I have watched the interest rate go beyond 25%. At least customer service was honest when they said it is the standard rate and in no way reflects a penalty. Citibank behind the Sears name to charge unreasonable rates.

I have never used my sears citibank card yet have been charged $25 for a zero balance!!! HUH???? I called to cancel the card and thought everything was taken care of. I then received another bill but this time w/late charges on top of the original $25!!! I called again to explain my situation and to get these outrageous charges withdrawn. Again I was told that everything was taken care of, that my account was closed and that I owed nothing. Today I received yet another bill from Citibank and now the bill is up to $89.00!!! Does anyone have any advice on what to do, i.e legal steps, etc? I owe these creeps NOTHING and will pay them NOTHING!!!

I'm from NJ and purchased a Sears MasterCard at Sears department store and was told I would receive the card within 10 to 15 business days, and I had made a small purchase when I opened the card. I began calling about exactly 11 business days after I hadn't received the card, I was told it should be there any day. After numerous calls, almost 2 months later I finally reached someone who informed me that the card was not sent out for some reason and it would be here within 5 business days. A few days later, I received my account information but no card, saying my minimum payment was due the day I received the statement! I called customer service once again, they were extremely rude to me, they had no answer as to why I had not received my card yet but that I needed to pay my min. payment over the phone at that time to avoid a late fee. I asked why they could send the statement but not the card, no answer, didn't try to reason with me at all, just said you'll have a late fee if we don't receive this payment now. I have never experienced this issue with ANY other customer service company, very rude, couldn't explain to me why I hadn't received my card yet. The last person I spoke to who had said this was apparently "Kendra" whose ID number was "46", not even sure if this was her real name/number.

I mainly wanted to post a review to tell everyone not to be mad at Sears for their bad experience with their MasterCard. It's not Sears' fault, it's Citibank...so all of you who are saying you'll never shop at Sears again are just being silly. Sears is a great store...but Citibank is pretty awful. They've closed many people's accounts for no real reason, other than a couple months of inactivity (mainly that's with their co-branded gas cards though). And yes, obviously there's a high interest rate, but that's nothing personal...so to the people who are saying they have good credit and always pay off their balance every month, that unfortunately won't affect the interest rate because they just have the same interest rate for all their customers if it's a store or gas co-branded card. If it's a MasterCard from a regular bank or credit union, that's when they're able to lower your interest rate if you pay off your balance, etc. So, in conclusion, please stop blaming Sears and taking the high interst rate personally. It's just Citibank and the way things are currently work when they have co-branded cards.

we obtained this sears cards over 35 years ago. the interest rate has gone from 12.9 to 21.9 to 25 with never a late or missed payment. Citibank will not discuss a lower interest rate at all. paying off balance asap and will never buy anything at sears again

The people at Citibank who administer the Sears Gold Mastercard do not know what they are doing. The company needs to get people who are professional and can do their job. They used to offer 0 payment with 0% financing specials and we bought a bed under that program, according to the store clerk. Instead they said a month later that they no longer have that program, that you now have to make a payment each month, instead of being able to wait until the end. Fine, no problem, I authorized a payment that would have the bed paid off before the end of the 0% period. I also authorized in July an auto payment to be drawn each month from my checking account. I get a letter in showing the payment has gone through and the bank statement shows it withdrawn. It is set to autodraft each month. Then I get a phone call in September to say that my account is past due. When the account person checks, he tells me that he has found the mistake Citibank made on my account and is correcting it. He apologizes for the error and tells me it is now straight. Problem solved, right? Wrong, the next week I get another phone call saying that my account is past due, then I explain the situation, the account person gets really rude acting like it is not possible that they have made a mistake. Until he checks then says he does see the problem and will correct it, but he won't give me his operator number and hangs up the phone when I repeat my request for his operator number. Then on 9/21, operator #GCO9767 calls me to say that my account is past due. You are really kidding me right? I tell this operator that I cannot believe they cannot get this simple matter corrected. By this point, my husband has received 4 phone calls that day for me, where the person tells him he/she cannot tell him the reason for the phone call. So then he is mad when I get home, wanting to know what account is past due, because he knows that must be what the phone calls are about. The operator gets a supervisor, puts me on hold, looks at the account, and tells me that he is so sorry, that this is completely Citibanks fault, but that the internal account error has been fixed and promised that there will not be any more phone calls. Finally! Not exactly, the phone rings on 9/26 with an account person calling about my past due account. I tell this person that I will not speak to anyone but a supervisor, so #CO4242 gets on the phone and looks over the account. She discovers that someone did not click the correct button on the drop down menu to indicate that the money is autodrafted from a checking account. She gives me alot of excuses about a new computer system that they are trying to learn. I told her that the previous person said I would never get another phone call about this matter, which I told him at the time that I did not believe this, since there had been a problem since July that they could not seem to figure out. The supervisor then tells me that no one should make a guarantee like that to a customer. Yes, I told her, Citibank should absolutely be able to make a guarantee to their customers that they will receive a solution to their problem. Problem fixed, right? No, my phone rang this morning at 10:30 AM with a Citibank person. I hung up and am paying the complete balance, then cutting up the card to mail back to Citibank.

Recently got the card. At the store, the sears CSR told, there will not be any charge & finally when i recieved my card there is a charge of 59$. Called the customer care & told about the scenario & they won't listen. Very harsh. Finally have to close the card with no other option.

I realized, too late, that I have been paying 25% interest for several months, and 21% before that!! I wasn't aware, because of paperless statements, and because I wasn't paying enough attention. I called and asked for a lower rate and was told they couldn't give me one - until I said I wanted to close my account, at which time they transferred me to a woman who said yes, she COULD lower my rate - to a whopping 19 PERCENT!! It would save me about $20 a month in interest, she said, as if that was reason enough! I told her I was used to transfer balance rates of ZERO and would not consider keeping the account. STAY VIGILANT, PEOPLE!!

I have been a Sears Master card holder for over 9 years when I was a first card holder my interest rate was only 10% now they upped it to 23% they asked me 9 years ago if i wanted to get joint the rewards program I told them no.. they said its only 30 dollars a year, I said no.. I find out that they charged me 30 x 9 years and stole money from me. they said how do we know you really said "no" to the 30 dollars a year I said did I ever use any points with the 50k I spent in the 9 years? they said no you didnt.. they only took off 3 years after fighting with them for 2 hours etc. They are dishonest, Sears use to be a great store for the family I use to take my family there for everything but today sears is disgusting JCPenneys is the new Sears, I only go into Sears to pay my credit card bill then leave. After I pay my remanding 1k I will put cancel the card. Please do not get this card! Sears is not the trust worthing store it was in the 80's it has reached a new low.

I am a customer and Sears credit card holder for several years, made payments on time and have a good credit history. about 2.5 years ago Sears credit card raised my available credit to $9,800 and yesterday I received a letter that this credit changed to $2,800. No late payment, good credit history = no real reason other than bad customer service from Sears credit card. I know that I will pay down the balance (a 0%) and than cancel my card and Sears had me and my family as a customer

This Card's issuer will not overlook any hardships (financial or medical) regardless of your card history. Customer Service gives misleading information and then you immediately get picked up by their Collection Agencies; which is also some kind of whack job. Their agencies (Resurgent Capital, Creditors Interchange, LVNV Funding, plus more) are liars and will grill you on why you can't pay them back. If you could only afford $10.00 a month, they'll tell you it's not enough & demand more. They will make you feel inferior, call at inappropriate business times, transfer you to all kinds of people who make new lies. You can even hear them in the background cheering when another collection is made. They will also pull your credit report & blast off why you're able to make your mortgage pymt but not pay them. Duh! If we had the money, you'd be getting some of it; at least it's $10.00 sent in good faith until we're able to do more. Word to the wise... Don't spend today what you can't pay for tomorrow 'cause you'll never know what the next day brings. Debt will just screw your entire life up.

i have had a sears card since 1969--current card is a gold choice rewards--i have never been late with a payment--i retired from formally sears owned allstate after 34 years--if i wanted to cause a problem i would have run up the charge as high as possible. this card has had a zero balance for many years.today i received a cancellation notice. my credit report is sighted as the reason. i have made a consious decision upon atty advise, to get out of 2 investment property mortgages.this means court cases on both. i would ask that a live person review specifics an a personal decision be made,instead a 41 yr customer is treated very poorly

I have had a Sears card since 1976.I used it to make purchase for tools and appliances. But as long as Sears is associated with Citibank i have no desire to shop at Sears or use that card for any reason

I believe the last post is from someone working for the credit card industry. It's mighty convient to blame all these problems on the little guy, but the issue isn't that easy at all as Mr. Happy would have you believe. Fact is, the credit card companies are the only companies that can change the terms of sale, AFTER the sale has happened. I do agree that there are too many people living beyond their means and trying to keep up with the Jones'. But another fact is that Americans are the most marketed to culture in the world. And it's not by mistake. They want you to get into a cycle of debt so they can charge more fees and higher interest rates and take advantage of your situation, just to put more money in their pockets. Now with the great recession looming it's not that easy just to say "pay your bills on time" as Mr. Happy says. The deck was stacked against us all along, most just didn't realize it.

I have read many of the reviews. I find it fascinating that many of you are blaming Citibank for your own lack of financial restraint. Your over-the-limit fees, late fees and problems with representives not willing to work with you are problems you created. Here is some advice: make sure you mail the payment plenty of time in advance (better yet-pay online)and be thrifty and do not go over your limit.

I have been a Sears Gold Card holder since 1988, 21 years. Recently I found out they closed my account, without notice. I complained, but I was told by Patrick Little, from The Office of The President, "Presidential Commications", via letter that "we are unable to override the decision". Apparently I hadn't used my card enough. These predators disgust me. If you want to share your disgust with Patrick Little and Citibank here's his direct phone number: 1-800-733-0815, Ext. 50298. I'll never do business with these predators again.

I'VE BEEN A CARD HOLDER SINCE 1979 AND PROBABLY ONCE OR TWICE IN THAT TIME, DID A BALANCE CARRY OVER. I PAY OFF EVERY MONTH I HAVE A BALANCE. RECENTLY RECEIVED A LETTER STATING AN ANNUAL FEE WOULD BE CHARGED OF $45.00. NOW I AM FORCED TO CLOSE MY ACCOUNT AS I'M NOT PAYING $45 YR. FEE. TOOK THIS LETTER TO A LOCAL STORE AND THEY ARE NOT AWARE OR NEVER HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED OF SUCH. IN CHECKING ON LINE, ALL THREE CARDS STATE "NO ANNUAL FEE". SEARS ASSOCIATES ARE GIVING OUT BROCHURES AND NOT AWARE OF ANYTHING AND OF COURSE THE INTEREST RATES ARE ALSO CHANGING. HELP! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO CLOSE MY ACCOUNT.

i initially applied for a sears store card and the associate told me the application was the same. well, it wasn't and i now have a sears mastercard. i recently lost my job and asked for a lower payment (min. due is 66.73-up from 40.00) and was told no. i informed customer service i could pay the 66.00 which i did and i was still charged the 39.00 late fee for the .73 i didn't pay! customer service supervisor-refused to give her name-told me that now my min. due is 105.47 and i must pay it all in full or be charged another 39.00 and then i will be forwarded to collections and they are aggressive about collection methods. i am outraged and offended. this company gets billions for a bailout and they continue to tax me $ over .73?!! this is by far the worse company i have ever dealt with.

I contacted them to try to set up a payment plan for my credit card because of decreased income. The woman, Cheryl, was totally rude & told me they did not have any plans to help people like me and that I should get another job--I will never pay them another penny--they can hound me to the gates of Hell! Do not get one of these cards if you don't already have one.

In the past I have enjoyed this card. Lately the time between statement cutoff and due date has been reduced. I get the statement in the mail with the due date being just days away. I booked an air ticket reward and the airlines cancelled the flight. The ticket cost was $900, so I paid $400 out of pocket since they limit the price at $500, and used 25,000 rewards points. The airlines sent me a letter confirming they had given the credit back to the Citi. I have called and emailed Citi on several occasions since I have not received my $, *or* points back on my account. I was told I must wait 60 days after they get the credit from the airlines before they will even look into it. I am beyond annoyed...they post charges in an instant, but it takes over 60 days to get a credit back. This is pure BS.

My husband has been a gold card member for almost two years. We always pay on time and when we do it is always more than the minimum due. We had a $5000.00 limit and had just given them a pmt of 4800.00 .... then we tried to book a flight for our anniversary through our travel agent and were declined!!!! My husband called customer service and they told him that they lowered our limit becasue they reviewed our credit report and we had "serious deliquent" payments..NOT TRUE!!!! we asked to speak with a manager and was told that there was no manager on shift and besides they couldn''''t do anything to help. We asked for a manager''''s name to contact and she refused as well. What do you do????? I feel like we are at their mercy and they have our info at their fingertips. We never received a letter, phone call, e-mail... nothing to give us a head''''s up.....that I believe is unfair practice.....

they say they mail the bill the same day its posted. but that means it takes 11-15 days to get to me. they tried to blame the post office, but this is every bill they send and it is the only bill that is late. every month i have 5-7 days from time i get it until they post. they tell me this takes 7-10 days, but i have 5-7. my only option is to pay online,which i don''t like doing. for this reason, i am switching card companies.

after paying account care fees for years I quit my job of 15 yrs,as I wasnt going to be a part of what was going on around there.The high & mighty at Sears didnt care one tiny bit why I HAD to quit,refused to consider there may be extenuating circumstances.NOT EVERYTHING IS BLACK & WHITE I will not spend another dime at a Sears store EVER!!!!!I want all the money I paid for that useless account care BACK,and then they can SHOVE THEIR CARD.NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!@

I was also in the Sears store trying to make a payment with my debit card. They wouldn''t take it. Give me a break! If you use a debit card to make a payment it comes right out of your checking account. What is their problem? I had no checks with me and now I am late with my payment and they have raised my minimum amount due from 77.00 to 146.00. Oh, how I wish I could get this paid off and never use it again. Come on Sears. You can do better than this. Please do better.

Last year I got a letter saying I could transfer my Sears Card to a Sears Gold MasterCard. I returned the slip declining that offer - I didn't want another MasterCard. Two days ago I got a letter stating my Sears Gold MasterCard account was being closed because of inactivity and because of serious delinquencies on my credit report. Now I have an inquiry on my credit report and a closure on my credit report for an account that I didn't want. The customer service people had nothing useful to offer. I am LIVID that I have to take my time to dispute this, when none of it was due to actions on my part. I'm soured on business with Sears and Citibank and won't do business with either ever again.

I have had the Sears Gold MasterCard for at least 7 years and was a part of their rewards program. I purposely purchased all of my appliances at Sears so I could gain reward points. After purchasing a second home and renovating it (all on credit cards), including my SGM, my debt/ratio was off. I have never paid a bill late, including SGM. Prior to the renovation of my home, I had perfect credit. While trying to make a purchase at a store and being declined, I contact SGM and was told the account was terminated due to my other high credit card balances. SGM terminated my account without notice and I lost my over 18,000 reward points. Glad I wasn't on travel or anything - it could have been uglier. SGM is a Scam and Sears should be aware of who they affiliate themselves with.

At Christmas I purchased some exercise equipment using their 6 month/no interest promotion. I set up 6 equal payments with my bank bill pay for the 18th of each month to insure it would get there by the due date of the 26th which was stated on the first statement after the purchase. Thankfully, I just noticed on my latest statement that the due date is now the 16th....10 days sooner! If I hadn't noticed this my last payment would have been late and they would have added on accrued interest and late fees. How do they get away with such unethical practices? Also, BEWARE..I also noticed that they have added a Signature line to the payment slip. If you sign it they will enroll you in their AccountCare program. There is a statement about this on the slip but would be very easy to overlook when you were filling out the slip to make a payment....I wonder how many people they have scammed with that.

