Paying for the Non-Privilege

Some years ago I recall being very surprised to discover that Sears had cancelled my charge card just as I was about to use it. At the time I was underemployed and living in a small apartment, and thus could not afford to purchase much of anything, let alone indulge in regular shopping sprees, but I went to Sears once or twice a year to purchase basics like cheap clothing, cheap towels, and occasionally cheap gifts. I’d acquired one of their in-house charge cards because it had a lower interest rate than any of my credit cards, and because I’ve always believed that having a little extra credit available is a good thing, but I didn’t really need to float any of my Sears purchases, and generally paid off the card as soon as I got the bill. The combination of infrequent use and timely pay-off meant that the company wasn’t making any lucrative interest fees off of me, and since my account cost the same as any other to administrate, they cancelled me. I was mildly annoyed, but not enough to stop shopping there – when it was convenient for me, of course…

Over the years since, Sears and a number of other companies have spun off their credit divisions, or sold them outright to raise money – since these are frequently the most profitable division of any retail outfit, and occasionally the only division that nets any money, there’s always someone who wants to buy them. I’ve never bothered to acquire a Sears MasterCard or Visa, because these accounts don’t offer any advantage over the cards I’ve already got – as previously noted, I don’t shop at Sears enough for the supposed special advantages of their own Card to matter to me – and because they cost too much to be worth having for their own sake. I don’t have any other store credit cards, either, and if the new wrinkle that is being introduced in the UK becomes common in this country, you may not want to keep yours, either…

A story off the Daily Mail (London) website indicates that the bank which provides the in-store credit cards for a number of British retailers has started charging a ten-pound fee (about $15.75 USD at the moment) to any customer who fails to make a purchase using his or her card for six months. This is, of course, entirely separate from the annual fees, finance charges, late fees or interest that you will accrue if you actually use the thing, and rather defeats the purpose of saving money on in-store purchases (you’d have to receive a 1% discount on $3,150 in purchases, or a 5% discount on over $600 in purchases to make up for 12 months of non-usage fees), even assuming that you get in-store purchase savings in the first place. But a much more disturbing possibility, at least to me, is that other types of business might attempt a similar business model…

Consider, for example, airlines that sell food for purchase during the flights. This model won’t work well if no one buys the food, so these carriers might start adding a “spoilage fee” to your ticket, which can be refunded if you actually purchase enough to eat, or a “corkage” fee (such as restaurants charge for bringing in your own wine) for eating your own food while on board. You could also imagine them charging people who pay for their baggage and then don’t bring any, or asking a premium for very large people, very heavy people, or anyone travelling with a child small enough to annoy other passengers. And if those fees catch on, it could only be a matter of time before businesses of all sorts start charging “convenience” fees or “annoyance” fees or “we don’t feel that our bottom line is quite attractive enough, so we’re going to charge you more” fees…

I kid, of course; all of these non-usage fees (and related charges) are clearly stated in the fine print of the card agreements, and if you can’t be bothered to read contracts before you sign them it’s only a matter of time before you accidentally sign away your vital organs (or something equally silly) anyway. I’m just saying that this trend of making all of the additional money you can off of the careless, the credulous and the stupid is disturbing, and I really hope it doesn’t get carried to its logical conclusion. I am not hopeful of this, however…