Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!houxm!hogpc!houxb!lmg From: lmg@houxb.UUCP (L.M.Geary) Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: Department Store Credit Cards: Why? Message-ID: <263@houxb.UUCP> Date: Tue, 6-Mar-84 18:53:36 EST Article-I.D.: houxb.263 Posted: Tue Mar 6 18:53:36 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 7-Mar-84 06:40:14 EST Lines: 35 # The discussion about Sears credit cards reminds me of another of life's annoyances: stores that won't accept conventional credit cards. Last fall I was shopping for shirts in Syms Clothing store. It took me almost an hour to find three good shirts (I'm tall and thin and picky, too), then I loaded up on underwear and headed for the checkout counter. As I stood there, arms overflowing, I saw the SIGN: "Cash, checks and Syms charge only." I flushed red with embarassment and anger, broke out of line and confirmed it with a clerk. It was true. I couldn't pay. I had to put everything back where I found it. I don't carry cash. I don't *believe* in cash. I'm anxiously awaiting the dawn of the cashless society. I carry a few bucks in emergency money in case I can't find an Exxon station or have a Big Mac Attack, but other than that I live by Visa, MC and AmEx, and just about anyplace I'm likely to patronize will accomodate me. Checks? Who besides Bob Keeshan can carry a checkbook in his pants pocket? Who actually *accepts* checks without also asking for a major credit card for ID? Checks are for paying credit card bills. Rhetorical questions aside, why do some stores insist on issuing their own credit cards and rejecting commonly available cards? Syms has six stores in the universe and discounts, so it isn't prestige. You might say they can't afford the overhead the card vendors charge, but the same could be said of the audio/video joints, and *they* take cards. Macy's and Bamberger's issue their own cards. The Rainbow Room takes American Express. What gives? Any ideas? Larry Geary AT&T Information Systems Holmdel, NJ ...houxb!lmg