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Report: #147102

Complaint Review: Sears Credit Card Services - The Lakes Nevada

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Silver Spring Maryland
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
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  • Sears Credit Card Services P.O. Box 6921 The Lakes, Nevada U.S.A.

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I applied for a Sears MasterCard in the store on May 30, 2005. I was not asked to enroll with Account Care nor did I sign anything that authorized Sears to enroll me in Account Care. The salesperson did not even ask me to sign a disclosure.

Two days later, I received what looked like junk mail and it turned out to be my Account Care information, saying thank you for enrolling, etc etc. Well, of course I was angry, because you have to pay for this special service, and I called the number on the letter. I reached Sears customer support, who asked me for my account number but I didn't have it (I never received my account number, either in the store or with the Account Care info); then they had to transfer me to the Account Care people so that I could terminate the service.

The customer support person told me that I must be mistaken, the salesperson in the store had to have told me about Account Care and its benefits, and I must have signed something. I said "no, I never received any information about this" and she continued to try to tell me that I was incorrect. She finally gave up and then proceeded to tell me about the benefits of Account Care, regardless of the fact that I had already told her that I wanted to cancel.

Finally, I got them to cancel the service - but here's the kicker: I received my Account Care info 2 days after opening my MC account, right? Well, it's now been over 3 weeks and I still haven't received my Mastercard, or a first statement!

Watch out for in-store credit applications; if you sign something make sure you read it (too bad that I didn't sign anything and they still gave me an account); and specifically tell the salesperson that you do not want Account Care (there may be something automatic in their computer that you need to ask to be opted out of).

Jackie
Metro DC area, Maryland
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/22/2005 01:01 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/sears-credit-card-services/the-lakes-nevada-88901/sears-credit-card-services-ripoff-mc-application-resulted-in-automatic-enrollment-in-accou-147102. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
17Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#17 UPDATE Employee

I agree with Jason

AUTHOR: Honest Sears Employee - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, December 31, 2008

As a supervisor of customer service I can only say what we are required to do. I worked at a full line store and a Sears Essentials and they are pretty much the same. We are required to get at least % MC credit apps a month - one to meet our quota and two - we make no commission unless we do. We do not get anything off account care. as a matter of fact i tell people to say no to it as it is not free. I do explain the program to them, they can choose yes or no on the key pad and if they choose yes I have them sign the disclosure form So if the customer has been enrolled in the program then the employee would have to have reached over the counter and pressed no on the key pad for them.

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#16 UPDATE EX-employee responds

I agree with two previous responses...

AUTHOR: Former Sears Sales Rep - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I also worked for Sears Home Improvements, doing in-home sales of kitchen remodeling/refacing. My training lasted 3 weeks in Tulsa, OK and I sat in a room with a few others doing nothing about 75% of the time. It was ridiculous. I was sent out to sell a somewhat sophisticated product, with little knowledge, and providing estimates (good for that day only by the way) to customers ranging from $11,000 to $29,000. I literally sold 7 kitchens and the average cost came just under $16,000. $16,000 is a lot of money for a kitchen, especially one bought from Sears. Next thing I know nothing is going right. Production is not beginning the installations on time, once a kitchen would complete there were major problems, etc. etc., which by the way I had already caught on to the truth and quit Sears. Poor product, bad service, and a customer stuck and out of luck! I have filed a claim against Sears because after quitting they decided to create frivolous reasons why not to pay me earned commissions. The Dept of Labor, after review of my claim, Sears' response, and my reply, found in my favor entering an Administrative Order of Determination in the amount of $12,000 due to me. Sears is appealing. Sears doesn't stop with ripping off customers. Sears rips off its employees and/or ex-employees too. See my report #342824.

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#15 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Sears Holdings,Credit, Kmart, ect... Ripoff wether youre employed by them or your a consumer

AUTHOR: Mandy2687 - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, July 21, 2008

Jason from AZ I totally agree with you. Every store even if it is the same company does not mean every aspect of training ect is the same in every store. I myself worked for Kmart as a cashier and no we did not have any specific quota amount of credit card apps to get yet I, and all the other cashiers were told that if we didnt get a certian amount of cards a month we would recieve a write up for it. We were pressured every work day constantly. We were also pressured to ask every customer to put their purchase on thier sears card. We also got wrote up for not doing that if we were caught.

