Learn from my mistakes: women warn against opening store credit card after using one to pay for sofa

Photo by@savannahhhleahhh/Tiktok pui_bunny/Shutterstock

Moving and purchasing new furniture all in one go can be a daunting task for customers to take on at once.

To make this task a bit easier on the wallet, many furniture retailers offer payment plans to break up the cost of large pieces of furniture and furniture sets. Frequently, these payment plans take the form of zero-interest installments on a credit card.

A previous shopper from one of these shops is warning others not to get a store credit card, fearing they might overlook their payments due to the hassle of managing multiple cards.

On TikTok, bridal content creator @savannahhhleahhh shared a video where she mentioned initially doing well with her credit card for her recent sofa purchase. But, she eventually became disorganized and lost sight of the account.

Opening a store credit card to buy a couch

“Never open a store credit card, this is why,” she says in the video. “I opened a store credit card with a furniture company back maybe 5 years ago to buy a couch, and I totally forgot that I had this credit card. I must have deleted the app, and not paid attention to payments and I don’t even know where the credit card is, to be honest.”

She mentions she's uncertain if she still owns the card. "I used the card to purchase the couch, I was making my payments, and I probably just completely forgot to continue making them since I received a call from a credit collector," @savannahhhleahhh explains.

@savannahhhleahhh shared that her debt amounted to approximately $1,061, and she was bombarded with numerous calls from debt collectors using unfamiliar numbers. They even tried calling her mother to try and contact her. After they did, she settled the debt completely.

“It sounds so embarrassing but learn from my mistakes, I’m hoping is what you can get,” she says. “My financial advisor’s going to hate this, I’m supposed to have a meeting with him next week, might have to cancel. Not for that reason, just because I’m busy wedding planning.”

Viewers offer collection advice

Viewers offered advice regarding the collections agency that had purchased her debt. A few suggested that there might be a way to have it totally scrubbed from her credit history for a fee. In some cases, creditors will agree to remove negative information related to an account from a customer’s credit report, for a fee, as part of an agreement called a deletion. This can help improve a customer’s credit history and potentially increase their credit scores.

“Make sure you do your research because you might be able to do a pay for deletion so it doesn’t hurt your credit!! & you can negotiate down the price,” one commenter wrote.

“Girl, you can negotiate paying way less once it’s in collections,” another commenter wrote. “They buy the debt for pennies on the dollar so they will often settle for way less than the original amount.”

Some suggested only obtaining a store credit card from locations you often visit, and only borrowing what you can easily repay within a few months to dodge excessive interest charges.

“Store cards make sense if you were going to make purchases there anyways,” one commenter wrote.

“Only take a CC out of you shop there often and you can pay it off within a few months,” another commenter wrote.