I have been a Sears credit cardholder for many years. (I was among those whose Sears Card was "converted" to a Sears Gold Mastercard when it was first launched.) Typically, I pay the full balance each month, which is nominally due on the 26th. I "push" payments online from my credit union (which avoids granting debit authority to others, but that’s another story) on the 20th, which provides ample time for all my creditors... until now. I was surprised to have an interest fee plus a $39.00 late fee several months ago. It happened because the due date was jumped to the 18th instead of the 26th for one month, which I had failed to notice or expect. When I complained, they graciously sent me a fresh copy of the cardholder agreement so I could understand that they could do this at any time. (I knew this already, and had even read some complaints about others' legal-but-irritating uses of such contract terms; so I admit I lost this particular contest.) I resolved to watch them more closely. The date returned to the 26th, and life went on for awhile. Last month they did it again, and I missed it; snared again! I called to cancel the card, and was handed over to someone who asked what they could do to retain my business. I replied, "Maintain moderate stability in the due date, as you did for the previous 11 years." They replied that was not possible (their computers have obviously been programmed to do otherwise), so I cancelled. The diligence required to actually benefit from this card compared to others is not worth the the closer scrutiny it requires; it only takes a couple of orchrestated "late fees" to easily wipe out any financial advantage. I have gotten a different card, no longer shop at Sears, and have thus restored my fee-free credit card useage. I strongly recommend the same to any other Sears Mastercard holder.

I have had excellent service from Sears, but now that they are part of Citibank, I am watching for changes in terms. I really like the ability to walk up to any register in a Sears store with my statement and pay my bill right then and there. That has saved me from late fees a couple of times. I don't like the fact that I am not able to schedule an online payment for a future date; only for an immediate payment. I like to schedule payments the minute I receive the bill and then be able to file them away and not have to deal with them again.

After being told a late fee of $35 would be waived if I would make a payment over the phone, I was quite angry to find out either she had lied to get a payment out of me or someone else who has more control has forgotten what honesty and integrity is all about. I called customer service weeks later to make a payment and as I listened to the automated service tell me my balance was more than that rep did I knew something was wrong. The customer rep I had talked to at this time said the one who actually waived the fee or said she did over the phone can’t but she should have told me to call back to have it taken off. I asked to talk to a supervisor or manager and after several minutes he got on the phone and was not willing to make it right. I said when you record conversations for quality assurance is that for you or the customer because he would find that his employee actually made what appears to be a false statement which I call lying! I have a small balance at this time, card is cut to shreds and I will never use, buy, recommend, or speak one good word about Sears, Citibank or anyone affiliated with them!

I have had this sear's master card since 1983..recently i was purchasing two pair of jeans from sears for my son for bact to school... my card not only had a zero balance, I had a credit for nearly $88 ....minimal purchase, $15,000 line of credit...customer service not only embarrased me... they denied the first set of questions and code requests, which i had answered perfectly, and the clerk was told to tell me to call the 1-800 number... this was pretty ridiculous, never late on a payment, credit on the account, member since 1983..., gave all the i.d. required and answered the paswors correctly... and they still put me through the ringer... they will never see any of my business again as well if this can help others save the pain of embarrasement... i'm happy to have helped others... a dissatisfied client since 1983... d.c. from los angeles

My son recently asked me to help pay off his Sears card because of the high interest rate. the bill was due July 27th. I wrote a check for the full amount and the cancelled check shows it was cashed July 24th. We also requested his address be changed to my address since he had moved back home. We got nothing in August and then 2 days ago we got a bill (forwarded from his last address) showing late charges of $40. He hasn't used the card in months and when he called customer service, they couldn't tell him why this happened and said they'd "look into it" and call him back. They haven't called back!!

I am currently trying to close my Sears MasterCard, after having the account for 9 years. They lost a very large payment that I made to them in July. They cashed it on the 17th.. Suddenly I was getting calls about late payments. I told them I had paid them off. The check had gone through my bank. After many calls on my part about how to fix this situation, and no, I was not going to send them another check. Every single time I called them, I was given some "customer service" rep that had to be told the whole story and they couldn't do anything for me. Finally I found someone that gave me a number to fax the copies of the check. It was faxed 4 times, front and back, a week apart each time. A hard copy was mailed to them. I was still receiving phone calls every day. (no, not helpful phone calls, dunning phone calls)The only manager I ever talked to was rude and no help at all. And every time I called, every time, I had to start the whole story over. It was horrible. I finally learned today that they do recognize I made the payment. However now I have to go through the same process to get the late charges off the bill. I will never shop at Sears, my family and friends won't shop there. Sears is really doing their customers a disservice offering this card. I have never had this trouble with any of my other cards. There was always someone you could talk to that had a name and could call you back after they researched the issue.

After a couple years of accumulating points, I redeemed some for two gift cards. I was told that express mail for 3 to 5 day delivery would be $13.95. I said regular mail would be fine. Needless to say, they never showed up. When I called to inquire about them, they said they had been sent, must have been misdirected or stolen, there was no way to track it, and they would not replace the cards or my points. I, of course, protested; they could not provide any proof they were really actually even sent, other than their word. I have been a Sears card customer since 1980 and can't believe the crappy customer service on this issue. I believe the Rewards program is a SCAM, and you have to pay a yearly fee for the privilege of participating. After you pay the $13.95 for shipping and $25 yearly fee, your reward doesn't look as rewarding.

I have never missed a payment, made many payments ahead, and my interest rate went up and up to 29%. I called and asked for a lower rate and was simply told it was not available for me. No reason given. I did a balance transfer to Amex with 3% for the life of the transfer.

It is sad but i completly agree with everyones post with how customers are treated by Sears. I am a manger with cusomer service and feel the frontline is not trained correctly to give the cust accurate info. Half the time regular customer service makes up the answer anyway. I believe we as a company hide behind the "terms and conditions" to get out of everything. I believe what is driving Citi/Sears is revenue and not customer satisfaction. I kid you not, we are told that our customer satisfaction rate for customers is at 76% satisfied and 24% dissatisfied---uh am i being lied to ya think!!--ask for a manager for better help--I will continue to do what ever it takes for customer satisfaction and wish i could speak for the whole dept. anyway, what keeps me there are the great benefits that comes with CitiGroup

I have had a Sears Card since 1987. I recently remarried & moved ... I changed my name/address information on the web, which worked fine - I get my statements with no problem. Yesterday, out of the blue - I receive a letter from Pioneer Credit Recovery saying my "past due" account had been turned over to their agency for collection. My account is not past due .. I have not missed a payment and I always pay more than the amount due .. I have been a few days late in the past. When I called Customer Service the person told me that it was sent out by mistake - but could not give me any deatals so transfered me to the Collections Dept. Here I was told that the account was not deliquent but it was sent over to the agency because they did not have a phone number to contact me ... A PHONE NUMBER - so it gets sent to a collection agency. This person could not tell me if it would show up on my credit report or not so gave me another number to call "the recovery agency". I am told by this person that there was a computer glitch and the letters were sent out by mistake ... she insisted the Phone Number reason was not correct that it was just a computer mistake, but argued with me when I would not give her a phone number. My reason for not giving them a phone number is that in the past I got real tired of Sears constantly calling with "offers and/or deals". If this shows up on my credit history ... Sears will have a lot more of me to contend with ... after years of having a card with Sears ... I refuse to deal with a company who will turn your account over to a collection agency just because they do not have a phone number to contact you ... especially when the address for mailings works just fine. I am paying off & closing the account and will inform all friends and family to do the same. In this age of telemarketers calling every day ... not giving out a phone number should never be a reason to turn an account over to a "collection agency".

I paid large infrequent payments for several years, enjoying generous pay ahead policy. I had perfect credit. I made a $750 payment in January, and was given a $0 minimum payment for Feb. (Balance under $3K) Made a $500 payment in February, and was given a $0 minimum payment for March. Made a $500 payment on April 6, but the April 9th bill had a minimum payment of $32!!! The pay ahead policy changed without warning. As a result, I missed the April bill, and my credit was ding'd for 32-days past due. I made numerous phone calls, and was able to get the promotional APR reinstated, but they won't remove the over-30 from my credit report. Got another bill this month after making more large payments so I can close the account: The bill shows $0 minimum due, but when I called the customer disservice number they told me they show a $20 minimum due. I believe Citi is manipulating the pay-ahead policy to generate revenue from people who make excessive payments. This company needs a class action lawsuit. Sears was no help whatsoever. I will be closing this account in another month or so, and you can bet I'll never spend another penny at Sears for as long as I live. (I can't count how many tens of thousands of dollars I've spent there in my lifetime, but that relationship is over now.) I even had to go find an alternate source for my refrigerator water filter cartridges.

Like others who have posted here, I was victimized by Citibank d/b/a Sears Mastercard Gold d/b/a Sears Credit Services. Last year a clerk suckered me into opening the account to get a discount. They got my address wrong twice and sent a $50 bill to an address across town for six months. Naturally, I forget about bills that are never sent to me. I have perfect credit and have never paid a bill late. SMG never called me to correct their mistake even though all their misaddressed statements were returned to them as undeliverable by the post office. Then their collectors from Idaho, "Sears Credit Services" began harrassing me at home; they don't turn off their computer on weekends so I got calls at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. The Sears store manager where we shop was very helpful and actually credited us the disputed amount, so I can't be mad at them, but the jerks at Sears Mastercard are still harassing us for $200 even though our account balance is ZERO and I sent them two cease and desist demands. Even worse, those jackasses ruined my perfect credit rating. Dealing with this company is like dealing with a bunch of convicted felons who have just been paroled and had lobotomies. They completely disregard the law, and you, like me, will probably have to sue them and have a judge yell at their fathead lawyers in order to get them to correct their moronic mistakes. SMG is a disaster, and it is the only credit card company I have ever had a problem with, most are good and reputable, but this one is trying to shake us down for a couple hundred bucks that we don't owe and is reckless and borderline fraudulent.

This is the worst credit card company I have ever dealt with. After they raised my interest to over 25% (for no reason, I have excellent credit), I did balance transfers and additional payments to get it paid off. Now after four requests, two written and two over the phone, they still refuse to close my account. When I called they did offer to lower my rate to prime plus 8%, but after the way I have been treated I wouldn't stay with them if they paid me to keep the credit card. I would not recommend doing business with Sears Mastercard or any other of the many Citigroup affiliates.

I would encourage all of you to hang in there and close your account and pay if off as soon as you can. After Sears raised my rate extremely high for no reason other than they can and Citi bought them out (my bill was $10,800) I paid it off in 6 months with balance transfers and making payments as much as I could. However, after 4 generations of my family using Sears they lost some longtime customers just to get a few extra bucks. My family will no longer use them. I have bought numerous appliances and electronics from Sears. I am looking to purchase a nice flat screen TV and refuse to even consider Sears. No more. What a way to treat the consumers. Reading what they have done to others just reinforces to me never go there again. After I paid off the card they had a customer rep call me for a survey. I told her how horrible I been treated and tried to get a reasonable rate. Now they want to know what I think. HA too late!!!!!!!

I closed my account with them long ago (when they wanted to raise my interest rate and I opted out), and after one late payment I'm stuck with an exorbitant interest rate (31.99 percent) on a high balance. Since the account is closed, their customer service staff and managers have no intention of reducing the rate. I have decent credit, but my revolving unsecured debt is so high (I take responsibility for that, definitely) that transferring the balance isn't an option. My alternatives at this point are a debt-elimination advocacy group, or a bankruptcy attorney. I recommend staying away from their credit cards and their stores.

Okay, so you will not speak to the cardholder's wife who pays the bill every month. At your request, my husband, the cardholder, call you to discuss a 1 day late payment...which I now question whether it was truly late. I believe you are not only rude, but possibly dishonest. Regardless you were rude to him, you would not provide any information because he could not provide details on the last two purchases he made with the card. We have multiple cards and may not recall this kind of detail. Besides what kind of a question is that. Furthermore you told him he could not cancel the card. You will be receiving your supposed late fee of $39.00 + $1.00 and your cut up card with a written request to cancel. I would not recommend this card to ANYONE. Sears should FIRE you as their card holder because you are doing them more harm than good.

I have had this card with Sears since I was 18 (13 years now, and I used to work for Sears). I've never made a late payment on ANY card and have >800 credit score. My card # was somehow stolen and racked up $15K in South America (I've never been there). It took 9 months of fighting with Sears, who would send me multiple letters on the SAME DAY with the SAME ISSUE DATE - one letter saying "please send xyz documentation" and the other one saying "because you did not send xyz documentation we declare that these were authorized purchases and return the balance to your account". The refused to put the balance on hold while investigation (legally required!) and racked up another $3K in interest while I was fighting it, meanwhile upping my rate to 31% and taking on tons of late fees. Everyone I dealt with was completely unreasonable. The "lead investigator" of the fraud department went on vacation for 3 weeks and I was repeatedly told no one else could help me until she returned. In the end I ended up paying rather than ruin my credit because I'm shopping for a home. I hate Sears and Citibank and everything associated with them. I will NEVER do business with them again and I recommend that no one else should.

I bought a drill at Sears. The clerk said I would get 15% off if I applied for a credit card. I gave him all of my info and bought the drill. A month later, I got a bill with the wrong name on it. I called them and said to correct my name and send me a bill with the right name on it. They did...a month later, with a $39 late fee attached!! I called customer service and they said they couldn't remove the late fee until I paid the original charges. I paid the original charges immediately, and received a bill the next month for the $39 plus a $1 finance charge. I called again and, after a very LONG discussion, was told that they can't give me a "courtesy" refund because my account is less than one year old. They also said, by law, they can misspell my name, EVEN THE FIRST LETTER, which makes it another name entirely. In my opinion, these people should be banned from doing business. Honest customers don't deserve this kind of treatment. I have absolutely pristine credit.

I was doing Christmas shopping in Sears and wanted to use our old Sears account, was told that I could not, that it had been cancelled when I opened the Gold MC. I asked how that could be, since Sears account is in my husband's name, not mine? They didn't know, but would not allow me to purchase Sears merchandise with Sears card. I had found what I wanted for certain people and didn't want to lose them ,so I used the MC. Every month, my statement says that I have $10.00 past due even though I pay the amount due each month. Then I am charged a late fee on the $10.00. I cannot resolve this problem. I don't want this card any longer and will pay it off ASAP. Is this a new way of getting our money? Using a bogus late amount?

I obtained a Sears Mastercard in 2000. In 2002 I took out a credit protection policy with them. At the end of 2003 I was diagnosed with lung cancer and went on permanent disability. I filed for debt cancellation with them per my policy. They have refused to honor it and keep changing their reason why when I prove their reason false time after time. Citibank says my situation is "unfortunate". I have complained to every group I can think of and no one can help. Citibank has put a "charge off" on my credit reports and now sold my account to a collection agency. Sears and Citibank are the worst. Beware!

I have had the Sears MasterCard ever since they first came out. To this day I HAVE NEVER BEEN LATE WITH A PAYMENT NO HAVE I GONE OVER MY CREDIT LIMIT. About 4 years ago I called customer service to inquire about a lower interest rate. On my next bill my interest rated had been raised due to the inquiry and late payments made in the past on other credit cards. When my credit card balances were at around $780.00 and up my interest rated were $18.74%. Now that my account balance is at %40.00 my interest rates are at 23.58%. I recieved an offer to transfer balances from other creditors to Sears MC at 5.59% interest until the balance is paid off. I took the offer and totally regret it. Payments to the account after the balance transfers would only go to the lower interest rate charges until paid in full while any balance on the account at the time of the balance transfers sit and accrue interest until the lower interest charges were paid off. As soon as I accepted the offer the interest rates on the other charges were increased. This is the worst experience I have ever had with any type of credit accounts.

I have never had any problems with this card or with customer service. My card was hacked somehow and I, therefore, experienced ID theft, yet had a great experience with Sears removing the charges from my account. I pay off the balance monthly, so that interest rate is a non-issue.

Recently , I attempted to use my card ( $10,125 available credit ) for some emergency dental work . The charge was $7,978 . Charges were declined with no reason . I had to call my husband and get him to supply his Chase MC for the work done . I called Sears MC the next day and was told that yes , I had over $10K in credit but they could only authorize $5K at any one time ! I've never heard of such a ridiculous thing in my life . I could not find this stipulation in any of the literature that they provided with the card . I told them to take their card and --------------well , you know . My credit rating is close to 800. I don't need this kind of treatment .