Kmart was the worst employer I have ever had. Kmart cares about no one but themselves and their money and how much money they can make. I really think the job I did was worth more than minimum wage. Kmart is a scam all around, if you are a customer or an employee. Also I agree that many of the associates that are required to process apps are really not qualified to do so. I myself would not feel good about enrolling someone in a program without thier knowledge. I wouldnt want that done to myself. I really believe sears holdings should make some type of training program for credit cards for associates. I know someone else said their was training but while i was an employee I did not recieve it. I was employed untill march of 08, so I should have recieved it unless the training is something completly new. Sears holdings is the reason why I hate work.

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#14 Consumer Comment

Don't You People See A Pattern?

AUTHOR: Cory - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, April 10, 2008

Whether it's the "account care" from sears or "family fun" from jcpenny or 'reward zone" from best buy and all those other BS add ons from all those other companies, they're all out to get your dollars. Posted about jcp yesterday and what do we get today? Another post/complaint on this site, from another consumer who is getting ripped off by jcp. And what do we get in rebuttal? Another canned response from THE SAME MORON at jcp. Without authorization, they are signing these peopleup AND billing their accounts. A few people catch it and complain but most don't. These companies are making millons off of these scams. I cut up BOTH my sears and penny cards years ago just because of these underhanded practices. And they wonder why they're losing customers. F' them. Cut up your cards and tell them why when you send back your cut up card.

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#13 Consumer Comment

Don't You People See A Pattern?

AUTHOR: Cory - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, April 10, 2008

Whether it's the "account care" from sears or "family fun" from jcpenny or 'reward zone" from best buy and all those other BS add ons from all those other companies, they're all out to get your dollars. Posted about jcp yesterday and what do we get today? Another post/complaint on this site, from another consumer who is getting ripped off by jcp. And what do we get in rebuttal? Another canned response from THE SAME MORON at jcp. Without authorization, they are signing these peopleup AND billing their accounts. A few people catch it and complain but most don't. These companies are making millons off of these scams. I cut up BOTH my sears and penny cards years ago just because of these underhanded practices. And they wonder why they're losing customers. F' them. Cut up your cards and tell them why when you send back your cut up card.

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#12 Consumer Comment

Don't You People See A Pattern?

AUTHOR: Cory - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, April 10, 2008

Whether it's the "account care" from sears or "family fun" from jcpenny or 'reward zone" from best buy and all those other BS add ons from all those other companies, they're all out to get your dollars. Posted about jcp yesterday and what do we get today? Another post/complaint on this site, from another consumer who is getting ripped off by jcp. And what do we get in rebuttal? Another canned response from THE SAME MORON at jcp. Without authorization, they are signing these peopleup AND billing their accounts. A few people catch it and complain but most don't. These companies are making millons off of these scams. I cut up BOTH my sears and penny cards years ago just because of these underhanded practices. And they wonder why they're losing customers. F' them. Cut up your cards and tell them why when you send back your cut up card.

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#11 Consumer Comment

Don't You People See A Pattern?

AUTHOR: Cory - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, April 10, 2008

Whether it's the "account care" from sears or "family fun" from jcpenny or 'reward zone" from best buy and all those other BS add ons from all those other companies, they're all out to get your dollars. Posted about jcp yesterday and what do we get today? Another post/complaint on this site, from another consumer who is getting ripped off by jcp. And what do we get in rebuttal? Another canned response from THE SAME MORON at jcp. Without authorization, they are signing these peopleup AND billing their accounts. A few people catch it and complain but most don't. These companies are making millons off of these scams. I cut up BOTH my sears and penny cards years ago just because of these underhanded practices. And they wonder why they're losing customers. F' them. Cut up your cards and tell them why when you send back your cut up card.

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#10 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Sorry sears employees but you are wrong.

AUTHOR: Jason - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, April 10, 2008

The one misconcetiopn you store associates have is that ev ery store runs the same as yours. There are Sears Hardware stores, Outlets, Sears Essentials, The Great Indoors, K-Mart and other normal Sears locations nation weide that operate a lot differently then you may expect.

There are computer processed applications with no signatures on them that our fraud department traced.

You have associates signing people up for multiple accounts on the same label just to earn a commision.

You can't tell me you honestly believe, with 10,000+ Sears and Sears partner stores out there that there arent a large quantity of customers the have an experience outside of the realm of the perfect Sears world.

