Ott charges (BHS store card)

Member Name: Donf18

Product:	BHS store card
Date:	25/03/06 (1600 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to get

Disadvantages: High interest charges

BHS stores have been around for as long as I can remember, and they have a good range of products if slightly old fashioned in places.

Like most large department stores BHS has jumped on the Store card band wagon, and now offers a BHS Gold card to its customers. When I say customers I actually mean virtually anyone who can write and fill in the application form. These application forms are not hard to find. Simply go to any BHS store and the chances are you will be hounded to partake of this magnificent offer.

So fill in the form get the card and an instant £500 credit limit. Once you have used the card a few times, you might well get invited to the Cardholders special offers nights, which are held periodically in the larger stores. When at one of these so called special evenings you will be offered further reductions on a series of items to entice you to use your card even more. I do feel here that BHS are indeed being a bit irresponsible in offering the card to anyone, I feel there should be some kind of check not just to protect BHS from a bad debt but to protect the consumer from taking on more than they can handle.

Whilst using the card you gain points which will entitle you to even more discounts, and special offers. The card is naturally accepted in all BHS stores and like all plastic comes at a price. In this case the price varies slightly from time to time but the APR sits generally in the region of 24.9%. This means spend £100 and owe £124.90, doesn’t start to look so attractive now does it. On top of this once you approach your credit limit BHS automatically increase your limit in your account is managed in a respectable manner. By this I mean you have paid a few months at the minimum payment without incurring late payment fees or excess interest charges.. I think this interest rate is absolutely ridiculous, so you will not be surprised to learn that I/We paid off the amount due and ripped up the card. If you only pay off the minimum amount on your balance each month, then you’re a paying off very little of which you owe, you are only really paying of the interest accumulated over the month. This being the case it will take you months/years to clear off the debt especially if you continue to use the card in the meantime.

There are occasions when one might find in ideal to take out one of these cards or some form of credit, but if I were you I would seriously consider another source for your credit since as you can see the interest rate here will soon have you in deep financial trouble, if you continue to use the card for purchases.

YES the card is handy
YES you can purchase anything in the store with it
YES they charge excessive interest charges
NO don’t get one.

Summary: Handy to have but very expensive