Volunteers needed for News of the World investigation into store cards

MSE_Jenny

The News of the World is doing an investigation into store cards this week, and is looking for a MoneySaver to help out (there's £200 in it for you).

They are looking for someone to go around some major shops either tomorrow (Wednesday) or Thursday to expose how badly expensive store cards are sold to customers, particularly in the current climate.

You would be asking leading questions, such as, "Is it a good deal"? "Could I get into debt"? etc. to see how the sellers respond in places like Debenhams, Topshop, House of Fraser etc.

You need to be based in the London area, and happy to have your photograph and personal details (name, age, job, salary) in the News of the World.

A journalist and photographer will accompany you, and they are happy to pay £200 for your time.

If you’re interested, please email your details to [EMAIL="sophy.ridge@notw.co.uk"]sophy.ridge@notw.co.uk[/EMAIL]

hollydays

..its not exactly secret now though..

kirkeastment

hollydays wrote: »

..its not exactly secret now though..

how secret would it really be if you've got a journalist and a photographer with you to begin with. :rotfl:

hollydays

I think maybe not paparazzi style,no ladders needed ..

MontagueWithnail

I think it would be a fun, expose shocker sensation!

ThinkingOfLinking

I wish I was still living in London. I love it when they sound so cheerful when saying, "It's an average of 30.9% APR" etc. They're on commission. I remember I used to sell Barclaycards and got GOOOOOD money!!

jenniewb

I would love to do this! only I have a really really bad credit rating and would get turned down everytime without fail!

I used to work in a store- we were never on commission- we had a quota to meet per week and if we didn't meet it, we were told by head office we were ery dissapointing and were warned there would be staff cuts as a result. Our managers would also take the rap and get told off.

We never got anything for getting people to sign up for store cards, but we did have an aim to get so many per day and so many per week signed up and also so many per day tried for. We never got a penny for getting them, we still had to wear full uniform, infact the main reason to get the store cards in was to get head office off our back!

Can I name and shame the store/brand? (big retail chain) or is this not allowed??!

lexilondon21

Hey there, i'd love to help out. I have previously had trouble with store cards when I was just 18 and in college (not working) no checks were done, I just showed them one form of ID and bang I was in debt.
Luckily my Mum bailed me out!! But I think they need to be exposed for targeting young people, who get lured into living beyond their means.

snowqueen555

Damn everybody i know has gotten one of these by accident.. Me included!

I didn't even know it wa sa credit type thing, they didn't explain to me andI wa sin a rush and they just wouldn't let it go so I did it.. Took a while to cancel it

vegankris

Shame its in London, not Scotland, 'cos I'd have been well up for it!

I used to have to sell 'em in my old job as a shop assistant, and the staff were really pressurised into meeting targets. We weren't on commission- sometimes we'd get a very small prize for getting the most out of hundreds of people in a store, but we did get disciplined for not meeting our targets.

It made several colleagues quite unethical in their sales technique, pressuring older people and suchlike. I generally used to tell the customer it was a good deal for the sake of the discount, but only if it was paid off straight away when they asked about interest, admitting the rates were astronomical, and try to sell it using the free gift or discount on opening and special days for cardholders. Most customers were quite savvy about store cards, so it was a difficult thing to sell, and i'm glad my current workplace doesn't use them!

vegankris

jenniewb wrote: »

I would love to do this! only I have a really really bad credit rating and would get turned down everytime without fail!

I used to work in a store- we were never on commission- we had a quota to meet per week and if we didn't meet it, we were told by head office we were ery dissapointing and were warned there would be staff cuts as a result. Our managers would also take the rap and get told off.

We never got anything for getting people to sign up for store cards, but we did have an aim to get so many per day and so many per week signed up and also so many per day tried for. We never got a penny for getting them, we still had to wear full uniform, infact the main reason to get the store cards in was to get head office off our back!

Can I name and shame the store/brand? (big retail chain) or is this not allowed??!

I can guess, I think I used to work for them too!