I have known associates at a Sears Essentials in southern california who received zero commision for anything related to credit. While I have heard an associate in Cleveland, OH who made a small monetary sum for signing up people for cards, rewards, account care, etc.

I am speaking from personal experience fromt he credit side of it. Citibank isn't free of fault. There are a lot of shady sides of every credit card.

Here are a couple things people don't realize when it comes to the Credit Card at Sears.... These are FACTS.

1- Although the card is backed by Citibank, Sears is the one in ultimate control of the money. Sears chooses the interest rate you sign up for on the terms and conditions.

2- Many store associates will lookup accounts with Social Security Numbers, without asking for ID. People wonder why there is so much credit card fraud in the world.... It's stuff like this that is contributing to your credit card woes.

3- Their Sears Card and Sears Gold Mastercards cannot be "upgraded" by any store associate at any time in any store. When they tell you that you are doing that, they are running another application for a brand new account. Upgrades will always come directly from the banks office(s).

4- It's the stores(or Shop at Home's) choice, not the credit cards, to charge a restocking fee or to not credit delivery fees. If you return an item, look at your original receipt and most have a guarantee for a specific ammount of time for your product. I dealt with three customers the won cases in small claims court against Sears for issues with fees that come directly from the store that end up screwing up their credit until it all gets fixed.

Citibank is a what it is... a bank. It will attempt to make money any way possible. I am a FORMER employee and not a very happy one at that. But I am also telling you how it is. I wouldn't ever go to Sears first for anything. I am not saying I wouldn't shop there, but I'd put it on the back-burner in terms of priority.

So before you Sears employees get bent out of shape, please realize that there are thousands of stores out there besides yours and not everyone of them is managed well or runs the same way.

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#9 UPDATE Employee

This is false

AUTHOR: Mouse03 - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, February 29, 2008

I am so sorry for that this incident happened to you. I just want everyone to know a few facts.

1)I am a cashier at sears.
2)One of my duties in my job description is to process credit applications.
3)I do have to get a certain number of people to apply for sears cards.
4)I only get a commission on the application itself, not accountcare.
5)To the person working for Citibank, yes we do get training on sears charge, sears gold mastercard, and sears charge plus(I don't deal with sears charge plus, because I am not in the departments that deal with it, which are home appliances or electronics), Accountcare, and Sears Choice Rewards(for Sears Gold Mastercard). I completed 6 hours worth of credit training. What it means to the customer, the store profit, how to sell it and such. It is true that there are teenagers that don't care and don't pay attention to the computer training, but come on, they're teenagers. They don't care about anyone but themselves. I think it's a little unfair to say that all associates don't know anything about credit, I do but I take my job more seriously.
6) The person most likely signed you up for it, without asking, I myself, and many of my other coworkers never do this. I even give customer the accountcare brochure.
7) If you did not sign a disclosure form and you were in my store, you can guarantee that the associate would be fired. We take pride in having a signed form for every rapid credit processed. Although, I have had associates steal signatures forms.
I hope this provides some good information. I just wanted to give Sears a fair side. Because I am not being insincere when I say, that there are associates who truly care about you and are there to make sure you have a good experience. I myself know several.

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#8 Author of original report

Thanks, Jason - Sears Account Care

AUTHOR: Jacqueline - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Jason, I think you're right. In fact, the sales associate was just hitting "enter" so fast through all of the questions that I didn't even get to see what was on the screen. Also, I had requested a different billing address from the shipping address because we hadn't moved yet, and when we went for the inspection at our new house, the Sears mail was in the mailbox! So that just proves that the associate was overzealous, or not paying attention.

But, like I said in my earlier update, I have no real use for the Sears card anymore and haven't had any other problems.

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#7 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Be careful

AUTHOR: Jason - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I worked for Citicards for nearly four years for the Sears branch. There is a large disconnect between the store itself and the credit side. Account care was one of the biggest questionable programs we sold. It served a purpose for many but we had an astronomical ammount of complaints by people that had no idea what the program was. Also, we have also heard the story of applications being ran over the computer. If you did not physically sign anything that could be considered fraud on the stores part. You are REQUIRED by law to sign that application before it's ran. They can enter your info on the computer, but you have to sign the disclosure statements. You would (or maybe you wouldn't) be SHOCKED with how many people selling those credit cards that lack the knowledge of what they are really doing.

