room was about the size of 4 2car garages put together and half of those people were calling for app references just like I was.
14 apps per hr times 50-55 people.

I stuck it out 2 days, which was exactly 2x longer than the person I was hired with ;)