My peronal experience with this card has been the worst. I've trying to close my account with Sears for the last four months and it has been imposible.I'd like to know if there is a way to file a complain against this company. They have been stealing my money for the past year. DP,

After reading the other reviews on this website, I am somewhat comforted to know that my husband and I are not alone. I, too, "paid off" my Sears account balance in full and was assured by the collections department that was it was all set. Now, six months later, I receive a letter in the mail saying that my account is delinquent. I called customer service right away, and was told that I was charged residual interest the day after I had paid off my account in October. I explained that I had not received any statements in the mail regarding this until I got the notice, which by the way, was the reason it had gotten sent to the collections department in the first place... I wasn't receiving my statements. The first time, in October, I took responsibility because I figured I should have noticed that I was missing the bill for the previous three months. This time, however, I am outraged! I explained that I did not receive any statements from October till now, and the supervisor actually admitted that it was noted on my account that "those statements had been returned to them as undeliverable." She gave no explanation why, but told me to contact the post office. I receive all of my other bills, and even the notice that they sent out to me saying that I was delinquent. Hmm... I wonder if some sort of scam will be unveiled... Furthermore, I was specifically told by the collections department customer service that I was all set in OCTOBER. The supervisor, after forty five minutes, continued to inform me that this residual interest was MY problem, and not theirs. It seems that I am not the only one getting my statements from them... quite a few people have mentioned that very same problem in previous postings. To make a long story short, I am now responsible for paying $53.00 on a $3.00 residual interest fee. After forty-five long minutes, she broke me down enough to be willing to just pay the d*** thing off. The catch? She wouldn't let me. She said I had to wait until I received my statement in the mail, pay that balance, and then pay again the following month. I think this is a load of sh**. It's unethical. I closed out my account, and am contacting a lawyer in the family who might be able to better advise me. Bottom line... do not sign up for this card. Not only are the customer service reps rude and disrespectful, Citibank is engaging in unethical practices.

PLEASE READ ALL REVIEWS. DO NOT GET THIS CARD. TRUST THE REVIEWS!

I also called Sears Gold Mastercard for a payoff. The Customer service rep. assured me that was the payoff amount. I then received another bill! An addtional finance charge. I called and customer service told me that is the way they do it and it they are in thier legal right. Please do not get this card. We have perfect credit and when are balance went below $2000 they started charging more in finance charges the lower the balance the higher the charge.

I called up the Customer Service Rep for Sears Gold Mastercard to resolve an outstanding balance. The Service Rep calculated my balance and I paid by check over the phone, to zero the balance and close the account. The following month, CitiCard tacked on a 'residual finance charge' and subsequent late fees. When I complained, they refused to honor the Service Rep's previous representation of the amount due to zero the balance and close the account. CitiBank is engaging in unfair and deceptive business practices under the Sears name.

Just to highlight what I've read in the other posts. I have excellent credit and the bill didn't come in December and I didn't notice. But I have a few other cards I use more, so I didn't give it a thought until I was balancing my checkbook and noticed that there was no payment to them. I called, got the amount and electronically paid through my bank, though admittedly, two weeks late. I paid in full, as I always do. I wasn't surprised when I got the next statement which showed the late fee and finance charge. They removed the late fee and I paid in full, two weeks early. Then the next statement came and there was still a finance charge. I called up and was told that it takes their system about 3 months to catch up. Then I wrote a letter, to no avail, it seems. Not only that, then they are telling me that they will in likelihood, charge me a finance charge for March (on $35.00) I don't know where to go next, I think the whole thing is a sham to punish people for paying on time. No wonder so many people are in debt, it is a nightmare. I will close this card as soon as I get the next statement!!! Had I known before, I would certainly have opted out a long time ago. Shame on Sears for giving their credit business to a bunch of theives!

I got a Sears Mastercard for the rewards benefits. However, they don't tell you that when you finally do have enough points to get your gift certificate, they want $10.oo to ship it to you (otherwise they will not be liable for you not getting it through the US post office). I refused to pay $10, so I took my chances, a MONTH later my gift certificates finally did come (and there is no way to track the order for the gift certificates either). I had earned a $200 Sears gift certificate. However, what they sent me was four $50 gift certificates with small print that said I could only use up to three of them at a time (that's $150, not the $200 I had been told I'd earned), AND that there would be no change given on any certificates... so spend the full $50, $100 or $150 orlose what you don't spend of the one two or three certificates. To top it off after a year you pay to earn these "rewards" with an annual fee! The interest rate on the card is also "non-negotiable" per a manager at their customer service (approx 18%), and if you carry a balance one month and pay the balance off in full the next month...they will continue to charge you interest for THREE months on the initial months average daily balance(not just the one month you actually should be charged for) because "that's how long it takes [their] system to catch up with it]" per their customer service rep. By the way, the first month I was charged the interest and called Citibank they neglected to tell me I would be hit with it for two more months, or I would have closed the account right then. Their customer service manager even lied to me when I caught the finance charges the second time, stating that I had carried a balance for two months! I pulled my statements and proved that I had actually paid them more than my outstanding balance on the second month (with payments and credits to the account), and all she said was "oh", and "well, we're not going to reverse the finance charges". I did then tell them to close the card and that I will never use Citibank or a Sears card again and they couldn't have cared less. I have an excellent credit score (better that 93% of Americans per my credit report) and have had credit cards for 20 years, and NEVER been so disgusted with a credit card agency.

Someone opened a Sears credit account in my name while I was out of the country for 18 months. I came back to a credit report with over $10,000 charged to this account. Long story short, it took almost a year to get this resolved. They tried in every way to get me to pay for this card, even though it was fraudulent. The customer service rep that was in charge of the dispute was rude, sarcastic, dishonest, and didn't ever get back to anyone in a timely fashion. Because the credit is issued to Sears by Citibank, I worked with the Citibank identity theft specialists as well, and they were really helpful. They were equally frustrated with the low quality of customer service offered by Sears. Don't even bother getting a Sears card. Get a regular major credit card directly with the company that credits the stores (Citibank, Chase, AmEx), and use it in the store to make purchases. My experience is that the customer service is much better this way.

I have had a sears mastercard for over 5 years now, and all of a sudden they explain to me they are going to help me pay off my balance quicker. You have to be kidding, thats the new policy(its on their website). My payment is up by $70.00 a month, with no warning, apparently I didn't opt out of this WONDERFUL service. I will find a another card to transfer to and close my account. Sears has been a favorite store of mine for 30 years,but no more. I wish I could find out if this prctice of "hellping" is legal?

I canceled my card. Then asked for a payoff. I paid the amount and found out later that they didn't include a $1.50 finance charge. I had been with them a long time. I ended up having to pay 95.00 and have strikes against my credit. the service rep was very sarcastic with me and basically told me I was stuck with paying 95.00 for absolutely nothing.I sent 100 because I was told that even if I paid the amount asked, there would still be a finance charge until they received the payment. I have been a long time sears patron but from this day forward, they will not see one more red cent from this totally dissatisfied ex-customer. Good luck in the future for ripping off sears patrons.

I have a charge on my account that is unauthorized. I called the customer service told them this and they sent out a dispute letter. This was returned in a timely fashion via regular mail as they do not have a fax number. Well a month or so later get a letter stating no response; of couse this was not true. So, spoke with a manager at this time and explained unauthorized/unrecognized. Was told need another letter but this time they had a fax number. I asked why they couldnt just do a chargeback and get information who knows this could be valid, dont think so but ya never know. Well, now 5 weeks latter get another letter stating the merchant say it is to late to dispute this and get credit. Well, I called them and yep their idea of a reasonable investigation is to call the merchant and ask them if they will take this and if they say no, Sear says "Ok". I guess I should say, I work for an issuer of Visa and MasterCard so I know what needs to be done and what steps to take. I find it very upsetting that they are not following rules and regulations that are set forth by mastercard and they are not following regulation Z which is a federal regulation. (This regulation can be found in your local library.)So, if you ever have a dipute with Sears be prepaired for little or no help. Can you belive they actually told me they didnt key a chargeback..Sounds to me like they care more about the merchant than their cardholder who is paying the wages.

Hopefully this goes thru this time. Apparently when a long legalese letter was sent out in April,2005 and I didn't"opt" out of terms and conditions I am now being punished with a "non-negotiable" interest rate increase even though I've been a customer for about 5 years and have never defaulted in anyway. Thus, my interest rate automatically jumped up 5% and going up everytime the Fed bumps up rates a quarter. Now what Sears seems to be doing is charging the higher interest rate prior to the Fed increasing the rate. Example my billing statement ends on 07-18-05 at 20.33% and the Fed bumps up rates on 08-09-05 thus my rate goes to 20.58% on 08-09-05. However, Sears bills me the higher rate of 20.58% for the entire billiing cycle since 07-18-05. Thus getting a little extra from and you can imagine from 1000's of others. No one at customer service can tell me if this is breaking the "terms and conditions" on their end. Seems terms and conditions are one sided. So I've put in a request on a class action attorney's site to see if this is legal. I urge everyone to check their billing cycles and see if they are being charged higher rate prior to what the rates were actually at that time

Sears/ Citi has deceptively been bumping up rates. Already my card rate jump high even though I've been a paying customer with no defaults for many years. Apparently I didn't understand the legelese letter sent out about terms and conditions changing so its my fault the rate jumped up. With that being said now every time the fed raises interest rates our rates go up. However, what they are doing is charging the higher rate for the full billing cycle instead of the portion following the fed increase. Example my last billing cycle ended on 07-18-05 at 20.33% the Fed raises rates on 08-09-05 jumping my rate up a quarter point to 20.53. However Sears charges me the 20.53 for the full cycle when it should only be after 08-09-05. Thus they get a little more out of me. But as you can imagine they are doing this to alot of people getting alot of extra on alot of people. Thus I have put in a request to Class Action attornies to review this. I would encourage everyone to look into if this is happening to you. Call Sears and ask why they are doing this.

I want to post a review about interest rate billing practices but everytime I write out my concern here it is not getting posted

I see to many bad comments about the Sears Gold Card. I have about $3,500 charged to my card but I make regular payments around $150.00 a month. I have never been charger for anything I didn't purchase and no late fees. Cardholders should have some responsability for their purchase and late fees. Don't buy it if you can't pay for it. I can remember only one mistake in over 5 years and it turned out to be my fault, but customer service walked me through the problem in no time. People should stop blaming the Card company and take responsability for their purchases. I would recommend the Sears Gold Master Card to anyone who wants a solid and widely accepted credit card.

Used the card to buy "interest free purchase" fought for 4 months to get on promotion and then they would not credit the interest that I was charged for those 4 months. Therefore having to pay interest on it twice.

I have been charged $39.00 two times in the past two months and called customer service whom refuses to change my due date as I recieve my retirement on the first of each month which is less than $1200 a month. The first supervisor I talked with would not give me any information as to talking with his superior and Mrs Jaurez BCO1043 did the same. I have had my due date changed by other credit card companies without any problem. I don't understand they keep telling me if it is not in by the 2nd they will continue to charge me $39.00 each time it is late. One representative would not connect me to her supervisor and told me in a very rude manner to hang up and call back then instantly hung up. I will be paying this off in full by next month by using another credit card. I will not do business with Sears in the future and will be telling others about how rude these people are. Please cancel my account as soon as I pay this in full. I will also close my Discover Card and have that canceled as well. I have been a member since 1979 and never been treated this way. I feel they are stealing the $78.00 they are taking from me without any regard for the circumstatces. Pretty cold company I think. I know this probably won't be read but it has helped me to get this off my chest Mary V Shew

sears wants your business but they jack the rates up so high you can't use the card cause of interest

I have bought from Sears since 1967 but will never buy from them again. When you ask questions and try to cancel a service call sears says you can`t do it. They tell you if you don`t make a date they will call you every hour on the hour till you do. I think in short order they are going to have a class action suit against them. From a great company to the poorest!

Had hospital stay of 23 days. bill due date was 1 day before i was released and i paid it by phone the next day and my rate was increased from 12.99% to 30.99%. I feel i was totally ripped off and was treated very n asty by your rep.

This is one of the worst experiences I've ever had with a credit company. Most of the problem stems from their refusal to alter the due date of my payments. I have called them repeatedly to get this changed and have received numerous excuses as to why they can't accomodate a change in the date, from the accounting system won't let them to "I'm sorry sir, it doesn't allow that in the terms and conditions". I get paid twice a month, and the due date makes it vitually impossible to mail the payment in so they get it on time. I have to take it to the store, and it has to be entered before 5:00pm. I don't know how many times that I've had it there on time, but it wasn't into the system. I recieved a late charge on my next bill, and when I called, they reversed it. Now, on my last bill, they jacked my interest to 29.99 %, more than double, and said it was ue to my LATE PAYMENTS. So of course I went ballistic. I called, and was told that if I disagreed with my bill to write a letter with my complaint, and they would address it. So I did, for both my Sears Mastercard and he Sears Premier Card. Got a letter back a couple of days ago asking me to call to give them more info. I called. There was no conversation of any value, no questions to clarify. What I got was a constant stream of "Terms & Conditions" I told them that since I was required to send them a letter to explain why I thought my situation was handled improperly, I thought it would only be fair that they send me a written explaination as to why they jacked up my interest rate and won't change my due date which led to the whole problem in the first place. Guess what,...."I'm sorry sir, do you have a copy of your terms and conditions? If not we would be happy to send you one" I've bought Sears tools and appliances for years. I used this new Gold mastercard because it had a good interest rate and the store employees pushed it on us because of that. We were stupid. No more. Sears has lost a long time customer and I am going to spread the word. I'm paying them off and that's it. Worst customer service I've run into in years. Citibank runs the servicing, but Sears signed the contract. I hope they checked their "Terms & Conditions" so they can explain them at the shareholders meeting to explain the consumer dissatisfaction with their company.

I have a need to speak to a person about a possible lost payment in the mail and I cannot get to a real person to talk to about this issue

We tried to use our card while out of state on vacation and the charges were not accepted. When we returned home there was a call from Sears stating that our account had been closed because someone had accessed our number and we would be issued a new card and a new number. We appreciated that they were so "watchful" of our account but if we had not had another credit card, we would have been at a great disadvantage. We owed no balance on this card before the trip. This past April, we traveled to Europe and once again tried to use the card and was denied because someone had obtained our number and tried to use it. Again wwe would be issued a new number.We had notified Sears before we left that there would be charges coming in from overseas. Again this could have been a bad situation if we had not had another card with another company. We are afraid to use it at all now and certainly can't depend on it. Should we be appreciative that they watch the account so carefully? Not sure. Anyway it sure made us wonder. Do they have good security, bad security, or just don't want our business.

By far the worst card out there!! Beware of unpaid balances - service charges haunt you forever.

I was overseas and was errantly charged at a resturant. Not being familiar with the exchange rate I didn't realize it until the statement came in. I asked Sears to dispute the charge and they did NOTHING to help. All they said I could do was contact the merchant directly. Yea right like I can call China and speak Chinese to dispute a bill! So I'm having to eat a $347 charge (instead of $34.70). Also I asked Sears to lower my interest rate as we were late one month and they defaulted the rate to %22. They said they don't negioate interest rates. Also now they charge 3% on foreign charges and an increase in rates and charges. Screw them, I'm paying them off ASAP.

rewards program was put on my card w/out my approval. said they would remove it,next month still on card w/late fees and interst. To make a very long story short it has been 10mo.s and although they did remove the rewards fee from the card they are dunning me for the late fees and interest, I have written to them several times pain stakingly explained it to them and their henchmen over the phone to no avail! I now have solicited the services of the district attorney and if that fails will hire a lawyer. They are screwing up my credit and my peace of mind, worst card and customer service i have ever had the displeasure of using!!!

Sears is ruining their reputation by lying, offering tricky promo gimmicks and generally cheating their customers. These predators are making a living off of their naieve customers. When they jacked my interest rate up to 29 per cent. (I had never missed a payment in 2 years) I switched my balance over and closed my account. No looking back, no regrets. I will NEVER do business with Sears again and I hope they go bankrupt.