Sears, as a store, does not train their associates the ins and outs of signing people up for credit cards. They are givenn a commision and a goal to meet and that includes getting you into Account care and rewards. On very rare occasion, we discovered the associate checking boxes on the application without the consumer knowing or they completely mis-lead the person applying for the card.

My personal opinion is that you should NEVER sign up for a credit card at counter where you are making a purchase. 9 times out of 10, these associates are just that- associates. Go to a customer service desk or if they don't have one of those, sign up on their website.

The biggest trick in the book is giving discounts or rewards for signing up for a card. People don't realize that even submitting the application is a credit inquiry and if you have problems with the card, the company will automatically refer to the terms and agreement of the card that you "signed" for.

Half of the time, the associates on the phone know about as much as you do about what is on the application. Sears is now also running your credit through HSBC if Citi doesn't approve it and they tell you that in the small print that most people don't read. That will give a second credit inquiry and if you are going for a credit app that you want or a mortgage or an auto loan, that can be detrimental to the deal you may be looking for.


As far as the account care program- It's a legit program and the company itself isn't ripping you off. What it sounds like is that you had a shady store associate trying to make an extra commision. If this happens to anyone I would contact the store manager and move up the chain from there.

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#6 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Be careful

AUTHOR: Jason - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I worked for Citicards for nearly four years for the Sears branch. There is a large disconnect between the store itself and the credit side. Account care was one of the biggest questionable programs we sold. It served a purpose for many but we had an astronomical ammount of complaints by people that had no idea what the program was. Also, we have also heard the story of applications being ran over the computer. If you did not physically sign anything that could be considered fraud on the stores part. You are REQUIRED by law to sign that application before it's ran. They can enter your info on the computer, but you have to sign the disclosure statements. You would (or maybe you wouldn't) be SHOCKED with how many people selling those credit cards that lack the knowledge of what they are really doing.

Sears, as a store, does not train their associates the ins and outs of signing people up for credit cards. They are givenn a commision and a goal to meet and that includes getting you into Account care and rewards. On very rare occasion, we discovered the associate checking boxes on the application without the consumer knowing or they completely mis-lead the person applying for the card.

My personal opinion is that you should NEVER sign up for a credit card at counter where you are making a purchase. 9 times out of 10, these associates are just that- associates. Go to a customer service desk or if they don't have one of those, sign up on their website.

The biggest trick in the book is giving discounts or rewards for signing up for a card. People don't realize that even submitting the application is a credit inquiry and if you have problems with the card, the company will automatically refer to the terms and agreement of the card that you "signed" for.

Half of the time, the associates on the phone know about as much as you do about what is on the application. Sears is now also running your credit through HSBC if Citi doesn't approve it and they tell you that in the small print that most people don't read. That will give a second credit inquiry and if you are going for a credit app that you want or a mortgage or an auto loan, that can be detrimental to the deal you may be looking for.


As far as the account care program- It's a legit program and the company itself isn't ripping you off. What it sounds like is that you had a shady store associate trying to make an extra commision. If this happens to anyone I would contact the store manager and move up the chain from there.

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#5 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Be careful

AUTHOR: Jason - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I worked for Citicards for nearly four years for the Sears branch. There is a large disconnect between the store itself and the credit side. Account care was one of the biggest questionable programs we sold. It served a purpose for many but we had an astronomical ammount of complaints by people that had no idea what the program was. Also, we have also heard the story of applications being ran over the computer. If you did not physically sign anything that could be considered fraud on the stores part. You are REQUIRED by law to sign that application before it's ran. They can enter your info on the computer, but you have to sign the disclosure statements. You would (or maybe you wouldn't) be SHOCKED with how many people selling those credit cards that lack the knowledge of what they are really doing.

Sears, as a store, does not train their associates the ins and outs of signing people up for credit cards. They are givenn a commision and a goal to meet and that includes getting you into Account care and rewards. On very rare occasion, we discovered the associate checking boxes on the application without the consumer knowing or they completely mis-lead the person applying for the card.

My personal opinion is that you should NEVER sign up for a credit card at counter where you are making a purchase. 9 times out of 10, these associates are just that- associates. Go to a customer service desk or if they don't have one of those, sign up on their website.

The biggest trick in the book is giving discounts or rewards for signing up for a card. People don't realize that even submitting the application is a credit inquiry and if you have problems with the card, the company will automatically refer to the terms and agreement of the card that you "signed" for.

