Can you belive walmart is stopping thier layaway?

[paradiseyellow]

I heard on the news a couple of days ago and then received an email from a friend who works at walmart. They are closing down the layaway program at walmart. They figure that more people will get a walmart credit card and pay the interest so they can make more money that way. What I would like to know who the person that thought of that was. gee hmmmmmmmmm low income people put things on layaway so they can buy it over a period of time. low income people cant get credit cards????? makes me really wonder. I use thier layaway program to buy for my kids at Christmas time or when i make big purchase items. has anyone else heard about this? I signed a petition online dont know if it will do any good or not. just had to vent.
Tonja

[nattiesmom]

Wow I hadnt heard of it...I use there layaway plan as well.Especially for Christmas and school clothes.That will be a major inconvienece for alot of people including myself.I only have one credit card and dont even use it that much because of the interest rates.

[Beanie]

yep, it is true, phasing it out. they are sorry for the inconvience, but it was costing them money in employees times and storage of the items. so becuase it was not profitable for them they stop it. so what if it is not good customer service.........

another reason i hate the walmart mentality.

[Audrey]

We don't have a Walmart in our town so I'm uncertain, do they sell gift cards? If they do, purchase $10 gift cards year round and put them away. If you buy two of them per month every month, you'll have $240 to buy holiday gifts or school clothes.

I don't know the dollar amounts you put down each month on the layaway program. Again, consider switching to buy gift cards instead.

I understand the companies desire to sell credit cards. You buying the gift cards gives the company the same "end result". They have your money and can earn interest on it until you spend it. If you buy a gift card in January and don't spend it until September, they've had that money all the time, but you did not pay interest on a credit card!!!

[allmylovecrafts]

I hadn't thought of buying a gift card each month! That's a good one!!
I don't shop at walk in stores for gifts I do almost all of it on line. I hate shopping!! On line I don't have to deal with the RUDE people!
Sheryl

[Audrey]

Sheryl,

I am very lucky (hmm am I really "lucky"?), I live just 5 minutes away from Costco. I go there often. However if it can be avoided I don't go on weekends. It's so crowded on weekends. It's hard to find a spot, lines are long. Folks stand in line with a cart while another member of their party shops. Makes it hard to choose a line as carts get filled up as folks are waiting. I choose a cart with 3 items to get behind yet when they check out they now have 15 items :(

I try very hard to only go there during the week. It's easy to find parking and there are no lines.

[paradiseyellow]

I didnt think about buying the gift cards either. That is a great idea. If we had anywhere else close to shop I would but its almost an hour to the mall or to Kmart so we have to pretty much shop at walmart. i am trying to save up enough money to buy online. Most of the time I can find whatever I need cheaper online anyway. Sam Walton started layaway for us poor people lol....
Hope everyone had a great and prosperous week,
Tonja M.

[nattiesmom]

I am doing most of my shopping through WAHMs this year as I dont want to battle the holiday lines lol...I will probably need to go out and buy certain items but for the most part its online shopping for me lol.

[Melos]

Buying the small gift cards every month is a fabulous idea! I often find myself short on cash around the holidays (who doesn't!) though I never really used the layaway service before.

[Childavenue]

Instead of doing gift cards ask at your bank if they have a Christmas account. You can stick $20 or so each month and earn a little interest on it. I have a credit union and they have Vacation accounts and Christmas accounts. I think in the long run it's a better idea than to let Wal-mart hold all your money all year long until you use the gift cards...Plus you might find something somewhere else instead.

[World-Info-Source]

Yeah, a Christmas Club account is great. If you just put some money in every week, and forget about it until Christmas! I agree about not letting WalMart earn interest on your money, but I can't blame them for stopping the LayAway program.

[Melos]

Just curious... how is a Christmas account different than a regular savings account?

I have an online savings account that gets great interest. I figure I could just put an extra $10 a month in there throughout the year to save up for Christmas presents.