Complaint Review: SEARS PAYMENT CENTER - STIRLING HIGHTS Nationwide

This was no ripoff! I work for Sears presently and have the inside scoop for a better understanding for our customers. PERMISSION GRANTED BY HUBBY Her husband has the option of adding his wife to the account as either a one-time authorized user or permanent authorized user. If she will be calling in from time to time, requesting information on the credit card, as many spouses do, we will advise that she be added on as a permanent authorize user to the account. This is to protect the security of the information given out on the account. The option is available. I was not privy to your conversation, but can tell you that the normal case scenario. SSN# NOT NEEDED No SSN# is needed from the card holder. FCRA allows the reporting of this information after the name is added after a period of time. Many consumers allow there children on to their accounts to help them establish credit. In the cases of a spouse, the info can not be deleted until after 7 years from the time the spouse was deleted from the account. Thsi is also the law. Every credit card company has to abide by FCRA regulations. CHECK REPORTS 1ST Lynn if you were planning to purchase your first house, you should always check your report ahead of time before going in. This advice has been giving by the FCRA, SS admin, and many mortgage companies. This is so there are no suprises to you, and so the opportunity to clear up this information can be allowed. This is also true to those who are refinacing. Don't wait til the last minute. IDENTITY THEFT In some cases other persons information can be cross referenced to your report and end up on it. It takes months before this can be cleared up. Sears can send the information to have it corrected tomorrow, but the Credit bureau agencies update there info every 30-60 days. This is not the fault of Sears. Some of the errors happen by the Credit Reporting Agencies themselves because of processing issues. Identity theft is a growing issue. You have to be pro-active in order to protect yourself. In this case, it is not identity theft. ASK FOR MANAGER NEXT TIME What I suggest is that you contact Sears again, if not already, request to speak with a manager. Ask them again for a letter to be faxed out. Make sure they repeat the information you have given. You need the letter to state that you have been removed form the account as an authorized user and the date it was done. This letter can be given to the loan company, and sometimes verbal info is accepted by them if the case is urgent. CALM DOWN If you called a representative as you stated you did, and jumped on there case, the response you received is likely. I have been abel to help more people who put sugar in there tone than those who didn't. Not because I did not want to, but because they were so angry, it was hard to get past all the ranting and cussing to get the info needed. Don't get me wrong, it took years for me to understand Sears policise in order to expalin it to customers. ADRIAN-SILLY COMMENTS FROM GOV And to Adrian who is fortunate to work for the government, you should have access to this very public case. It is hard to believe that you worked for Sears and did not know that it was about Bankruptcy. We all had to read a length discourse and sign it when we applied for the job and when it was settled. The governement required that Sears do this, so that employees were aware of what happened. Keep that job. Make sure you know what your saying before you start writing anything. I hope I never have to contact the Treasury. And to say you Work for the government!

The primary holder of an account has to call to add s'one as authorized user or a joint holder and no credit is pulled up again and there is never no transfer of funds. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!

A very similar situation happened to me. My ex-husband had applied for a Sears Charge Account, this was back in 1995 BEFORE we were married. He had put me on the application as an additional user (no social security number included), without my knowledge. The marriage only lasted about 6 months (I put him in jail, too long a story)....anyhow after the divorce I go to buy a car and SURPRISE!!! there's an entry for Sears stating that there's a charge off in my name for approximately $1800.00. I never used the card and only found out about my status as an addtional user after contacting them about the account. My ex filed bankruptsy so it's not on his file....but it is on mine. That was over 7 yrs ago. I refuse to pay it on general principle and so it sits. Funny thing is there is a previous entry for Sears on my credit account that is R1. It's not mine either....it's from 1977 (when I was about 12) and it's my step-mother's account. Sears is a mess!

