Wooly feeling

I vowed never to open another store account following a particularly financially debilitating retail therapy session at Edgars, courtesy of my store card. But Woolworths Holdings [JSE:WHL] is making it extremely difficult to resist. Many of their food items are marked down 10% for cardholders. The extra 10% off to cardholders at its recent Country Road and Trenery sale was the last straw. I bit the bullet and phoned Woolworths Financial Services division.

The phone application takes 15 minutes and the courteous agent warned me of that fact before we began. He talked me through the questionnaire in an efficient manner, pausing to explain any financial lingo to me when I asked. I didn’t feel rushed or pressured into applying for the account at any stage. He concluded by reading me the legal statement – slowly and making sure I’d understood each part. My application was submitted to its credit approvals department and I’ve been assured that I’ll receive a call back within 24 hours.

On the topic of Country Road, their new winter collection looks like it was designed especially for me. It makes me wish Woolworths Financial Services didn’t put a card quite so close within my reach.

SCOREBOARD

Time taken to answer a call: Immediate

First impression: 4/5

Ability to answer query: 5/5

Courtesy of agent: 4/5

Overall score [not an average]: 5/5