2009.07.07
Lose your job? Sears says it will help
When times are tough, one national retailer says it will step in to help you pay for a refrigerator, stove or some other sparkling new household appliance.
Sears makes this promise with several stipulations and requirements, of course.
Through a new buyer program that began on Monday and ends Aug. 1, Sears says it will pay you for an appliance that you buy at one of its stores if you lose your job after making the purchase. The item must cost more than $399.
Sears will credit 1/12th of the price of any household appliance that you purchase for each month that you are unemployed. If you still are unemployed one year after you bought the item, Sears will credit your account for its remaining amount.
There are some requirements to be eligible for this incentive. You must use a Citibank-issued Sears card to make the purchase. Also, you only can qualify if you lose your full-time job after 60 days and up to one year of the day that you bought the appliance.
Click here to read more details about this program in a Sears' news release.
As a former citizen of Roanoke I wanted to comment on my experience at the Ukrops on 7/4. What a beautiful store with fantastic food and courteous employees. I now live in Atlanta and trust me when I say that I would love to have a Ukrops here to give Kroger; Publix and Walmart some competition. If I still lived in Roanoke I would shop there on a regular basis. Please support this store as you have no idea what a gem that you have and it would be a shame to lose it. The land before Ukrops was a blight on the area and if Ukrop's fails it will be an empty building that will sit for a long time before a retailer comes back in.
Comment by Greg Boone — July 7, 2009 @ 6:18 pm
Interesting. While it appears the purchase price will be credited, it doesn't say anything about the interest accruing on the account. Unless the card comes with a period of no-interest, I would imagine there would still be something to pay.
Not disparaging the idea, it just seems as though one would not be totally payment free in the end. I wonder how they verify you lost your primary employment?
Comment by Ed S. — July 8, 2009 @ 11:36 am
This doesn't seem like a very good program at all. 1/12th of the monthly balance is what I understood it to be and that doesn't take off the interest. Sears used to run a no interest no payment scam too. The thing they didn't say was that you still had to make the payments to get the interest back after you paid for 1 year without being late. If you didn't make the payment, the interest just built up and at the end of the year, you were paying almost double the price of the item. I don't think this offer is that great. Read the fine print because I'm sure it isn't what they advertise.
Comment by Liz — July 8, 2009 @ 1:23 pm
Ed S. and Liz,
I spoke with a Sears spokeswoman about this offer today, and she told me that the Citibank Sears card has no interest for the first 12 months.
Comment by Jenny Kincaid Boone — July 9, 2009 @ 1:44 pm