The Canadian Tire Promo Card
I was going through the flyers today; something I enjoy doing while I’m in the can. I picked up the Canadian Tire flyer and saw the heading “$25 Promo Card”. It sparked my interest so I read on. Basically, it states that if you ‘defer’ a store payment of over $200 to your Canadian Tire options mastercard, they will give you 6 months of no payment and no interest. On top of that, they will give you a $25 Promo Card; a gift card in nature. Pretty good deal, huh?
Not really. I read the fine print and it says that their is a $25 administration fee to use this service. Pretty fucking stupid, I thought. Borderline scam if I may say so. I mean, yes you get a $25 gift card. But, you have to pay $25 to receive it. So, essentially you’re not getting anything for free here.
For those of you who think that this is still an okay deal since you’re still getting the 6 months of no payments or interest. I guess I should also add that this offer is valid until February 1st, 2008 and the Promo Card expires February 22, 2008. Which means that if you don’t spend the $25 promo card on time, you lose it. Along with your $25 administration fee. Meaning the 6 months are not free; it cost you 25 bucks. That equals over %12 of your bill if it was $200. I don’t know about you folks but I think that a %12 loan cost over 6 months is pretty friggin pricey; more than the interest on most credit cards.
In conclusion, don’t take this deal unless you are sure you can spend that $25 promo card on time. By the way, there’s a reason they’re calling this a Promo Card: it’s illegal to have an expiration date on Gift Cards.
Posted by Frank N. Stein
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Keep up the vigilant, consumer, advocate thing. We all need a ‘magnifying glass’ for the fine print. Your furious eagle eye should help the minions steer clear of the prolific advertising “wow” factor - of which it is NOT.