Retail and Credit Cards

[ShinHell9]

So yeah, I've been working at Banana Republic since this summer and I'm sure everyone's noticed the sudden eruption of Credit Cards for certain stores. Well, I've always had a problem with that and in fact have only signed up 2 credit cards in which I did because the people saved ~$75 from it. But it's every store you go into, and I believe they have it in Gamestop as well (not sure how the hell the 60% of their customers whom are under 18 could benefit). So I think it was Nordstrom or something who broke the ice and coupled their credit card with a visa. Now Banana Republic has done the same. But since signing up people for "Banana Cards" is a NECESSITY to your job their, we can't use this whole visa thing as a selling point, in fact we can't mention it at all. So okay, blah blah blah about great rewards and shit but here's what bothers me a lot. We can't tell the customer, so in the unlikely event that we do get to sign up a card, we go through the whole process and if they qualify for the visa they get it, no other options. So we say "hooray! you qualified for a Banana Card Visa" and they stand there thinking "what the fuck?" and then we say "And yeah, if you don't want it you have to call this number and like wait on the phone for an hour". Obviously I over exaggerate to what I believe. However lets say you were to sign up for one, I mean most people's concerns aren't filling out applications or if it's worth it; the biggest issue I ever see/hear (which I can agree with fully) is that people don't want another credit card, and I'm pretty sure most of the people who do sign up feel that it's not too risky to have one that applies to one store. So what do you guys think about this mess? I mean what would you do if you actually wanted to sign up for one.

 

[Aazealh]

So basically, your company asks its employees to scam clients with a credit card offer? Isn't it a relatively common thing in the USA to have such offers? I've always been under the impression that people can get a shitload of credit cards that end up fucking up their lives because of the huge debts.

It seems your concern is more about the fact you can't tell them about the Visa component until they've signed. In this case though, isn't it obligatory to tell them what they're subscribing for exactly? Isn't it written anywhere that the store's card is a Visa? And why can't you tell them anyway?

 

[KazigluBey]

I'll have to second what Aazealh said about being obliged to disclose this info. I know there is a lot of fine print and what not, but have you asked your supervisor/manager to see if it is part of the contract that you can't tell them that it's a Visa? They do understand that it is a credit card right? If that's the case and there are no annual fees, I don't see why they would bitch. Being backed by a major credit card company like Visa protects merchants from getting ripped off, as I believe Visa always pays their merchants regardless, then goes after the individual who didn't pay. It's sort of a security blanket. There are also cash cards that are getting that way, like those same as cash things. A business, say a hotel or something, will require there be a major credit card logo on the card before they accept it.

 

[ShinHell9]

Well the thing is that not everyone qualifies for the Visa, and we have the old "Banana Card" that is owned by gapinc(the company that owns banana republic, gap and old navy), so before this tuesday, if you signed up for a card you'd get one owned by gapinc. Now however, they have the old credit card and the new one owned by visa. The reason they're keeping the old card around, and not telling people about the visa one is because not everyone can apply for a visa (I think it goes by credit score); so basically to "not upset the customer" we go through the usual thing we did for the regular card, and then if they qualify then we tell them they got a Banana Card Visa, and if they don't want it they need to go call a number. So yeah the whole thing is that neither the employees nor customers can choose which card to give/get if the customer doesn't want a visa; they need to go through this whole big process if they don't want it. I mean wouldn't it end up making you feel pretty duped? So basically the way the company sees it is that someone signs up and it's an automatic upgrade, but I'm pretty sure not everyone's gonna make their credit card Banana Republic's Visa because I'm sure people would rather airplane rewards or something of that sort. And them getting a visa just makes it more inconvenient I'd think. Also, at some point people are gonna learn from others and then they'll be asking why they didn't qualify for the visa anyway. I dunno if I'm being confusing or anything.

 

[Aazealh]

so basically to "not upset the customer"

Well, that sounds like a really stupid idea. I'm sure the customer's going to more be upset if he gets forced into that bullshit than if he simply doesn't qualify for a Visa. Hell, if he can't get a credit card he's probably not going to be a big client anyway, rather I'd expect most people to already have a credit card and to be totally uninterested by a Banana Republic one. Besides, like you said the secret is out already.