Half of the time, the associates on the phone know about as much as you do about what is on the application. Sears is now also running your credit through HSBC if Citi doesn't approve it and they tell you that in the small print that most people don't read. That will give a second credit inquiry and if you are going for a credit app that you want or a mortgage or an auto loan, that can be detrimental to the deal you may be looking for.


As far as the account care program- It's a legit program and the company itself isn't ripping you off. What it sounds like is that you had a shady store associate trying to make an extra commision. If this happens to anyone I would contact the store manager and move up the chain from there.

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#4 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Be careful

AUTHOR: Jason - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I worked for Citicards for nearly four years for the Sears branch. There is a large disconnect between the store itself and the credit side. Account care was one of the biggest questionable programs we sold. It served a purpose for many but we had an astronomical ammount of complaints by people that had no idea what the program was. Also, we have also heard the story of applications being ran over the computer. If you did not physically sign anything that could be considered fraud on the stores part. You are REQUIRED by law to sign that application before it's ran. They can enter your info on the computer, but you have to sign the disclosure statements. You would (or maybe you wouldn't) be SHOCKED with how many people selling those credit cards that lack the knowledge of what they are really doing.

Sears, as a store, does not train their associates the ins and outs of signing people up for credit cards. They are givenn a commision and a goal to meet and that includes getting you into Account care and rewards. On very rare occasion, we discovered the associate checking boxes on the application without the consumer knowing or they completely mis-lead the person applying for the card.

My personal opinion is that you should NEVER sign up for a credit card at counter where you are making a purchase. 9 times out of 10, these associates are just that- associates. Go to a customer service desk or if they don't have one of those, sign up on their website.

The biggest trick in the book is giving discounts or rewards for signing up for a card. People don't realize that even submitting the application is a credit inquiry and if you have problems with the card, the company will automatically refer to the terms and agreement of the card that you "signed" for.

Half of the time, the associates on the phone know about as much as you do about what is on the application. Sears is now also running your credit through HSBC if Citi doesn't approve it and they tell you that in the small print that most people don't read. That will give a second credit inquiry and if you are going for a credit app that you want or a mortgage or an auto loan, that can be detrimental to the deal you may be looking for.


As far as the account care program- It's a legit program and the company itself isn't ripping you off. What it sounds like is that you had a shady store associate trying to make an extra commision. If this happens to anyone I would contact the store manager and move up the chain from there.

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#3 Author of original report

Sears update

AUTHOR: Jacqueline - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, October 11, 2007

Thanks for your comments. This would all make sense if there had been a paper application, but the sales associate entered all of the information directly into the computer while asking me questions at the same time.

The only thing I signed was the receipt for my purchase.

This is why I have no copy of the application and could actually see if I initialed anything.

However, two years after the fact, I'm totally over Sears anyway. I haven't used the credit card since that initial purchase.

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#2 UPDATE Employee

account protection

AUTHOR: Mary - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, October 11, 2007

I work for sears and it is not an automatic enrollment into account card when you take out a credit card. You have to sign the disclosure and on the little screen that you sign you have to authorize the enrollment by pressing yes. So, you would have had to have authorize this for it to take place.

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#1 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Wrong This complaint is absolutley FALSE

AUTHOR: Sean - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, August 13, 2005

This complaint is absolutley FALSE. Did you read the application yourself? On the application it has a big box that says to initial here if you want the service. If you just initialed because the cashier said "sign here initial here" then you were not enrolled on an accident or becaue we did it. It was because the cashier has no obligation to tell you about accountcare. That is the duty as a consumer to read through what your signing. The accountcare is included with the mastercard app. You stated you signed up for the mastercard therefore you DID sign something at the store that did contain accountcare info. And your right MAKE SURE YOU READ IT. That was your fault not Sears. Secondly it is against federal law to issue anyone the account number outside of them recieveing their card due to identity theft and fraud situations. They issue temporary shopping passes for the first day it is open then 7-10 days later you get your credit card with the number. If you shop before then they have to do an account number lookup at the store and are still not supposed to issue you the account number.

And NO there is NOTHING in the computer you need to be opted out of to opt out of accountcare. Simple read the big pink box that says if you want to enroll initial here AND DONT INITIAL. Simple as that. Accountcare has never and will never be automatic

Oh and your only charged 96 cents for every 100 dollars you spend thus if you have a 0 balance you pay 0. So there is not always a fee.

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