For over ten years I have had a Sears Credit account. Last June I charged a purchase to it, and until then it had stood at zero. My habit is to clear the whole balance by the next billing cycle after using it. Imagine my surprise, then, when my statement arrived with a past-due notice.
Right away I rang customer service about the late charge. I learned that along with a promotional purchase, I had also bought something for $63 that fell outside the promotion, and it had totally slipped my mind. I set up payment for that $63.00, and the late fee was dropped as a courtesy, they said, this once.
Before hanging up I asked whether the interest rate could be reduced, and I was transferred. Here is where I got ripped off. The new person said my payment being 11 days late had caused a higher rate, and I had a pair of choices: take 29.99% interest for a year, or opt out, meaning shut the account.
Let me spell it out. My account had a clean record for more than a decade. One slip by me left it 11 days overdue, and now I must either give the account up or take a 29.99% interest penalty.
Watch out for Sears Credit cards.
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