10:50 PM
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#1
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Moderator/Staff
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Posts: 27
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Victorias Secret Credit Card - Buyer Beware!
We all know Victoria’s Secret is a great place to buy lingerie, but read this credit card review before you apply for the Victorias Secret credit card.
Thanks to supermodels like Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and Gisele Bündchen, Victoria’s Secret has grown into one of the most popular retailers for lingerie. They now have over a thousand stores in the United States. They’re also big with mail-order; did you know that each year they mail out more than 400,000,000 catalogs? That’s a lot of paper!
Victorias Secret Credit Card
Like most stores, the company has their own credit card which they frequently tout to customers during checkout. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of this card…
The Pros
Rewards: This credit card does offer a fairly good rewards program for shopping at their stores. They give one point for each dollar spent either at their store, online, or from their catalog (buying gift cards don’t count). For every 250 points accumulated ($250 spent) they give a $10 reward certificate.
The Cons
Unfair Processing Fee: Once I combed over the fine print, I found a number of disappointing things, like the fact that the Victoria Secret credit card charges you a $1.00 fee each and every month they mail your paper billing statement. I found this really shocking, because I don’t know of any other credit card that charges you fees just to mail your bills so you can pay them!
High Interest Rate: Do you ever carry a balance? If you do then the Victoria’s Secret card is definitely a bad idea. The interest rate is an extremely high 22.80% at the time of this credit card review. That is really high and even if you just carry a balance a month or two, it basically makes your reward points earned a wash.
Limited Acceptance: You can only use the Victoria's Secret credit card to buy from them, you can’t use it anywhere else. I really don’t like this because I prefer cards that allow me to earn points everywhere I shop, because then I can earn my rewards so much faster. Why would I want to bother with another card that I can only use one place? It sounds like a big hassle to me.
Low Credit Limits: From the customer reviews I’ve read, even if you have great credit, the limits reportedly tend to be on the low side… like ridiculously low! Not only does this make shopping difficult, but it can also affect your credit score. Why? Because part of your score is based on what percentage of your credit limit is used. Many credit experts claim it’s best to never use more than 20% to 30% of a card’s limit. That means if they were to give you a pitiful $450 credit limit, you can only use $90 of it!
Customer Service: I read dozens of customers' feedback online and the number one recurring theme I saw was that the Victoria’s Secret credit card allegedly had awful customer service. I read one nightmare after another. Their website says they have an “exclusive hotline” for Angel cardmembers to “always reach customer service anytime, anywhere.” Well guess what… I tried calling that number yesterday evening while researching the Victorias Secret Angel card and after pressing a zillion numbers I was given a recorded message that customer service was only available during the day… that’s not "anytime."
Conclusion: The rewards are pretty good but, but paying a $1.00 fee for each monthly billing statement to be mailed to you? Then there’s the high interest rate, poor customer service, and reportedly low credit limits. Victorias Secret credit card just isn’t worth it.
A Smarter Choice (sponsored)
You should really check out the Discover More card. They give an incredible 5% cashback bonus in rotating categories like department stores and clothing stores - including Victoria’s Secret! Best of all the card is totally free. Check out the scoop on the Discover More card!
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