After prepaying for a "birthing facility" for my unborn child I notified Mastercard to advise them I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY SERVICES from the vendor. I have unsuccessfully disputed this amount of $3,000.00 with evidence (hospital records) showing no services were given due to medical comoplications. The customer service personnel DO NOT assist you whatsoever. I am trying to get a refund without success. They DO NOT BACK UP THEIR promises. I spent plenty of $$ with large expenses with them, and NEVER disputed anything except this birth facility. Cut the card & Mail back to them is my suggestion. Amy @ Ft.Lauderdale, Florida

June 2004 purchased a sears lawn mower on a no payment, no interest plan for 12 months. Over the next 7 months received overdue notices, phone calls and turned over to collections for non payment. How can you be overdue for a payment not due for 12 months? Every time I called the sevice rep would agree it was a mistake and that it would be corrected but then it happened all over. Even cause prplems with other credit cards due to bad reports on me. Have now paid off and cut up card. Will have to stick to walmart from now on.

I have never dealt with such a large group of inept people all in one business. It amazes me that Sears is still in business if my experience with the company is anything near common place. First the girl behind the counter when we are filling out the application for the card puts our physical address instead of our mailing address in the mailing address block. So we never get the bill or the cards. All of it keeps going back to the company as undeliverable. But does anyone call us and ask about it? NOOO. Instead they start throwing fees onto bills we aren't even getting. Then someone finally calls wanting to know why we aren't paying our bills and I have to explain over and over, as though I am talking to a child, that I have not been getting any bills. We never even received the credit cards, let alone the bills. So after 20 minutes of duking it out with her, she transfers me over to collections without even telling me she is transferring me to anyone and all of a sudden I have a new voice on the phone saying, "How may I help you?" Now don't you think it would have been nice for her to tell me she was transferring me over so that I could make a payment? If she had, I might not have exploded on the poor girl that ended up with my call. But as it was I thought I was going to have to start all over with this one. So, she removes the late fees and stuff that never should have been on there in the first place and I tell her I want to pay the account in full and close the account. Fine. I give the routing numbers she needs to make a payment. I even gave her the numbers twice. We went over them to make sure they were right. Now, I get a bill saying that it was never paid and they are adding on a 29.00 return payment fee. So we call to find out what this is about and someone tells my husband that the number must have been taken down wrong because they couldn't access the account to make the payment. I just cannot believe the poor quality of service this company is providing. I will never attempt to have an account with them again. In addition I will be closing out our store account as soon as possible also. They do not deserve our business.

I use one credit card for business and personal use. One billing period I maxed out the card. A Sears rep told me to drop off a payment at the local store. This was no problem since I live near the store.I dropped off a check for $500 at the store and sent the remaining $800 balance the same day the statement arrived. The $800 payment posted on 4/25/05 and was due on 5/5/05. Suddenly my card stops working. A Sears rep told me they received the payment on 4/25/05 but will not credit the account till 5/05/05. Why the 10 day hold? A Sears supervisor told me the are required to do this by the Patriot Act! I have friends who are Bank Fraud Investigators, and they all believe this is a blatant, bald faced lie. I stopped using the card and will never use it again.

Very poor customer service. pitiful company, sneaky tactics. I really suggest not getting a sears card of any kind shape or form. Pay cash for whatever you buy. I am deeply saddened that sears has sunken to to such depths. It used to be such a good company. I AM SELLING ANY AND ALL STOCK FROM SEARS. I read that everyone is getting out of sears stock it is a bad investment. To read, goto "sears mastercard review" and search web. I used to have a 9.9% fixed interst rate and unbenounced to me they changed it to a 13.49% variable interest rate. I am opting out and closing my account with sears.

Very disappointed by the recent switch. It took away my user id password, has been a huge pain to re-register, still not done after 1 hour and 3 phone calls. the latest one says i need to change my browser settings. I've used other on-line credit dard payments for years with ZERO problems.

Read Floyd and Anita's comment about residual interest and wanted all to know that this, too, happened to me with my last statement. The funny thing is I called Sears ahead of time to get my payoff balance because I knew I had charges after the statement was sent. I then sent a check in for the amount I was told and would you believe the next statement I get was for $13.74. After calling, I was told it was "residual interest" and that all the credit card companies are charging this now. My husband told them it was bullshit. I questioned whether it was legal. They removed the amount for us but I hesitate to use this card and give them my business.

I had no problem as I used the card and then I paid off the entire balance each month. Unbeknown to me, My March payment was lost or misdirected. So Monday I got a call from a very aggressive representive demanding payment as my accont was past due. Fair enough. But she caught me off guard and I said I had to check into it and get back to her. She responded, "well don't you check your bank statements? and so on" I looked up cheque info and phoned back. I spoke to a nice man and I told him I wanted to clear up the matter as soon as possilbe and he directed me to go 13 kilometers to pay the bill and he would make note I was doing so. I asked if my card was still usable and he said yes I just needed to make a payment. So off I go on the long trek only to be told when I arrived that they didn't take Sears Mastercard payments only regulars Sear card payments. By this time it was too late for the bank. So being dutiful I phoned them back telling them that the place they directed me to go didn't take payments for their card and that I would pay in full at the bank it the morning. He told me my card was on hold and could not use it. So I paid and my bank in the morning and they told me that worse case that it would take 24 hours to reach the card people. I recalled the Mastercard with this info and some man who could barely speak english said that was OK. I asked if I could use the card and he responded with multiple yeses!! So the next day I phone Mastercard to see if payment arrived and they said it might have but it could take, "two, three four, five days to be posted and no my card was not usable" I will pay off this card on my next staement and cancel. I am also, getting 4 more people to get rid of the card, it will not hurt Mastercard very much but it is the best that I can do.......

I got a Sears Mastercard, it had a very low limit, however it was just enough to get the things i needed from sears or anywhere else. I kepy my account in good standing and never paid late. However less than a year later I recieved a letter saying that they have done a review on my account and it will be closed because i no longer meet their requirements. And I thought well thats good old customer service from Citibank. I would close this account before they decide to do it for you, and then that looks worse on your credit report.

Consumers take note, when you think that you have paid off the balance due on your Sears Gold Master Card...they are not finished with reaching into your wallet. After my wife & I made payment on time (and it posted on time)to payoff our balance (as indicated on the bill) we receive a statement that listed an amount due that was equal to 1% of the original bill. This charge was listed under the "periodic finance charge header". Customer service representative reported that this was a "residual" charge and a mailing had been made in December 2004 that explained this new and inventive way of grabbing more cash out of their customers. Having been Sears card holders since 1988 (no late payments)and untill now, no "residual fees" victims...we were shocked. But a pair of scissors can cure this fleecing of consumers.... and they loose our business.

After calling Sears Gold Master Card to ask for a reduced interest rate as we saw on TV, they closed our account and said we requested it to be closed. Of course we had not, and when brought this to their attention of course they couldn't do that, and we asked them to listen to the tapping they tell you they do on phone calls but don't there seem not to be a tape to listen to. So our account in good standings was closed and we would have to reapply. I think not!!! I wouldn't recomend them to my worst enemy!!!!!

Last year I had asked a friend to take my payment to the Sears store for me as I was running a little late (didn't want to get charged those outrageous fees). My friend worked in the mall so for 3-4 months I asked her to take my payment in for me. She of course, said no problem. I got a really scary notice in the mail saying that I was delinquent and my account had been turned over to a collection agency. I was horrified. I went online to my checking account and found out that my friend changed the name on the checks to her name and Sears never received them. I then called Sears and apologized and explained the situation. The person told me that they would take care of it. He told me to make 3 payments on account and he would restore my credit card. After each payment, I called to make sure they got it and to confirm that when they received the 3rd payment the card would be restored. After the 3rd payment, I called to make sure the card was restored and was told they had no intention of restoring the card. They were very rude and suggested that I was never told this and I was lying. I was a very loyal customer of Sears the store and credit card and to be treated in this matter was very upsetting.

I have had this card for about 6 months and found that it was just as good as the best rated credit card around and would recommend this card to anyone who wants to know which card to choose to be the best.....

YOU WANT A NICE BUNCH OF PEOPLE TO DEAL WITH !!! then dont go to sears master card , THEY WILL TELL YOU ONE THING AND THEN , DONT FOLLOW THUR , THEN YOU CALL THEM CAUSE YOU ARE HAVIN A PROMBLEM AND YOU CANT EVEN GET A MANGER TO COME TO THE PHONE . THEY WANT YOUR MONEY , AND THEN DARN YOU . I HAVE BROUGHT A WHOLE HOUSE OF APPL FROM THESE PEOPLE AND SPENT OVER 15,000.00 IN THE LAST FEW YEARS , BUT YOU CAN BANK ON THIS I WILL NEVER SPEND ANOUTHER PENNY , JUST PAID MY CARD OFF AND THESE PEOPLE WILL NEVER GET ANY MORE OF MY MONEY .... I DONT THINK ANY ONE SHOULD DO BUSINESS WITH THESE LOW LIFE PEOPLE ... WISH I COULD KEEP EVERYONE FROM MAKING THE SAME MISTAKE THAT I HAVE ,, BUT I WILL SAY ONE MORE TIME ,, THEY WON'T GET ANOUTHER PENNY OF MY MONEY!!!!!!!

SEARS MASTER CARD WILL BE SO NICE TOO YOU AS LONG AS YOUR SPENDIN MONEY , IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THEN YOU CALL AND THE OPERATOR TO ASK WHY SOMETHING WAS HANDLED THE WAY IS WAS AND THEN IT IS TOTALLY YOUR FAULT . AND YOU CAN'T SPEAK WITH ANY BODY THAN OTHER THAN A OERATOR , CAUSE THEY WON'T CONNECT YOU WITH ANY ONE , AND THEY ARE SHORT AND RUDE , YOU ARE MADE TO FELL THAT NOW YOU ARE A TOTAL BOTHER TO THEM .. AND THEY ARE UNWILL TO EVEN DISCUSS IT ARE WORK WITH YOU . .. NOW IT IS YOUR PROBLEM . I JUST WOULD LIKE TO LET ANYONE THAT IS THINKING OF GETTIN THIS CARD . TO THINK TWICE AND MORE BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR SELF IN THESE PEOPLE 'S HANDS . I HAVE ALWAYS BROUGHT MY APPLAINCES FROM SEARS AND OTHER THINGS , BUT I WILL NEVER SPEND ANOUTHER PENNY WITH THEM , PAID MY CARD OFF THIS WEEK AND I AM FINALLY THUR WITH THIS GROUP OF RUDE ,SHORT SPEAKIN , I THINK THEY HIRE THE LOWEST GROUP TO BE THERE TELEPHONE OPERATORS .... I JUST HAVE NOT THE WORDS TO EXPRESS HOW DISCUSSED I AM WITH THEM .YOU WOULD BE BETTER TO BORROW MONEY FROM THE MAFIA!!!!!!!

i received call from customer service regarding my bill was 9 days late. after looking over my past statements i noticed i never received the late statement. i called customer service and told them within 10 days they sent me two or threee of the missing statement. i proceded and paid the amount in full that was october of 2004. i have yet to receive any more statements from sears mastercard. around feb-8 of this year i received another phone call from customer service stating again i was past due. i once again talked to customer and requested a statement they replied it will be sent out and should receive 7 to 10 days. that same day i received 3 additional phone calls regarding my account i told operators that this problem was already taken care of. i called customer service on feb-23-2005 telling them i was still waiting for statement they responded it was sent out and address was once again verified. on sunday feb-27 i received another call this time the lady said the statement was a courtesy and they were not required to send one. i then told her to close my account and have since sent check for total amount owed. the credit card is used by daughter in college for expenses. i will give her new card and will be hard pressed to shop at sears again. as a courtesy i am writing this for your future customers.

We have been customers at Sears for nearly 30 years. They have now decided to charge you just to use your card. We have ALWAYS paid off our balance due every month. Supposedly the new year brought additional Finance charges to our account even though we paid our account in full. January's bill included a $25.00 charge for the "rewards Participation Fee" which we did not wish to participate in. I called and was advised to deduct the $25.00 from my payment, and pay the remainder of the bill. NO WONDER!! I paid my bill by electronic bank-payment on the due date of Feb. 05. February's bill arrived.......they have now added Finance charges for the $25.00. We purchased a microwave for $171.00 in January and just the first week of February we purchased new tires for our truck for $600.00. I called Customer service and was told the following........If you wait until the DUE date on your invoice, there will be finance charges on the total amount outstanding on your bill.....starting from the date they print your bill. SO....we purchased the $600.00 tire on Feb. 07...posted to our bill, Feb.08....the bill was supposedly printed Feb. 10th. The US Postoffice delivered my bill on Saturday, Feb 19. That means I didn't have my bill in-hand to pay until Saturday. BUT the due date is actually March 09. The microwave was purchased Jan.16 and posted Jan,17........just think how much finance charge will be added to my next statement on these two items because they are charging the finance charge based on the "PRINTING DATE" of the bill. I have NEVER used any credit card that has charged a yearly fee for the use of their card. Likewise, I will no longer use my Sears card....they are actually charging me for the use of my card. As much as we usually spend at Sears on a yearly basis, we would probably be better off paying a $25.00 fee for the card up front..instead of this "Hidden" charge based on what I actually purchase at Sears. Can you believe a store that charges you more because you buy more from them.????? We have a very large Credit Line with Sears............we will NOT be purchasing anything else EVER from them. vis credit card or CASH. They don't deserve making any more money from us.......we have been very loyal to Sears.....They are being VERY UNFAIR to their best customers........Why should we pay for "Using the card"......Our business will go somewher else!

We have been a customer of Sears for over 30 years. I was shocked to open my statement and find that are APR had been raised from 13% to 29%. I called to ask why, and he told me I missed a payment in December which I wasn't aware happened. I was irrate and told him I would like to have it dropped back down. He said he couldn't do that. After going back and forth awhile, I told him to close our account. He didn't even try to keep us. That amazes me. How many customers have they lost by this kind of treatment. The interest rate is absoulutely ridiculous. It's to bad the government can't do something about the outrageous interest rates on credit cards.

This is the worst credit card I have ever had and I have a lot of them. The service is the worst and they will constantly give you the run around. They are of no service when you have a question or need to get an issue straighten out. I cannot stress enough to WATCH OUT!!!

I will never spend another dime at sears or K-Mart. There credit card is a joke. All they want are late fees. Doesn`t matter weather you send payments in early or not, they will charge you a late fee because they don`t process them when they recieve the payment.

I have been a customer for 5 years. I always pay my account balance in full according to what my statement says and I pay it on time every month. First off, they changed my due date without any notification causing me to accru a ridiculous $35.00 late fee, plus finance charges. Then the following month they implimented a new daily finance charge were apparently, even if a charge is not on your monthly bill, and you make a purchase before the cycle closes if you don't pay for that too by the due date, they charge a finance charge on that item, even though it is not on your bill!! How outrageous is that? I have closed my account and will no longer conduct business with the credit card company or the retail store. I am a confirmed shop-aholic and have money to spend, but right is right and wrong is wrong. Charging someone a finance charge for something they have not received a bill for yet, is WRONG!!!

We have been a sears customer for 35 years with no problem, we were offered this sears gokd master card, and everything was fine. In 2004 my husband had a back injury and has been out of work for 1 year so far. We were making our payments regulary, then saw a news report on TV saying to call your credit cards and ask for a lower interest rate, we did that and they closed our account. They said we requested it to be closed, but of course did not. They would not reinstate it, we asked them to check the tape recording they say they use, but they could'nt come up with one. We did this to all our cards and had no problem. They were the most unfriendly people to work with. If you are injured or have lost a job most companies are very helpfull and will work out something, but that wasn't even the case in this situation. I am know searching for an e-pay for this card and thats not even offered.

