Beware hard-sell on store cards

AN ALARMING new study has revealed shop assistants are routinely mis-selling store cards and lack even the most basic knowledge about the product being offered.

An undercover investigation at 10 of the UK's most famous High Street names on London's Oxford Street found not one shop assistant correctly answered all questions put to them by researchers.

The research by Which?, previously known as the Consumers' Association, found that although staff in eight shops gave details of their card's benefits and discounts, none of them could say what the charge would be if a payment was missed.

Dorothy Perkins and House of Fraser both charge £18 for late payments, but their assistants told researchers the charge is 1.5p for every £1 and 10% of the card balance, respectively.

Other glaring errors included incorrect information on the cards' annual percentage rate (APR). Four stores failed to provide the correct APR, with three separate Mothercare assistants giving differing answers.

Store cards are already under investigation by the Competition Commission over the high rates of interest they charge.

This is Money has campaigned to end the store card rip-off and to give better protection to consumers.

Which? spokesman Malcolm Coles said: 'If you manage to buy your Christmas presents without getting the hard sell on a store card, you can count yourself lucky.

'They're an expensive way to borrow and if the staff pushing them don't know how much they cost, we wonder how many people who‘ve been persuaded into taking them realise they're being charged through the nose.'

Nick White, personal finance manager at uSwitch.com, advised consumers should avoid store cards at all costs.

He said: 'Retailers often plays on consumer ignorance with storecards. They lure people in with 10% discounts so they think they are getting a good deal, when in fact they are not.'