There is so much going on in our country that is infinitely more relevant than this diary. But I write it as a warning to others who may (hopefully not) fall prey to the scheming at merchants and commercial banks to wring extra dollars or extra visits out of people.
I'll try to be brief.
I'm at the cash register at Williams Sonoma to pay for a $7.00 utensil.
The cashier/manager says - why don't you sign up for a Williams Sonoma card and you'll get a credit for $25.00? I get talked into it when she says that my purchase will be covered by the card and I'll have a credit left over. I go back for another utensil bringing my bill to $16.13. She says ok now enter your information in the credit card machine. Hmmm, this is getting to be a little more than I bargained for... the questions start getting more intrusive. I ask her why Williams Sonoma needs this information. She says - oh it's not us it's the credit card company. Somewhere along the way she had mentioned VISA which confused me and should have been a clue for me that this was not like the company store card that Williams Sonoma also issues where one's counter party is the store not an outside bank. But by this time I've already entered so much information and it's almost over. I say - ok my bill will be paid out of the $25 and I'll have a credit?" She says yes. I say -"Well, why don't I just spend the $25.00 now and then it will be all taken care of?". She discourages me from doing that. I listen to her.
There's an element of intimidation here. "Take the credit! (ooohhhh, a $25.00 credit) Buy a cooking lesson, they're wonderful. (Uh uh, I can't cook and don't want it.) Don't spend the full $25.00 credit."(I'd like to but I'll listen to you.)
Something doesn't seem right. And I know that my husband doesn't like me to mess with the credit card choices he carefully makes and which I hadn't intended to get involved with. But I'm a little embarrassed and intimidated and confused.
So.....
A week or two later, I get a Williams Sonoma VISA card with Barclay's Bank showing as the hidden partner in whatever they were trying to get me to do.
Today I get an e-mail from Barclay's telling me I owe them $16.13 and that my statement will come in the mail. Hmmm... I call Barclays's and ask them about the $25.00 credit. I say that I thought I'd have a credit balance of $8.87 not a debit of $16.13.
The Barclay's Bank credit card woman does not seem surprised by my question. She apologizes. She said the cashier at Williams Sonoma should have told me that if I had spent $25.00 or more then the $25.00 credit would have been applied at the cash register. I say - "Should I ask Williams Sonoma for the credit? She says "No, I can send that out. Would you like me to send that out to you? To do so I need your e-mail address and your phone number." I say "I think you have the e-mail address and the phone number. And, yes, please send the $25.00 Williams Sonoma gift card out to me". She says "oh, do I have it, I have to go to another screen - yes I have your info" hmmmmm...
She apologizes a couple more times and says the clerk at Williams Sonoma should have explained everything to me.
My husband, btw, from the beginning, rolled his eyes and told me that I should not take out new credit cards ever. (He handles our credit cards.) It's not worth the hassle and it messes us up.
My husband told me that there are credit scores based on how many credit cards a person has and several other silly wrinkles that are used to rip consumers. He always pays our credit cards off each month. And we never pay any interest to them. We are fortunate that in our retirement we are able to do that.
So, if you decide to take Williams Sonoma and Barclay's Bank up on this deal you might as well go ahead and spend the $25.00 at the same time.
I wound up getting greedy and fell for a scheme. I still don't know what this gains Williams Sonoma and Barclay's Bank. I intend to wait for my statement and mail them a check for $16.13 which I would not have to do if I had just paid with my normal credit card. I may receive their $25.00 gift card in the mail - my husband's doubtful. I don't need anything from their store.
So the net result is I paid for what I bought, which is fine.
But I suspect I won't be able to ignore a $25.00 gift card and will eventually be dragged back into the store. Is that what they wanted in the first place?
And thus ends this rather petty tale about the complications and games we engage in when we shop at the big stores whose policies seem driven by the schemes of the grads of some of our business schools (Harvard Business Schools seem to specialize in this type of thinking from what I've heard). I was a perfect dupe for whatever scheme they were trying.
I don't shop much, but in the last few years I've started using non profit thrift stores and small companies on line that are not tied to Wall Street.
And I'm a retired broker..........hmmmmm.