I got this card when I was purchasing new appliances for the house I'd just bought. There was an offer for most of late 2002 and early 2003 for 12 months no interest/no payments on appliance purchases at Sears. I was buying about $8000 worth, and being able to salt the cash away for a year earned me a nontrivial amount of interest, even at today's pitiful rates. Interest didn't accrue, nor was it deferred; I decided to carry about $1000 of the balance for a few months, and it was billed at the normal purchase rate (about 14%). Since my positive impression of this card stems from being able to take advantage of an offer of somewhat limited appeal, you may not consider this as favorably. I am somewhat annoyed by the time it takes for Sears/Citi to post payments. I once made a payment in person at a Sears store, only to have it posted past my due date. I was assessed a late fee and finance charges, but they were automatically refunded before I received my next statement, so go figure. I'm also bothered by the fact that online payments can take up to three days to post, with no advance notice. Other card issuers with online payments will at least quote the lead time up front. What was not rescinded was the notation of a late payment. My house was damaged and my utilities knocked out for a week by Hurricane Charley back in August. My payment came due while I was unable to communicate with the outside world. I was immediately flagged as past due and my interest rate increased to almost 29%, because I had "missed two payments in the last six months". I had to make three separate calls pleading my case. The first two were largely fruitless, but I eventually spoke to a supervisor who said my extenuating circumstances were valid and my account was set right (interest rate and a refund of the billed finance charges) while I was on the phone.

I've had Sears Gold Mastercard for over 2 years. I missed my payment date one time by 10 days. I was shocked when I received my statement to see that they increased my interst rate an additional 10%! Bringing it to a whopping 24.9%. Calls to Sears did no good. They stated they would monitor the account for another 6 months and decide then if they would decrease the interest rate. I've closed my account immediately. While credit is a privilege I had done nothing to deserve this treatment and have never demonstrated anything but responsibilty in making the requried payments on time. Their practices appear to be extremely inappropriate and unethical for the situation! I will not to business with them again.

FIRST OF ALL I USED TO WORK FOR SEARS AND THE ACCOUNT CARE IS A MAJOR RIP OFF ALONG WITH THE PRODUCT PROTECTION PLANS! DON'T GET IT, HAVE IT?DROP IT LIKE A HOT POTATOE!!! SEARS UPDATED ME TO A GOLD MASTERCARD YEARS AGO, IT WAS A 9.9% FIXED APR I HAVE BEEN CARRING A BALANCE ON IT AND WITHIN THE PAST YEAR, UN-NOTIFIED, SEARS SOLD OUT TO OR CITI CARD WHICH ARE CROOKS ALSO, AND JACKED MY INTEREST RATE TO A VARIABLE 11.7% I CALLED GOLD MASTERCARD AND SPOKE WITH NUMEROUS EXTREMLY RUDE CUSTOMER SERVICE PEOPLE. I HAVE A BALANCE THEIR NOW BUT AS SOON AS IT IS PAID OFF, INTO THE PAPER SHREDDER MY CARD GOES, AND I WILL CLOSE OUT MY ACCOUNT. WHAT IS SAD IS THAT MY GRANDMOTHER WORKED FOR SEARS WAY WAY BACK WHEN IT WAS A GOOD COMPANY TO WORK FOR, THEY USED TO TAKE CARE OF THE EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS, WHAT HAPPENED? IT HAS GONE TO HELL IN A HAND BASKET THATS WHAT HAPPENED. I AM SUPRIZED THEY ARE EVEN STILL IN BUSINESS! KISS OFF SEARS!

Absolutely horrendous customer service. They are flat-out some of the most rude and unprofessional people I have ever spoken with on the phone. They are very interruptive. The AccountCare program(their credit insurance scam) is a farce...avoid this program at all costs. Sears makes a killing off this program when you could do better with a different insurance program, perhaps through your life or homeowner's insurance. PLEASE check around before purchasing AccountCare. If you activate one of these cards chances are some rep will try to hook you into purchasing AccountCare. Please do not fall into this trap! I ordered and paid outrageous fees, and it took many, many calls to customer service(the RUDE people!) to remove the program. I will never, EVER get another credit card through Sears again. An absolute joke. Avoid at all costs.

We have dealt with Sears for many years. I did not realize that they would take out interest daily on the full amount of your account. This seams to me that it should be against the law. I would like to find out for certain on this. We are both retired and do not receive his check until the 3rd wed. of the month. They will not change the date. Therefore all the money (plus extra each month) does not lower our account. It just keeps going higher and higher. Therefore we are going to have to borrow from our credit union to pay the balance off in one lump sum. They will not even give us a day without adding interest at a huge interest rate. I am fed up with Sears and will never purchase another item from them. Sears has a nice selection of items but we can do without them. So long Sears!!

After some 30 years of credit business with Sears - never a late payment - Sears continues to gouge all credit customers. Paid mine off..

I made the mistake of short paying by $1. I paid $60 instead of the $61 due. So I was charged a $35 late fee and turned over to the collections department. Do they really need to treat everyone as if they are dead beats. A one dollar mistake and you would think I have never apid my account and owe them a million dollars. The 1st person Vicki in the Greensboro center has to be the all time rude person of the year. I aksed to speak with a manager over 20 times and was told I did not need to speak to one. After hanging up and calling back and speaking with another 3-4 people I was able to speak with someone that was willing to correct. I also escalted to the Presidents office 800-323-9396 that helped to resolve the problems. Bottom line these people lie about everything, keep notes of everone you talk with dates and times.

After Citi did not receive/clear payment within FOUR DAYS past the due date our card was put into collections status. We had aggressive callers indicating that we would be subjected to negative credit bureau submissions unless we agreed to present an immediate payment of THIRTEEN DOLLARS ($13) to the representative. We agreed to complete an electronic transfer from our checking account (CALL #1 - 45 minutes). At that time we immediately called back to the customer service line to inquire about the collection status and policies, current billing statement and corrections, and inquire into payment policy. The representative could not answer any of these questions to our satisfaction. The customer service rep did not know any of the policies regarding collections; he could not accurately determine the current outstanding amount (after several item by item attempts); he advised that if we made payment n full within ten days that perhaps accessed late fees would be waived but was unsure of the process to accommodate this. (CALL #2 – 1 Hour 22 Minutes). The following morning (8:30am) a second collections representative calls with regard to our past due balance and collection status. The rep demanded immediate payment (WTF). Courtesy was not part of his training regiment. We indicated that the past due issues had been resolved the previous day however his aggressive character would not allow us to resolve. We hung up. (CALL #3 – 12 minutes). Again we followed up with a call to customer service. Initially, I connected to a representative who transferred me back through the main menu. After re-entering my account information I was automatically disconnected. (CALL #4 – 4 minutes). 1-800-669-8488. I have it memorized now. This time I talk to a rep, whom I asked, before any other conversation, what was his experience. He indicated that he’d been with the company for a full 6 months. I asked to be transferred to a manager or a rep with a higher degree of competency in order to resolve my particular questions. He agreed and connected me to a supervisor who claimed to have 20+ years of experience. She was competent in terms of what the balance was, what fees had been applied, and what process we needed to follow to complete a zero balance transaction. However, when asked about collection status policy, courtesy fee waivers, or other customer service programs were available she could only offer the following, “the computer indicates you are not eligible”. She could not, nor did she attempt to describe any rules or policies associated with any of the programs. Her repeated response was, the computer indicates “that you are not eligible”. I inquired as to who may be able to tell me the policy that had been programmed into the computer. There was no answer to this (I guess nobody ever questions the computer). I was given a mailing address to write to in order to dispute in-accurate billing or excessive fee assessment. I hope it doesn’t get OCR scanned into the computer. (CALL #5 – 1 Hour 7 Minutes) Here’s the ROI for this effort. Three hours, thirty-one minutes (3:31). Assuming minimum wage ($5.15), this $13 transaction cost Citi $18.03. No wonder their fees are excessive and practices are dodgy. Close your accounts and divest now!

This is the worst card I ever made the mistake of getting. Citibank can stick it where the sun don't shine... Had card for two years, paid late by ONE day last month, and the rat b****rds blew out my answering machine ALL DAY LONG. I cancelled the card immediately.

YOU NAME IT. WORST CARD WE EVERY HAD AND THEY THINK WE WILL STAY WITH-WRONG. I WISH SOMEONE WOULD LOOK IN TO WHAT THEY ARE DOING, AS I DO BELIEVE WE ARE OVER CHARGED AND RIGHTS-RIGHTS AND WRONG IS WRONG BUT IT SEEMS IT DOES NOT APPLY TO SEARS GOLD MASTERCARD.

I HAD THIS CARD FOR A FEW YEARS AND ALWAYS PAID ON TIME OR EVEN SOONER. I PAID THIS CREDIT CARD OFF IN JUNE, 2002. SO THIS CARD HAD NO BALANCE AND HAD NOT BEEN USED UNTIL AN UNAUTHORIZED CHARGE WAS MADE TO MY ACCOUNT OF $50 + DOLLARS ABOUT A YEAR AGO. I HAVE DISPUTED THIS CHARGE AND FILLED OUT ALL THEIR FORMS AND WROTE LETTERS. YET I STILL AM HARRASSED BY SEAR MASTERCARD REGARDING PAYMENT FOR THIS LOW DOLLAR AMOUNT. IT HAS NOW BEEN ABOUT A YEAR AND SEARS IS STILL CALLING TO COLLECT AND NOT TO MENTION THEY CONTINUE TO TACK ON THEIR INTEREST RATE AND A LATE FEE. SO NOW THIS UNAUTHORIZED CHARGED HAS GONE FROM $50+ DOLLARS TO OVER $200 DOLLARS DUE TO LATE FEES. NOW HOW DUMB IS THIS FOR A BUSINESS? THEY HAVE SPENT MORE MONEY IN MAILING ME STATEMENTS AND PHONE CALLS THAN THE ORIGINAL $50+ DOLLARS. THE SEARS MASTERCARD REPRESENTATIVE (SAID HE WAS THE ACCOUNT MANAGER) THAT HAS CALLED ME TODAY, WAS EXTREMELY RUDE AND INSISTED THAT I PAY IMMEDIATELY REGARDLESS OF THE REASON FOR THE UNAUTHORIZED CHARGED. I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO TO DISPUTE THIS CHARGE. I TOLD HIM HE COULDN'T RUIN MY CREDIT RATING WITH JUST THIS INCIDENT, AND THAT I HAD AN IMPECABLE BEACON RATING. I DEFINATELY "DO NOT" RECOMMEND THIS CREDIT CARD FOR ANYONE. I WILL CONTINUE TO DISPUTE FOR PRINCIPLE. I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM WITH ANY OF MY OTHER CREDIT CARDS! THIS HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY REDICULOUS!!!

Our account was 15 days past due. They called on the 7th and I told them I'd pay it (that was on a Saturday). They called 8 more times on Sunday and 11 more times on Monday until I paid it on Monday night over the phone. I paid the past due of $36 and they made me pay the current which wasn't due for another three weeks. This happened after a Holiday weekend. During the Holiday weekend while we were gone they called our home 35 times. The Customer Service Rep's repsonse to this was "you should watch your due dates...we call if it is 1 day past due or if it is 15 days past due...we will call every hour until it is paid". If you want to be harassed, get the card. But if you pay it a day late prepare to have Citibank call you every hour until you pay it!! I am transferring my remaining balance and never using the Sears card again!

I paid my account off on 12/07/2003,they said I was 2 days late on my payment,so know I have interest payments higher than the bill was to start with.the lowest rating you will let anyone give is 1 star,will thats to high.I have done business with sears, sence it was sears & robuck,but not any more.my husband is 81 years old and I am 77 years old.I have tore up my credit card,will no longer do shoping at any sears.and just because you sold off to citibank is no excuse for the way you treat your customers.no wonder all your stores are going out of business!and I hope you do.

On April 2, I paid my bill in full $45.89. On May 1, the account posted it past due with a finance chg of $8.02 and a late fee of $35.00. That is almost 100% of the bill. Where do they get off with this kind of theft. I am cancelling my card immediately.

I have carried the Sears Gold Mastercard for 7 years now. I send payment for the entire balance due on the same day every month with many other bills sent the same day. Ten other bills due the same date seem to always receive their payments, except for Sears Gold Mastercard. Every three months or so I'm billed a Late Payment Fee.They will not credit the absurd late charge, always stating I need to mail further in advance. Their payment processing dept. is too slow or they are cheating people that do not carry a balance.Very Very Poor Customer Relations. I will be canceling the Card next week.

On a recent trip to Mexico, I used my Sears Gold Mastercard for three purchases in one day. The next day the card was declined twice. I was forced to use a back up card that I fortunately had with me. After returning home, I contacted Sears and was told that the card was disabled for MY protection because it was being used out of the US. I was told that I should have called them and TOLD them I was taking the Sears Gold Mastercard on vacation out of the country! I had no problems with the VISA card that I ended up using. I refuse to tell BIG BROTHER when I am taking a vacation. Next trip the Sears card stays home and VISA is going with me.

Fair card for starters and those who rebuild credit. They will report your payments to credit agencies. Unlike many credit cards, it will give you a huge credit limit with pretty high APR. Their APR is higher than ordinary credit cards. Their customer service is not willing to lower your APR even you have been their customer for two years. There is no negotiation for lower APR. That's the worst thing about SEAR Gold Master Card.

I opened this account a couple of years ago and have been very happy since. I was given $6,500 to start and I was responsible with it and I now have $12,800 and my interest is low for sears 13%. I always hear people complain about their high interest but I okay with my rate. I do recomment this card to people with good credit because you'll get high limits and low rates but if you have bad credit and your approved you will have high rates.

I ordered a pillow top for my mattress for an elderly person to saty with me.The literature stated delivery in 7-10 days.My guest is to arrive tomorrow so I called to inquire about my order.I was told they have a "bin",and when it gets full they are forwarded to the shop at home division.I decided to cancel the order and get it elsewhere.I was told I could not cancel the order only enter a request to.After talking to the third person I ended up canceling my sears account all together,a confirmation number to this effect and a refund check for the money I had pre-paid for the pillow top.My credit is superior,with nothing derogatory for twenty years or how ever far back they go.I get offers of borrowing $25,000 at a fixed 4.0% regularly.I really can't complain with the sears card but I never really used it untill now.I have had a Sears card since the late 60's.I pay cash but on mail order you need the credit card as a customer service vehicle in case the vendor is a scam.From reading these reviews Sears doesnot fill this niche jda...

I was notified in the summer that I would receive bonus rewards for using my Sears Mastercard; the bonus was to arrive in time for the holidays....for purchases thru 10/31/03. I have not received anything as of January 2004.

Although disconcerted when my Sears Charge was converted to an MC, I have had no issues with it, and have liked the online instant access. I have generally either cleared the account or paid at least a third to half of the balance, which grew during a prolonged stay away from home during a family illness. This December I posted a check with my online bank two days past the due date, paying about 40% of the balance. The payment was due 12/11; by 12/14 I was receiving dunning phone calls from Citicorp who purchased the credit business from Sears. I have disliked Citicorp of old, having closed a prior card with them. I am offended that with my excellent payment history I am receiving the type of treatment I might expect were I 90 days in arrears. I have called Sears (deviously pretending to wish to add a cardholder in order to speak with a real human being)and closed the account. Let me add that "Vivian" at Sears was absolutely wonderful to work with, and facilitated my request. I can only suppose that since Sears took a beating on the Mastercard business, Citicorp is trying to force most of us to dump these cards. I am happy to oblige, and would advise any other Sears MC holders to do the same. I am very unhappy that Citicorp is involved at all with this service.

I am more than proud to have qualified instantly, based upon my personal excellent credit, within seconds!!!!

I got Sears member card 2 years ago. Had not got the first statement, in the second they forgot about advertized discounts and charged the late payment fee. After half-hour talk they agreed to adjust the fee but it appeared again in the next statement, what required another talk. In July they offered me Sears Gold Master Card and I accepted it (I would better not). Card arrived after 1.5 month and two talks with customer service. My name was not spelled correctly. AFTER THAT, I GOT ABSOLUTELY NO STATEMENTS! But they called me once a month to notify about next late payment fee. They told that they have wrong address in file (but card arrived to right address and I did not change the address)and that my statements were returned (Not true! Account manager then told me that it were no notification of returned bills) and that I SHOULD GO TO POST OFFIICE AND TALK WITH THEM (About what? All other bills always arrived in time). Closed the account. Still didn't get any bills. After an hour-long talk account manager agreed to adjust that late payment fees AND I HAD TO ASK HER ABOUT THEIR MAILING ADDRESS TO SEND THE CHECK. Hope that it's finished (but not sure). STAY AWAY FROM SEARS !