A very similar situation happened to me. My ex-husband had applied for a Sears Charge Account, this was back in 1995 BEFORE we were married. He had put me on the application as an additional user (no social security number included), without my knowledge. The marriage only lasted about 6 months (I put him in jail, too long a story)....anyhow after the divorce I go to buy a car and SURPRISE!!! there's an entry for Sears stating that there's a charge off in my name for approximately $1800.00. I never used the card and only found out about my status as an addtional user after contacting them about the account. My ex filed bankruptsy so it's not on his file....but it is on mine. That was over 7 yrs ago. I refuse to pay it on general principle and so it sits. Funny thing is there is a previous entry for Sears on my credit account that is R1. It's not mine either....it's from 1977 (when I was about 12) and it's my step-mother's account. Sears is a mess!

A very similar situation happened to me. My ex-husband had applied for a Sears Charge Account, this was back in 1995 BEFORE we were married. He had put me on the application as an additional user (no social security number included), without my knowledge. The marriage only lasted about 6 months (I put him in jail, too long a story)....anyhow after the divorce I go to buy a car and SURPRISE!!! there's an entry for Sears stating that there's a charge off in my name for approximately $1800.00. I never used the card and only found out about my status as an addtional user after contacting them about the account. My ex filed bankruptsy so it's not on his file....but it is on mine. That was over 7 yrs ago. I refuse to pay it on general principle and so it sits. Funny thing is there is a previous entry for Sears on my credit account that is R1. It's not mine either....it's from 1977 (when I was about 12) and it's my step-mother's account. Sears is a mess!

A very similar situation happened to me. My ex-husband had applied for a Sears Charge Account, this was back in 1995 BEFORE we were married. He had put me on the application as an additional user (no social security number included), without my knowledge. The marriage only lasted about 6 months (I put him in jail, too long a story)....anyhow after the divorce I go to buy a car and SURPRISE!!! there's an entry for Sears stating that there's a charge off in my name for approximately $1800.00. I never used the card and only found out about my status as an addtional user after contacting them about the account. My ex filed bankruptsy so it's not on his file....but it is on mine. That was over 7 yrs ago. I refuse to pay it on general principle and so it sits. Funny thing is there is a previous entry for Sears on my credit account that is R1. It's not mine either....it's from 1977 (when I was about 12) and it's my step-mother's account. Sears is a mess!

I was interested in Adrians analysis. What exactly makes him think what was done was unfair or illegal. I have several problems with this complaint. First, why would Sears asked to speak to the Accountholder to authorize the addition of the wife to the account as an authorized user. If she was to be added as a joint accountholder, they would have had to reapply for credit and transferred the balance to the new account. Secondly, why would they think they were adding the wife to the account as a one-day shopper? I've never heard of such a thing, and frankly it just sounds convienient. Finally, each time Sears was called, it was made clear the wife was only an authorized user, and not responsible for the debt. As an authorized user the report should show up on her credit report - credit reports show how much debt a person has and also shows how much available credit they have access to - as an authorized user - the wife has access to that credit. By the way, the lawsuit in the 1990's had to do with Bankruptcy's.

I used to work for Sears in the mid to late 1990s in the Maintenance Agreement Office. I found the company culture to be highly unethical and in violation of several consumer laws on numerous occassions. During my employment, I can remember Dateline NBC doing a story about disatisfied customers, in which the Network attempted to contact employees in my department. We were directed, under NO circumstances to provide any information to the media. I eventually left my job at Sears to pursue other interests, in the governemnt realm. I now am employed as an Examiner for the U.S. Treasury Dept. This complaint struck a chord with me. Sears credit cards are underwritten by Sears National Bank. The Bank holds a national charter, and therefore falls under the regulation of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. What the company did in this instance, assuming the facts presented in the complaint are in whole, is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Bank can be cited for such actions. The consumer can elect to file a formal complaint with the ombudsman's office of the OCC and seek restitution, if she desires to pursue the matter further. Consumer protection is not high on the list of Sears priorities these days.

Anyone can be added as an authorized user to anyone else's credit card. All that is needed is the primary cardholder's permission. As an authorized user you are allowed to use the account but are not legally responsible for the bill. Any person listed on a credit account will have that account reported on their credit bureau record- that's the LAW. I realize that you're upset, but you really don't have a leg to stand on. If you've been removed from the account, great. It will no longer show as an open account on your file, but it will show that you had the account at one time. Spellchecking is a valuable tool.