Sears and Roebuck have been around roughly twice as long as I have been.
I can remember pawing though the catalog as a kid figuring out what I wanted for Christmas while parents selected clothing to order.
I still get my pants and shirts from Sears, but I have come to dread walking in the place. I am sure I do not shop there as much as I would if it was not for the hounding I get to sign up for a credit card every time I check out.
As soon as they tell me I can save $16.00 on my $80.00 purchase by signing up, I can feel the hair on my neck start to bristle and my temperature rise. Am I missing something? Do they really think my having a card it is going to make me buy more stuff? Will my additional purchases more than offset the $16.00 and the additional costs of spewing out more pieces of plastic and monthly billing or other paperwork?
I DON’T THINK SO!
Instead, it is close to making me, never walk in the door again.
What really gets me is, if they can afford to give me a discount as an incentive to sign up for a credit card, they are ripping me off for $16.00 if I don’t. Why not just make the stuff $16.00 cheaper and encourage more people to shop just because the stuff is priced fairly?
There is another factor as well. I have actually gone through the process in the past, but because I never use the card, I have to do it all over again every time I buy something. Of course they always argue it only takes a few seconds to fill out the paperwork.
I DON’T THINK SO!
It leaves me feeling there must be something else going on. Then again, the fact the parking lot is always empty and there is hardly ever anyone in the store (and there is almost never anyone to wait on you), may be a hint sears will not be around much longer–in spite of their long history.
Why can’t businesses just provide good service at fair prices and skip all the gimmicks?
Charles Buell