I had a Target card which I closed because I was leaving the US for a period of years. I went to the Target store where I opened the card originally (Mt Vernon, NY) and told them I wanted to fully pay down my card, and close my account because I ws leaving the country. They told me what was owing and I paid it and as far as I was aware believed the account to be closed.
7 months later I get mail which had been going to my old address which says I owe $288 and the account has been sold to a collection agency. Apparently, despite not having any balance on the card and closing the account, they send one minor final account keeping fee. When I didn't pay this (because I was unaware of anything still owing - Target employees told me I was paid in full and the account was closed and knew I was leaving the country a week later) they started racking on huge late payment fees and interest charges.
When I contacted Target they were not interested in resolving it at all. They did say they gets lots of similar complaints so they are clearly aware of it.
This is a major scam and highly misleading and deceptive on their part. I bet it catches lots of people like me who try to act in good faith, get assured by Target that the account is fully paid and closed, and then get whacked with loads of charges behind your back. I had no such problems closing any other retail store accounts, so suspect its just a deliberate Target Credit related trap.
One of the most unprofessional things I have ever seen, and I am senior at one of the major wall street firms and my wife runs one of the top shopping malls in the US. We could hardly be construed as uninformed consumers... Beware... And do NOT get sucked into opening a Target credit card.
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