I am very disappointed with customer service. Due to a financial set-back I knew I was going to have difficulty making the minium payment. Trying to be pro-active and responsible I called the company immediately to make arrangements. I was told that my payment history and account were in excellent condition; however, they could not help me until I was past due. Once that happened I should call them back. I guess honesty doesn't pay with this company. I'll be severing my relationship with them as soon as the account is paid in full.

This is the worst experience I have ever had with a card. First they converted the card to a MC from the sears charge plus. I was the "authorized user" and my husband was the owner. I handle all financial. We never received the card ever after the conversion. The we made a purchase of a washer for our new home with 1 year no interes and no payments. When the purchase was made we made sure the billing address was changed. We did not receive the bills. I called to get them sent to us and they would not let me change the address (they had an old temp address) and refused to send the bill I WAS TRYING TO PAY. They wacked us with the interest for one year and late fees. I have written 3 time and no response.

To make a long story short, a Sears Gold customer service woman said to me (after repeatedly giving me the wrong information, failing to make herself clear and blaming me for her inablility to communicate) "If you have plans to start a business of your own i'd advise you to keep better track of your finances." And this was the response to my attempt to pay my balance off in full!

When I received my sears mastercard I had very nice limit, which I thought great, maybe I will consider transferring my balance of my visa over (to this day I am very grateful I had never got around to doing so) With about 3 or 4 months my limit was lowered, by about $4000. Without any notification. At time they lowered my limit I had purchased a new computer, sears mastercard let the purchase go through. When I recieved that month's bill it showed that I had exceed my limit by $2000. I thougth this could not be so. After reviewing the bill I noticed my limit. I phoned customer service to inquire as to what is going on. They informed me that they could increase or decrease a person limit whenever. Then the annoying person asked me when do I plan to pay the $2000 that I was over and until I do so my card is frozen. I can not wait until I have paid this card off, so that I can send it back to sears mastercard in the tiny million pieces I plan to cut the card into.

I love my Sears Gold Mastercard. I have had absolutely no problem from my card, and it is very handy that you can make your payment there in the store. When I recieved my card they asked me if there was anyone that I would like to use my card. I told them no and they responded by saying no one could use my card without permission. I also like how the people who work in the stores ask for ID whenever you come in if your card is not signed. Try this card!!!!!!

One thing for sure you will never have that broke feeling again. Its great.

I have had the Sears Gold MC for about three years now. I have had so many bad experiences since that first year with it I cannot wait to pay it off and cut it into pieces and send it back to the company. I have read most of the same problems on this site. For those of you who have good reviews, just wait your turn. How do you think that they get you to use your card. They raise your credit limit, give a good intro rate and cause you to trust them and spend. Then they sock it to you. I have had all of the same problems as everyone else. However one sticks in my mind. I was in Mexico with my family. I went to an ATM to withdraw money so I could change it into pesos. Well the first time I put in $300. I got three hundred pesos, which is about $30. So I inserted the card again and punched in $3000. I wanted three hundred dollars. Well the machine ate my card and said that due to overuse of the card on one day I could not get it back and to call the customer service and cancel the card and reissue a new number. Where is the customer service number? On the back of the card. How am I going to call the number when it is in the machine? I got my husband's card and called. Well for all you travelers, an 800 number doesn't work outside of the US. I called my mother and had her call the service. They would not allow her to help. She called me with a number that I could use in Mexico. I had to cancel the card and get a new one. I asked for next day service. They said sure. I never got my new card. I waited for a month after my trip and after several phone calls to get a new card. This card has so many hidden features I bet we have just hit the tip. Good luck to all who are still using.

unable to get customer service on phone for billing errors, and back of bill in so light in print also font so small you cannot read it unless you have a hi powered magnifying glass

Sears converted a closed Sears card to a Sears Mastercard without my knowledge, consent, or authorization and let my ex wife (supposedly an authorized user) max it out in three days. I am currently suing Sears (scheduled court date March 04). I'd like to see posts from other people who have had the same problems with Sears.

I started at a 2.9 percent interest on this card. Over the phone I made a payment, my min was 13.00. I told them I wanted to pay ahead they took 50.00 as I asked. I verified that would cover me for 3 mo. Then 2 months later I have late fees, my interest rate was hiked up, and they put a 30day late on my credit report. When I called to see what was going on no one would talk to me untill I was transfered to collections to make a pymt. They said sorry there was nothing they could due you are only allowed to pay one mo. ahead, no matter how much you give. I am paying off the card and closing the acct.

I have been in a dispute with Sears Mastercard since March 2002 over charges that were made by my ex-husband on this account that I NEVER KNEW existed! In 1995, I authorized him to be a user on the department store card. In 1999, I closed the account because he would make charges without my consent and we were financial strapped. When Sears converted their cards to Mastercards, they created a whole knew meaning for those authorized users that you would have otherwise never been allowed a real Mastercard. Well, I was unaware of the converting scam as we did not have any balance and did not receive statements. Remember, I closed the account in 1999. In early 2002, he charges $3500.00 worth of merhcandise and cash advances and changed the billing address to his bachelor pad. I only found out this information after pulling my credit report in March 2002. Sears "customer serivce", if they can be called that, states that I am liable because I only closed the account and did not remove him as an authotized user. They said that he holds the authority to reopen the account, even if it is the Mastercard account which I have never used myself. They have also tried to collect from me while in dispute. They also sent me to collections without responding to my attorney for proper documents, including the original liability agreement which states a whole different agreement in regards to authorized users and their limited auhtority on the account. My small claims court date is at the end of Septmeber 2003 where I am suing them for the amount turned over to a collection agency and to resolve the issues on my credit report. Oh, the best part is their collections department has repeated threatened me with never having the ability to own another home. One rep even laughed when I stated that I had a perfect credit rating for my 19 years as a consumer. He replied with "not anymore more". I am humiliated and fear that I may get stuck with these charges. I am the sole supporter of my child and cannot imagine paying for these charges. David vs. Goliath, any help would be appreciated.

I just read an article in Business Week.com about the severe financial problems experienced by Sears Mastercard! Sears has responded to this crisis by scamming its customers! I recently received some "convenience" checks with a APR of 2.9% till next year. I thought I would take advantage of this and pay a couple large bills and keep my cash freed up for a while. Wow! Was I ever surprised when I received the bill and see how they receive all their money UP FRONT! They charged a 3% cash access fee for each check totalling $60 for the two. In addition, previously all I've used the card for is convenience purchases paid at the end of the month. In the past-even with this card-any promotional offers on the card were calculated separately and could be paid off individually. Not the case with these checks. Now, those other purchases at the full rate of 13.15% will not be paid until the entire $2200 promotional amount is paid off. I cannot beleive they have done this to me as I have been an excellant customer all my life. Hell, so were my grandparents and theirs. Well, today that relationship ended forever. I have destroyed both Sears cards and I will never ever do business with Sears in any way again. Nor will anyone related to me or any one who knows me. In fact, I think I will create a website on this scam and contact attorneys interested in a class action suit.

I had a 5000 balance on a 20 year relationship with this card. They upped the interest rate even though I had excellent credit with an increasingly higher score. They said it was a general interest rate hike when I knew it was because the credit card division was UP FOR SALE ! So I cancelled the card and paid off the balance because they refused to lower my interest rate by the 4/10% they had increased! They lie to you, are unethical, etc. I had an inquiry on an internet purchase. I asked, who is this company (in writing of course). They sent a form letter that they were investigating. Then after 60 days they sent a letter that since i had not provided them with any info, they were cancelling the inquiry. Truth is, they sold the credit card division to Citibank! What a bunch of lying thieves. So I sent a letter to the President of Sears - told them frankly that over $5,000 yearly purchases was on the line based on his response. Received no response. Now I shop local appliance stores who also happen to be less expensive! Sayonara Sears!

Sears Gold MasterCard posted a charge from a known fraudulent telemarketer to my parents credit card w/o their authorization. Since they are elderly, I tried to help them by calling for information on the account. Each customer service representative I spoke to was consistently uncooperative. I finally got a copy of the transaction, then sent a notice to the telemarketing company to cancel the charge and to Sears Gold MasterCard notifying them of the disputed amount. In the meantime, Sears Gold MasterCard charged an additional $35.00 (not $29.00) plus the finance charge. I don't think that a disputed amount should be subject to the payment fee OR a finance charge. As soon as this mess is cleaned up, the credit card will be cancelled and destroyed.

I have had a SEARS card for several years, a SEARS Gold Mastercard for approx. 3 years. Shopped Sears frequently, used the card, paid my bills on time, all the time. Until June of 2003, I stopped at a SEARS store to pay my bill as I always do, realized that I had no checks with me. I wasn't near my home so I asked the man at the register could I pay with my debit card? He told me no, only cash or check. I only had $15 on me and no time to go back home to get checks. I choose to pay $15 instead of $42 so that I would at least make a payment. My normal payment up until about March of 2003 was $15, so this seemed reasonable. Considering I offered to pay with my debit card. A debit card is the same thing as a check. Nowhere on the statment does it state you cannot pay with a debit card. Starting on July 3, 2003 I have had an average of 10-15 calls a day at my home, starting as early as 8 AM on weekends asking me when I will pay the amount not paid while in the store in June. I simply told the Customer Serv. Rep that I attempted to pay the whole amount but they wouldn't allow a debit card payment. She then offered to take a DEBIT CARD payment over the PHONE. However they would not allow a debit card payment in person? On time? They have also slapped me with late charges in June and July. I will never do any business with SEARS again. They continue to call my house several times a day, over $37? The Customer Service Reps have been rude to my 6 year old son as well. How sad is it when a company cannot treat a long time cardholder any better than that? Sad.

This is probably the worst department store credit card you could get. One of the first problems I had was the fact that Sears kept adding on credit-life coverage to my bill every month when I did not even sign for the coverage. Every month, I would call the customer service number and request "AGAIN" that the credit-life coverage be cancelled from my account. It took them only four months to get that done correctly. Lately, I have not been receiving my bills and I have to call the automated line to find out how much I owe. I am positive that the post-office is not the blame because I always receive my other bills on time. Folks, I've had this card for less than a year and I can't wait until I have this account paid off. When I've experienced all of these problems and notice many customers are having the same unpleasant experiences, it's no wonder why Sears sold their credit card business to Citibank. The next time you shop at Sears and the cashier offers you an application for Sears Gold Mastercard, don't even waste your time.

I was a Sears card holder for many years. I always have sears card because I like taking advantage of their extra discounts as a cardholder.My experience with the Sears store was good. I really didn't have any complain or dispute with this company until the afternoon of July 22. Prior to this incident I telephoned Sears mastercard last June to close my account due to personal reason. I requested my other credit card to issue a balance transfer to this account for the sum of $800.00 to cover the charges I made for the billing cycle that ended on June 24,2003 plus whatever recent charges I poster for the next billing cycle.A total of $752.78. I spoke to the customer service representative from the department that closes account with sears. She was very helpful and understanding. She even advice me to re-instate within three months if I decide to re-open the account which I happily accepted.She told me that sears will credit me the amount of $47.22 in 7 to 14 days. That was a month ago. So I decide to call the customer service again on July 22 after I got home from work. It took me a while to get a live person. When I finally spoke to the customer service rep. I told her what my intentions are. She ask me to verify the date of payment for this account. I asked her why? She said it's a company requirements to verify the date of payment. I asked her,why don't you just look it up in your computer? She answered "you need to verify the date of payment". I finally said to her,where int he world someone came up with this ridiculous policy.What if I already dispose the statement. Will this mean that you will not refund me with the money you owe me? She did not respond to my question.Instead she asked me another question,"Why did you overpay your balance"? At this point I lost all the temper I am holding to be nice to this woman.I asked if I could speak to the department manager. She said, that she was the department manager and that I could speak to her.So I have to explain to this woman that I am closing my account and I didn't really know exactly how much my balance therefore I sent them extra to cover the rest. I have a very high credit records. Credit cards company call me left and right to offer me their best rates. I've always pay my debt in full and/or on time.I didn't think or have a perception to be treated so rudely by this people. They penalized people for paying late and yet when it's their turn to pay you may have to wait forever. Or best yet subjected into scrutiny by customer service representatives.I work in a medium size community hospital where the emphasis of our goal is good customer service.I know that thousands of company nationwide are spending millions and millions of dollars to improve customer service. I wonder where Sears stands on this multi-million dollar mission. I also wonder if they're people can actually deliver a bit of this mission. Perhaps it's not even mentioned as a mission. Or perhaps out of desperation to survive they don't really care.

I have been a sears cardhold since 1994. I found out today that they have recently changed there policies and now run credit report whenever they want. Sometimes once a month. So now based on my credit score they are raising my APR. I have never been late with a payment for them or anyone else. They say however that they can do that if they want. Frankly they can do whatever they want. Do not sign with them because once you have a balance they will raise your rate till you can't possibly pay it off.

After a 25 year excellent credit history with Sears and actually shopping at Sears for over 40 years. Sears cancelled the card without any notice whatsoever. When I attempted to use the card, I was extremely embarrassed to discover it had been cancelled. When I contacted Sears Credit, I was told it was for my own security since the card had been in existence for so long. I was told with my excellent credit history, I could re-apply and I'd definitely get another card. I tried to explain but that erases my 25 year credit history with sears and I start over. I was told - too bad. When I asked for my account to be reactivated, I was told they choose not to do that. When I asked to speak to supervisors, I was told they don't have supervisors. When I asked for the Corporate address, phone number, and CEO name, I was told they didn't know that. I called several times and encountered the same responses from several different telephone operators. I DID NOT and WILL NOT renew the card and I've stopped shopping at sears. My Advise... STAY AWAY... RUN!

Beware that Sears Gold MasterCard has POOR customer service and fraud investigations dept.They have ineffective credit account protection and their "Zero Liability" policy STINKS.Over $1600 were charged to my inactive account,and it was not resolved until 8 months later.The charges were not made by me although the card was in my possession at the time of sale,and I had no authorized user on the account. They also violated my consumer rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act because they weren't prompt with correcting the billing error,didn't acknowledge my inquiries within the lawful period,tried to collect while it was still in dispute,and even reported me over 60 days late on my credit report. Had to write and call them several times,and report this to all 3 credit reporting agencies before the charges were credited.Immediately closed my account before any more unauthorized charges show up!Also filed a complaint with the comptroller of the Currency-Administrator of National Banks.

AFTER HAVING TROUBLE WITH MY SEARS GOLD MASTERCARD, OF NOT RECEIVING BILLS IN THE MAIL AND PHONE CALLS IN THE EVENING STATING THAT MY PAYMENT WAS LATE,(ACCORDING TO SEARS CREDIT DEPT) I DECIDED AFTER OVER 30 YEARS TO CANCEL MY CREDIT CARD WITH THEM AS I COULD NO LONGER WORK WITH THESE PEOPLE. THE CUSOTMER SERVICE DEPT IS RUDE AND SHORT AND THEY ASSUME THEY ARE ALWAYS RIGHT AND THE CUSTOMER HAS NO RECOURSE EVEN WHEN THE CREDIT DEPT. IS SHOWN THEY ARE WRONG. SEVERAL OF THESE PHONE CALLS CONVINCED ME TO GET THESE PEOPLE OUT OF MY LIFE SO I MADE A CALL TO CLARIFY THE BALANCE TO PAY OFF THE ACCOUNT AND CLOSE THE ACCOUNT, WHICH I DID. MUCH TO AMAZEMENT THEY ARE STILL CHARGING ME FINANCE CHARGES FOR A ZERO BALANCE.WHEN I CALLED TO DISCUSS THIS I SPOKE TO A STEVE WHO WAS RUDE AND SHORT WITH ME. SINCE I WORK FOR A LARGE DEPT STORE AND HANDLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AT THE CORP. LEVEL I COULD NOT BELIEVE THE TREATMENT. NOW AFTER READING THESE LETTERS I SEE THE SAME GAME IS PLAYED WITH ALL SEARS CUSTOMERS, NO BILL RECIEVED, LATE PAYMENT CHARGES FOR NON LATE PAYMENTS, THE SAME ISSUES. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT HERE AND I WILL CERTAINLY CHECK INTO THIS FURTHER. THERE ARE LAWS TO PROTECT THE CONSUMER AND YOUR CREDIT DEPTMENT CERTAINLY NEEDS TO HAVE AN AUDIT DONE.

