If you apply for a credit card at Home Depot they will give you a 10% discount (limited to $200). But what they don't tell you is, even though you haven't even seen a statement yet, you must pay off the purchase almost immediately. If you don't they will take back the discount.
As far as I can tell, there is no reason to have a Home Depot card except for the initial discount. After that, Discover and some others will give a 1% to 5% Cash back bonus.
I don't know what you mean about they will take back the 10% discount. They have a high interest rate card so the only reason to use it is to get the
10% disocunt and pay it off and close the account or get the 1 year interest free, (and maybe the 10% along with it, and close the card. (I bought my washer and dryer, that came to 900.00 with the 10% discount and no interest for a year at home depot last November. Made 10 equal monthly payments and it didn't cost me a penny to finance it. I pay bills on line, (for free) so it didn't even cost me the price of a stamp.) None of the private cards are worth while because they have high interest rates. Master card, Discover, etc., are still making money off of you despite the 1-2 % cash back. The ONLY way to win at the credit card game is to pay it off monthly.It took me 10 years to get out of the credit card game and now I can pretty much pay cash for what I need, (or save up for it) since I am not sending the credit card companies several hundred dollars a month to pay for things I bought months, (or years) ago. I do have one for emergencies and if I have to use it, you can bet that we will not be going out to dinner, movies or anything extra until it is paid off.
Not a case of "they don't tell you", but more of a case of "I didn't read the fine print" Credit card companies are in the money making business. Cash-back cards usually have higher interest rates. What good is 2% cash back if you are paying 19% interest? Either pay cash or use a low interest rate card. The cash back is OK if you do pay the bill in full every month.
Me? Pay interest? Surely you jest.
Good for you. There are those that buy on the "no interest for 2 years" and don't pay off the balance in time and end up with 21% from the start.
Million bucks says it's printed out in the terms of the contract you didn't bother to read.
Stubby wrote in news:JcGdnQcZQPTxxL_YnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
Is this something new within the last couple of years I wonder? I got a card a couple of yrs ago. I loaded up the first purchase to get the full
200. Got 6mo no pmt/interest.Anyone else seeing what the OP says?
BTW OP, they told you in the application/contract. If you didn't read it then whose fault is that? If it's not in the app/contract they you can easily challenge it and win.
I got their card for a 20% discount and 1 yr interest free a few years ago. Paid for the item in the 11th month and had no extra charge.
I didn't use the card again-- so after 18months or so they sent me a deal- 10% off & no interest for a year. I'm on month 8 of that deal & there are no charges added to my statement.
I have an Amazon card [by Chase] that pays in Amazon credits 3% on anything purchased on amazon.com- and 1% on everything else; and a Chaseperfect card that gives 3% on gasoline purchases and 1% on everything else. [credited to card each month]
It doesn't sound like much and their interest rates are pretty high-- but I pay off the balances each month and make $30-40 every month for pulling the right plastic out of my pocket.
Oh- and American Express just gave me $150 to use their card once. What a country.
Jim [Discover holds a balance transfer at 0% for the life of the load- but I'll never deal with them again as they started calling every other day for a month to sell me crap. I had to threaten a supervisor with the attorney general to get the calls to stop. There was also some interesting fine print in their offer that I doubt most folks see but worked out for me.]
Not just home depot. The very reason they offer these discounts at the start is to coax people into getting the credit card, which, if they go to that much trouble to promote them, always afaik have enormous interest rates. They figure, and they're largely right, that once people get used to using a store's credit card, they won't notice how much interest they are paying.
What I'm saying probably doesn't apply to good departments stores, such as Carson, Pirie, Scott, Macy's, Hecht's. These stores had their own credit cards back in 1950's or earlier, charged a reasonable rate, and afaik still do. But that can change in a day, so everywhere one should get straight how much interest is charged, or just buy what one can afford to pay for now.
Just yesterday a guy came buy selling cable tv. 20 dollars a month, but for how long? 2 months. After that 45. Although apparently they have a 9 dollar rate one can get after that, for just a few cable stations. It might actually be worth it. But only after the first two months. They want me to get used to watching the bigger list of cable stations, and then to pay the 45. It's not dishonest, and I think it is moral, but it does have a similarity to your local crack dealer giving you free crack until you're hooked on it, and then going to full price.
I guess it is moral because if you go into the fancy cable either not watching those stations or certain that you'll only have them for 2 months, you (I?) will have a chance of not wanting them at the end of the time.
A magnifying glass is a good tool. My father is long gone but I will always remember his advice, "Whatever you sign be sure to read the fine print first and save a copy." Plus, if I don't fully understand the fine print I pass up the deal, and I pass up a lot of them.
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:J2zUg.6917$vT1.4180@trndny03:
You know as well as I Edwin that that's what they bank on - Accrued Finance Charges. As a matter of fact, I have one from an approx 1k purchase 12mo deal that is due tomorrow. Paid today. 0 finances charges. Pay on Mon and it's 220 in finance charges.
I do have to give HD kudos on their monthly statements. Every month they list each deferred item as a separate line item, original purchase date, expiration date and accrued interest to date. And you can schedule it as a debit against your bank account like 45 days in advance. With this repeated info and options, if you miss it you should not be using the no pmt/no int options.
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