I have, previous to this date, been a loyal Sears customer for 22 years. I usually bought several hundred dollars of clothing and tools per year. After today, though, I will be thinking very carefully about whether to shop with them ever again. Back in May, I disputed an $85 charge for software I had purchased over the Internet. Said software did not function with my system -- in fact, it nearly destroyed it! -- and the original vendor was no help whatsoever in terms of their laughable technical "support." Anyway, they ignored my demand for a refund, so I disputed the charge with Sears. Today (June 24th), I get a call from the dispute center. The lady asks me a few more questions about the purchase, and then proceeds to explain that they won't issue a refund without a "Second Opinion" letter from a "Computer Expert," on the letterhead of said expert's company no less, stating why the software is defective, etc. I tried (politely!) arguing with them about this, because getting it done would obviously mean hiring an expensive consultant (read: it'd cost a lot more than the software did), but to no avail. I finally told them, in no uncertain terms, what they could do with their "guidelines," and hung up in their ear. I've since closed that account, and transferred the balance to a different card. My advice: Avoid this card like the plague! You can do better elsewhere.

I HAD A SEARS CARD BUT NEVER SEEMED TO GET MY BILLS IN TIME, IF I GOT THEM AT ALL. BUT THE CARD SERVICE DEPARTMENT WAS SURE FAST TO PUT THOSE LATE FEES ON MY BILL. EVEN WHEN I CALLED I COULD NOT SEEM TO GET A POLITE PERSON OR ONE WITH ANY COMMON SENSE. MY OVERALL RATING WOULD HAVE BEEN ZERO, BUT THEY DIDN'T WANT YOU TO BE ABLE TO RATE THEM HONESTLY. I COULD NOT BELIEVE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE I RECEIVED BY THE MANAGEMENT, THE FEMALE MANAGER WAS PATRONIZING. THE LAST THING YOU SHOULD DO IS PATRONIZE THE CUSTOMER. I GUESS THAT MANAGER FLUNKED THAT PART OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE CLASS. WHEN I WENT TO THE STORE, THE FEMALE CASHIER WAS POLITE AND PATIENT. I ONLY RAN INTO TROUBLE WHEN WE HAD TO CALL THE ASSOCIATES AT THE CARD CENTER. THE ASSOCIATE AT THE STORE WAS ALSO EXTREMELY UPSET WITH THE TREATMENT SHE RECEIVED BY THE SAME MANAGER I TALKED TO. I THINK THE MASTERCARD DEPARTMENT NEEDS A LOT OF HELP IN THE CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT BEFORE THEY RUIN THE GENERAL GOOD REPUTAION OF THE SEARS COMPANY. MAYBE THEY SHOULD JUST FIRE THE MANAGER NAMED JASMINE. I WILL NO LONGER GIVE MY BUSINESS TO SEARS MASTERCARD AND I HOPE THAT THIS HONEST REVIEW ON YOUR WEB SITE IS POSTED, BUT IT WILL PROBABLY BE THROW OUT ALONG WITH THE CUSTOMER SERVICE OF THE CREDIT DEPARTMENT. IN MY OPINION THE STORE COULD POSSIBLY GET THERE BUSINESS BACK, IF THEY TRAIN ON CUSTOMER SERVICE ISSUES. ALL THIS OVER A $30.00 LATE FEE. I HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT. A AVERAGE OF $5,000 OR MORE PER YEAR WAS LOST OVER A $30.00 LATE FEE AND A LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE ON THE CARD DEPARTMENTS PART.

If I had the money to buy sears mastercard I would fire all the customer service reps, especially management. After being patronized for 30 minutes about why they couldn't remove the outrageous late fee of $29.00 because their computer showed that they mailed a statement, which I never recieved, I was disgusted enough to hang up. Perhaps it should have been sent certified mail, to ensure that I recieve my bill, on time. Company doesn't want to pay for that? Maybe they should try trusting their customers, and giving them the benefit of the doubt, especially when they have never made a late payment. I always get great customer service inside the store, and I sincerely hope mastercard serivce doesn't hurt the sears name.This card will be destroyed.It will be cut up, run over, burned and then urinated on, your customer service stinks.

I am a employee of Sears retail store. I have the plesure every day of talking to customers about their Sears Mastercard. I would like everyone to know that there are a lot of people out there that think the service at the card service center is a scam. I have had numerous complaints about the customer service at the call center. I had never witnessed it myself until the other day. I had to call the card service for a customer that could not speak. He had a operation on his mouth. I could not get the balance on the mans account or anything. I could not help him and then in the process I got hung up on twice by the service rep. Now let me remind you I work for these guys and they treat me like that. I wondered how do they treat the customers? I called back as a customer and the rep. was terrible. I still work at Sears but I do not push the product I do not believe in. So now I tell customers not to get the card and let them know about the service I received. I hope that anyone reading this review knows that there are people within the Sears Company that do care and do understand. They just are not located at the Sears mastercard center.My advice to Sears is to fire all those associates because you got a rotten batch.

I am a 74 Year old man in a wheel chair. Recently I received my new bill in the mail from the Sears mastercard. I had late fees of $29.00 dollars. Being a elderly gentalman on a fixed income. I could not afford the late fee. I also did not understand why I had the late fee. I keep a journal with all of my bill in it and note when, how much and the check numbers when I pay the bill. Mainly because my memmory is really bad now and I dont want to have bills for my kids to pay when I pass. I did not have a bill the month before. I called the service number on my bill and talked to a customer service women. I explained that I never received the bill and I should not have to pay the charge. She did everything short of calling me a liar. I could not believe what I was hearing from this women and got very angry. I asked for her manager. Well to make a very long and ugly conversation short. SHe did not help one bit. I got so fed up with them 2 people. I requested another person. I must have yelled at that person for 20 minutes before she finally removed the fee. I dont know if she was just smarter than the other two or just got tired of my hacking in her ear. Either way I pocketed my $29.00, but lost a good hour off my life. I dont have that kind of time to waiste agueing with these people. So I closed my account and cut up my card. I have shopped at Sears for 25 years and this is the first time I have ever had to argue with them on anything. I dont know if the store and the credit are run by the same people. But I have never gotten bad service at the store or for that matter any of there other credit department. I hope to hear that Sears knows about this issue and get some better customer service people in there department. Sears has been around for many years and I have spent alot of money at there stores. I would like to remain a loyal cuatomer but this put question in my mind. I will never look at the store the same after this terrable experience.

Mailed my full payment check within plenty of time to be paid up...however the next bill contained no payment at all and more late charges than the original payment amount....Concerned there is an intential stall going on within the Sears organization to hold payments until they are late...then charge for late payments....

I applied for this card online a few months ago at Sears website and received "we can not complete your aplication at this time." Probably an error on thier site. A few weeks later, I received the card in the mail. When you call to activate the card or when you call customer service, they will try to sign you up for "sears rewards" and "credit insurance." Also, opt-out when you receive this card or you will receive phone calls and mailings from Sears for "sears rewards" and "credit insurance." Sears rewards is free the first year and they charge you for the second year. I don't charge enough on my card to justify signing up for Sears rewards. My Sears card came with $5 dollar off cupons to use at their store and every couple of months Sears will have special offers where if you use your Sears Gold Mastercard, you get discounts in the store. You can pay your bill at any Sears Store, (I haven't tried that yet, but it's good to know that I can do it) and you can see all your Sears store recipts when you view your account online. Also, you can use this card anywhere Mastercard is accepted. The insurance that comes with this card must be Mastercards basic isurance. I have a Platinum card from another credit card company with the same type of insurace. I haven't had any problems with this card so far. If you shop at Sears for anything, this card could save you money every few months with coupons from Sears.

OVERPAYMENT MADE 4/30/03. WHY THE EXCESS WAS NOT REFUNDED OR TOTAL PAYMENT REVERSED. WHY I WAS KEPT ON HOLD 45 MINUTES WAITING TO TALK TO A SUPERVISOR. WHILE I HAD BEEN A PREFERRED CUSTOMER I AM SO DISSATISFIED WITH THE WAY YOUR COMPANY HANDLES BUSINESS. THAT I'M NOT SURE IF I WILL EVER USE THIS SERVICE AGAIN. THERE ARE BETTER COMPANIES WITH BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE AVAILABLE. I'VE HAD SEVERAL SEARS CARDS AND THIS IS THE WORST. ANY OVERPAYMENTS KEPT MORE THAN TEN DAYS SHOULD BE PAID MONTHLY INTEREST THE SAME AS YOU WOULD APPLY TO MY BILL.

this card is for those who have good credit your score must be at least 680 or more or you wont qualify for it.so those with limited credit history need not apply.

I am cancelling this account immediately. Please read! I first obtained my Sears Gold Master Card about a year ago, with a great zero % (for up to one year) finance promotion which I appreciated for a large appliance. I subsequently made a couple of smaller charges to the account. I have always paid more on the account then required, as a responsible consumer. Then I noticed finance charges being applied, prior to the expiration of the promotion, so I inquired to find out what that was all about. Sears told me that the payments I made were being applied to the promotional items, and NOT on the smaller amounts that were charged to the acount after the promotional items. Therefore NOTHING was being applied on the smaller amount at all. So bottom line is they give you a promotional rate, but then for all intents and purposes, they take it away from you if you use the card at all after the first large purchase. As far as I'm concerned this is theft, and not only am I cancelling this account but I will not buy anything at Sears again. The customer service tells me these are the terms and conditions I agreed too. Well, I didn't agree to what essentially amounts to theft.

Do not use this card!. If you have one, get rid of it. I just received a letter from Sears stating that my interest rate was being raised just because I have a lot of credit card debt(caused by job layoff). I have a FICO of 714 and have never missed a payment on any card. This is just a cheap fraudulent trick to pick your pocket. I cut up the card and informed Sears that they are fired. Avoid this card.

I recently had an unauthorized charge on my Sears card, which I promptly reported to them. I received the paperwork needed to contest the charge, then received my next bill. Guess what? I was charged for the contested item, plus a $29 late fee, $1 service charge, and was reported to the credit bureau! Immediately I received a Sunday afternoon call from a collections agent. Note that this call came within only a week of receipt of my bill. After writing two letters, and having one phone call with the collections agency person, I now get to request a copy of my credit report to see if they have, indeed, removed the erroneous report, as they claim to have done. So much for getting protection from my credit company. Avoid them at all costs! High APR, too.

After moving, i supplied the postal service with my change of address. Like clockwork, I received my forwarded mail except Sears Mastercard. They somehow determine its better for them to get the mail returned so they can then be inept at mailling the statement to the correct address and thereby charge several late fees and coerce the cardholder to pay up. Well, along with the majority of the commenters on this board, I just cut up my MasterCard. I stopped patronizing Sears after they closed their Catalog Center and now they have lost this customer of 20 years. I got my Sears card originally to get my credit established. It looks like they will now tarnish my credit. Good riddens. So fitting they are trying to sell this unit off. They have kept their accounts receivable artificially high with their credit unit. I get a sense that Sears may not survive the end of this decade.

If you have a problem and write Sear Mastercard about it, they will not help you. They send you a lot of lies in follow up letters regarding your inquiry. Then when you call no one knows what you're talking about. If you owe them anything I would advice you to find another creditor and do a balance transfer. That's what I did. They're not worthy of my money.

I have had this card since it was only a Sears card. I have had no problem with it. My limit has increased from $250 to $12,000+ since I have had it. Not bad for me. The minimums are kinda low though. You'll get yourself in trouble if you pay what they ask for (which lately has been $0, since I pay more than my amount each month). This does come in handy if you are short that month though.

I spent about $350.00 right after Xmas, they said the credit card company would make the adjustments, I never received a discount. Interest rates are outragous. There are many other credit cards I can use. I have been a member since 1987, I'm not sure why. My statement offers another 10% off in February, yeah right. I have to go now and cut up my card.

6 years ago (while in college) I had a Sears card. Five years later (I had not used it in 4 years)they sent a new card to my college dorm where someone received the new card and convenience checks. Then w/out calling me to inquire about the sudden charges-they called a collection agency. Granted, I should have cancelled it before, but with CC fraud and an all time high...shouldn't they be paying attention to great abnormalities?

I applied for and recieved the Sears gold Mc. I have had this card for just under a year. in that time I have NEVER been late on my payments. they torment you to death trying to get you to take this insurance, and that insurance and will even send you a policy and if you dont send back a rejection then BAM on your bill shows up the monthly insurance fee. well i call and ask for an increase, they said no because i have a negitive mark on my credit. after having this card for almost a year,, never late,, they reward me by saying i will never, ever recieve an increase as long as something negitive is on my credit report. way to reward your loyal paying customers Sears! i like my secured capital one card with my currently $1800.00 credit limit of which i put down a small security deposit for. sears is ok if you dont like an annual fee or over limit fee, and if you like a low credit limit for life.

Sears gives you very high credit amounts which gets you into debt with high interest rates and rediculously low minimum payments per month.

I was disgusted by the runaround I received. I was going to close my account from lack of use and had kept my account and done a balance transfer for a 0% special the customer care agent miraculously came up with, staying with them ONLY because of this 0% offer. I get my first statement and I see that I'm being charged interest, so I call to try and get it straighted out. I have been calling from November to February, with a note from one person to the next "call back later". I have just tried to transfer a balance FROM my Sears card and as it stands, the balance is STILL showing on my Sears card AND on the card I transferred it to. Sears asking me to find out from the other credit-card company how long it should take for the payment to show up on the Sears card. AAAAAHHHHH!!!! Sorry if this is convoluted, I am SO irritated with them. I plan on paying the balance as soon as possible and closing my account immediately after. I have enjoyed my experiences so far with my bank's Visa, AAA Visa and Discover.

Beware if you are late Sears not only charges you a finance charge but a late payment fee. In this day and age not many cards do that anymore. They need to get into the real world. I have just cut up my cards and am canceling my acct due to this. I will use other cards in the future!

Has been opening this card for almost 2 years. Trying to netgotiate for a better rate; unfortunately, sears credit department DOES NOT. Beware of falling into the class of HIGH INTEREST!!!

The Sears Gold Mastercard is one of several credit cards I carry.

There is a $50.00 transfer fee, if you don't know before hand they will not tell you. Once it's done "too late", They rather have you cancel your card than work with you. I cancelled..Good bye Sears

After the intro period, the interest rate went up to a quite high level. I asked that my interest rate be reduced, and Sears declined. So I took advantage of a low rate program and cancelled the card.

The name Sears still shines with integrity...it is anymore appreciated by me considering todays corporate landscape full of greed and the defrauding of America's middle class stockholder. Sears, congratulations. You have survived for all the right reasons. Thank you.

When I lost my job your company was not willing to help me in any way. Customer service was very rude to me. I would not recommend this card to anyone. I will be closing my account as soon as it is paid off.

I believe this credit card is average at best. The interest rates are far too high and really do not compete with other cards with lower rates. The cared does not afford you any special opportunities that sets it apart.

This is the worst credit card company I have ever dealt with. The interest rate they charge can be considered one of the best when it comes to legal loan-sharking. Customer service is extremely incompetent when it comes to answering questions. I got smart and closed my acount and paid it off. I suggest anybody else who has this worthless card to do the same and find a better credit card that won't walk all over you.

I saved hundereds of dollars by transfering a high interest rate loan to my Sears Gold Mastercard. I received a low fixed rate with no transfer fee!! Also the online service is excellent. I am able to pay my bill, view last transaction and much more without having to sit on an automated system. The customer service on thier 800 # is also very helpful and seems to care about the customer. Great card!!

I recently received a letter from Mr. Sczesnak, VP Marketing informing me that Sears NEW POLICY with regard to my payments would be that they could pay off various types of balances according to their whim -- in other words, balances with lower APRs would be paid off before balances with HIGHER APRS, if that suited them. Shorter Promotional periods would be paid off AFTER longer promotional periods. In other words, SEARS just wanted me to know up front that I was about to be screwed... and was I okay with that? please cancel my account, is my reply.

bought a few things at Sears I used to buy all of my stuff there But when i bought a Vidio camera there and it broke they said i abused it and it costs me over 350 dollars to repair. Why would i abuse it? They don't back up there warrentys at all.

After making a payment by phone, I called back because I wasn't given a confirmation number. Upon asking for the manager I was told only the Collection Dept. gives confirmation numbers - Customer Service cannot. Read other review about the late payment/interest on the late payments. Without a confirmation number, how can you verify the date/time your payment was made? You can't!

I have been a costumer for a very long time.Was offered the master card in place of my old sears card.Took the offer but when an emergency arourned sed try to get more limit I was turned down.Used it anyway.I decided to close the account.The problem started.Three weeks after the full payment of balance was mailed they said they never got it. The next time I get the bill for late payment.Called them up to waive late payment for what they are saying the interest fee for 3 weeks.They told me they will as long as I pay the actual balance of $6.00.I thought that was the end of it.Again I get a bill for late payment for this time the late fee of $29.00.I decided to go right ahead anfd pay for it just to get out of the mess. again I get a bill for another late payment for the late payment for the late fee.And now for the third time I have another bill for the same thing.I know I have mailed payment 2 weeks in advance of due date.I think it is the motive of operation the company is running.They will purposely post the payment check after due date to collect late payment.It seems to me that I will be payiong late payment for the rest of my life.NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF OFFER THIS CARD IS GOING TO OFFER YOU TURN IT DOWN OR YOU WILL BE PAYING LATE PAYMENT FOR YOUR LATE PAMENT CHARAGE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!

I have had several different credit cards, but this one by far is the best. It not only can be used at Sears to purchase anything, it can be used anywhere.

For starters, this is the only bank that takes forever to post a payment. "Timely processing" is inaccurate. Then, in my efforts to find out when payment was posted, the phone system was not working properly. So when that happens, who do you call to report trouble? Beats me! So where is Customer Service? In training I hope! Please, get a system and a process that works!

I had charged $5.18 on my credit card, which at the time had a $0 balance. I never received a bill for the $5.18 and the following month was sent a bill with a $1.00 finance charge and a $29.00 late fee. Customer Service advised me to pay $6.18 ($5.18 + $1.00 finance charge) and call and request the late fee be removed. I did as directed, and when I called back, they refused to take off the late fee. I cancelled the card and in the future will use my VISA card.

This is a great card for those who carry a balance. If you make a payment over the required minimum then it rolls over to the next month. It helps if you can't make the next month's paymets. However, the interest rate stil applies.

When you are at home, you get calls from Sears every week trying to sell you things and trying to get to you join clubs and sell you Insurance. They are a pest to deal with,closed all my accounts with Sears. Going to Walmart from now on they do not call you every week bothering you, I guess Sears is desperate for Money these days. Use to buy a lot of things from them , my house use to bee all sears appliances and electronics but now I rahter go elsewhere

I was mailed a card and told to fill in a Balance Transfer form to move balances from other cards to this great new rate card. After reading these reviews I was skeptical but still eager to get the introductory rate. Despite their mailouts telling me to fill in this form, nobody knew what it was, how to get it, and after over 15 minutes of being bounced to four different people I stopped the last person who was going to forward me and said 'forget it, I think this service is a harbinger of what's to come after I activate, just send me a letter saying I'm not interested in ever being a cardholder'. Cheerful but clueless.

Horrible Customer Service, Sears mails card to your last knows address if you are a Sears cardholder. This has lead to major fraud.

I got this card for emergencies, hoping I would never have to use it. However, a situation arose where I had to charge something and I planned on paying it as soon as my bill arrived. However, since it was my first bill, I did not know when it would arrive. I found it odd when it did not come within the month. I did not get a bill for two months, and when I did, I have a late fee and interest charge for not paying my first bill. However, I never recieved a "first" bill. I called Customer Service, who told me to pay my original payment and to call back in a week and they would drop the late/interest charges. When I called back that next week, they told me (very rudely actually) they could not take away the charges. I got stuck with a $30+ charge that was in no way my fault and I had to pay it so I did not get anymore charges.

I've tried to close my account twice with no luck. Sears has accessed my credit report 30 times in 3 years. If my account is closed, what business do they have requesting information on me???

The Sears Gold Card is one of the best cards I have had. Their interest rates are competitive with most major bank cards. I have found it is usually about 4 - 8% lower than other cards standard APRs (excluding special promotional offers). They have excellent customer support with several options: Internet, Phone, e-mail, or snail mail. When I have needed them, they were there and any problems or questions were handled quickly and efficiently by friendly and professional staff. They have an excellent fraud protection plan. If your purchasing pattern changes suddenly, their computer sends out an alert to let them know there might be fraudulent use on the card. They will then verify your identity via phone. This gives me a great sense of security knowing they are working hard to keep their customers accounts safe. I would recommend this card to anyone looking for a Gold Card. I wish my other ones had been more like it!

This is a horrible card to have, and the customer service staff is difficult to deal with. They don't write down notes and they repeatedly call. Nights and Sundays because they do not read! I am canceling this card and use Sears only when necessary.

I am very happy with this credit card. I recommend it to anyone who asks me about a credit card. Their rewards program is the best I have come across. And believe me, I have done some serious searching. I have had about 9 credit cards in my life and none compare to the benifits of the Sears GoldMaster card. You can actually earn cash to spend a Sears with your rewards points. Or they have many other options to choose from.

I haven't had any problems yet. All cards charge late charges... Not a good idea to allow automatic billing on any card, been there and done that. The Sears Card reflects all store promotions.

The first notice I recieved that this change to a gold mastercard occured was when I recieved a bill, with a $29 late fee! I only had an amount of $38 on my sears card prior to this and had no clue that the card was being changed without my permission. When I called the customer service number on the bill (because I did not keep the credit card)the woman was decent to me and removed the late fee. However, when I asked for my original account back, she became flustered and basically called me an idiot. I would not recommend this card. There are better credit cards with lower interest rates and more polite customer service staff. This is a nice starter card for a teen, but beyond that I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on keeping a balance.

Both the initial representative and her supervisor were rude and offered not help whatsever in addressing the problem of my not receiving a statement. Depite having a Sears card for 20 years and this one for a year, I promptly cancelled the acct.

THESE PEOPLE ACTIVITATED A CREDIT CARD WITHOUT MY APPROVAL AND THEN CHARGED ME LATE CHARGES. TRYING TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM WAS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE, DON'T SHOP SEARS.

I had been happy with our sears card for many years until we had a dispute with a third party purchase. Six months (!), hours of phone calls and dozens of forms later we are still looking for resolution. It has been a nightmare. Sears cheerfully waives the late fees every month after I wade through their voice mail system and explain the problem to another underpaid account representitve but always seems to pass the buck as far as getting the problem solved. If you have a Sears Card and must use it, don&#'t use it anywhere but at Sears.

They sent a letter stating that the Sears card for retail stores was being replaced with the Sears Gold MasterCard and to discard the Sears Card. That gave me the impression that I would get one single bill for the Gold MasterCard and the balance would be combined. No. Two bills. Two different credit limits. They raised my credit limit so high that it ruined my credit score. (Too much available credit not being used is just as bad as credit that is used. However, it is easier to fix.)

I have had a Sears Card (store card not Master Card) for a few years. Sears sent me a "congratulations letter" saying my credit line had been increased. This was the first notification I had that I had been issued a Master Card by Sears. I never applied for a Sears Master Master Card. I promptly canceled the card; why would anyone want to do business with a corporation that treats its customers in this fashion?

I had an arrangement with a telemarketer for periodic deliveries which I decided to cancel. I also canceled the credit card at this time. A few weeks later, I received an unwanted shipment from the telemarketer. Well, these things happen. Imagine my delight at receiving a bill for a canceled account. Sears&#' explanation is that, since I once authorized the vendor to charge the account, they can&#'t refuse any charges, even if I have indicated that I don&#'t want the arrangement to continue. This happened in March, and I am continuing to have problems with the vendor. And Sears has not accepted that these are disputed charges and is turning them over for collection. I am investigating whether or not I can file mail fraud charges with US Postal Service.

My husband called to activate his card and was told that if he purchased the "accountcare" he would be given a lower APR. He agreed. When the first statement came we were outraged to see the APR was 5 times what he had agreed upon during activation. After numerous calls, letters & requests for copies of the phone conversation no one has given us the time of day..We were even told that the people who acitivate the cards are not sears employees-they are "Accountcare Reps". A service rep from Sears had the nerve to tell my husband this morning that Sears cannot be responsible for what a "Third Party" (meaning their accountcare service) told him-excuse me? He called the number on the "Sears" card..how did we know it was not Sears? they activated the card..Gee they are outrageous!we did get a letter after 4 months telling us they needed more information so we needed to call the cust. svc dept which will only transfer you, give you addresses to write where no one will respond or simply just hang up on you! After doing research I see alot of people are sick of Sears, I have also read that Sears makes a killing off of credit card accounts, way more than their merchandise, gee I wonder? Never again! My husband talked with a lawyer who told him Sears has a huge amount of lawsuits already regarding the way they treat their customers-obviously I would&#'nt recommend their card.

I do not see any benefit to carrying a Sears Gold Mastercard. The rate is high compared to other offers, there is a 3% transfer fee and no grace period on payments, so if your payment is one or 2 days late, there is a $29.00 late fee. In the 3 months since my account was changed to a Gold Card, I had the first payment lost in the mail, one payment I made at the store, and the third payment returned to me by the Post Office for no apparent reason. The customer service rep suggested always making your payment in the store where you receive a receipt. Sounds like a well trained response- a ploy to get you in the store?

Excellent!! This card has become my overall credit card for everything

$29.00 late fee on first month's use for a $31.00 charge is a little too much. No fault of Sears Cr Card because I had gone overseas for almost 2 months when the statement arrived. But after waiving it the late fee kept on showing up on the statement. Finally, I called again and let's see if it does not show up in the next statement. If it does, I will return the card and will not recommend to anyone. but if it does not then I think it deserves a chance.

Of the two choices that we were given, this is the only one that I knew anything about. I do want to apologize that I don't really know that much about credit cards myself. I do not use them often but when I do, I do like the idea that I can turn around and go into the store the next day or two and pay my credit card bill. I have mine for emergency purposes also. Thank goodness, I haven't had to use if for that. I feel that they can become a trap and so I am very careful not to spend more than what I can't pay for in cash if I needed to. Maybe this way it helps me from keeping away from the credit card horror stories. thank you.

The Sears mastercard has replaced the old Sears charge card. You may now use your Sears card at any retailer. Sears usually runs quite a few sale which only apply to their card. An example would be: Get an extra 15% off of any large appliance when you use your Sears Mastercard. It is also easier to keep up with the kidvantage points through your monthly statement instead of having to keep all of your receipts. They do not offer any type of cash back or reward points that I am aware of. However some of their special sales create a larger savings then some of the cards with reward points. I would recomend this card to anyone. It has been hassle free for me, especially since you can make payments at any Sears store.

I have had to call them before and they have been very nice to me. Very helpful and got my questions answered quickly.

The Sears Gold MasterCard is a great product. It brings the consumer all of the benefits of a MasterCard such as purchase assurance for 90 days, doubles any manufacturers warranty and zero liability. Then it combines that with the zero % financing offers for select merchandise in the Sears store. Which is a benefit all itself because you do not have to pay back interest if you decide not to pay it off by its release date. When you call their customer service reps they are always more than willing to help and will go that extra mile. Plus if you want to just use it at Sears leave the card at home. They can look up your MasterCard account in the store as long as you bring your drivers license. I've done this many times.

I have had this card for some time now and it is one of the best reward cards I have had. Most others that give you cash back, only give 0.25% to 1% of purchases. The Sears Mastercard gives you 1% of ALL purchases in Sears Dollars with no limit each year. Sears Dollars are good for any merchandise sold in a Sears store. The reward is given every year on your anniversary date. Also, you are given 2% reward on all purchases at Sears. The interest rate is good and there is no annual fee. The few times I have called customer service have been good experiences. Another added feature I discovered was when I began to use the card more than normal, their security department called and verified the new activity, a good feature in my book.

Suggestion to avoid late charges: Use a bill pay services such as Wells Fargo which will pay any late charges if you schedule your payment at least 5 business days prior to the due date. Wells Fargo please send my commission to:

$29.00 for a late charge?? I submit that a one-month late charge that equates to over 36% of the original purchase price can only be characterized as onerous. Frankly, I am in a state of shock! At the time we received the Sears Gold Master Card, we were led to believe that it would be replacing all other Sears credit instruments. Therefore, we didn’t give it a lot of thought when we used it to make our purchase of a new microwave oven. When the bill came, it was placed with the others for which checks would be cut mid-month—our usual practice. In the middle of August, a family matter did force us to delay our bill paying for a couple of days, but they were paid! The draft sent was dated August 23rd. On September 18th, the day before the next payment became due, I went into our Sears store and made a payment of $75.23. That included the balance owing on the original purchase and the legitimate $1.40 finance charge. This will close the account. I was curious to know whether this "late change" would be dropped in the interests maintaining "good will." There was no reply when I wrote to their "customer service" address. I am sure your marketing people have figured out what the company spends to attract and keep each customer. At today’s advertising rates, I’ll bet it’s more that $29.00.

We were charged for services not rendered. We were required by Sears MC to get another opinion. We paid for that opinion who agreed with us. We got a forma letter back dening our petition. I am notifying my state's consumer fraud. That was twice I was frauded. Why have a charge card?

No issues besides that it would be *nice* to have web payments and account updates.

I was distressed to discover a $29 late fee on my Sears Mastercard. We had moved and it took a few extra days to locate my bills for payment. The pay cycle is only about 20 days, and being in Maine the mailing time is 4-5 days. I called and was treated indifferently. I always pay the full balance, and am shopping for a replacement effective immediately. I notice that this feature(late fee) is usually hidden, and is a most important item for me. I had been a Sears Card holder for 30+ years when my account was transferred to the Mastercard. Needless to say, Sears (as well as Mastercard) is losing a customer. I don't see this feature as a part of your search. It should be included. Bonny

I have been using various types of credit cards from department stores to platinum visas for over 15 years and I have never, ever had the amount of trouble this "upgrade" has produced. Transfer balance fees I was never told about, late fees for payments ON TIME (I have the cancelled check to prove it), "service" people hanging up on me after I've tried THREE times to get through to discuss problems THEY have generated. I will be paying this off ASAP anc cancelling the card promptly. I advice anyone reading to make the one call to deny the upgrade, if it's not too late.

My wife is bad about hiding bills from me. She hid the Sears bill last month, and I just got the new bill. It included a late fee of $29.00 for not having paid the balance of $about $114. I usually pay credit card bills in full, and was shocked to see this. I've had a Sears card since the mid-70's, and have been late a time or two. The late fee was usually in line with what was owed. I will pay the charge and cancel the card.

combined finance charges regular, sears, and cash advance. These charges use up your creit limit so fast tha you will be paying for this card for the rest of your life.

intro rate was super low and enabled me to pay off ALL debt ... resulting rate is still low (variable) and at the bottom of the average rates for gold cards. from what i've read this rate beats the average for platinum and standar cards as well.

In February of 2001,I received in the mail from Sear's National Bank a gold mastercard. The literature that accompanied the card stated that this account would replace my existing Sear's department store credit card. I did not request any change in the existing account. It explained that they offered an introductory rate of 2.9% for six months. I responded and requested a balance transfer. At that time I was told that a 3% fee would apply and I agreed to the 27.00 fee. I made the first payment on the account and when I received my next statement it appeared that they were charging 15.49% on the 27.00 fee. Of course my payment had been entirely applied to the 2.9% amount so the 27.00 fee had been increased by the 15.49% rate. I contacted them and explained this and they were not helpful at all. I actually read the entire twelve pages that had originally been enclosed with the credit card and there was nothing stated about a higher interest rate to be applied to the 3% transaction fee. I consider this to be dishonest and misleading. I immediately paid my balance in full and closed the account. I would strongly discourage consumers from transacting balance transfers with Sear's National Bank.

It has been about three months since Sears has changed from the sears card to sears mastercard and I love it. I can not only charge at sears but any where else that takes mastercard and that is a great idea from sears. They not only get my sears bussiness but all my other department store charges. Ilike it and it still carries the sears warrenty of you dont like it take it back.