Here is what would happen if Household bought the Sears accounts:

(1) Nothing would change, terms stay the same, everything looks OK for
a month.

(2) Next month they don't send you a bill.

(3) The following month your bill arrives, they blame last month on
you, and your interest rate is now 24%, plus you get a $29 late fee.

(4) They tell you that in month 2 your statement was returned and they
blame it on the postal service. Then they tell you that included in
what you didn't receive were new terms and conditions.

(5) You discover that your new terms and conditions, that you didn't
receive, changed everthing from unsecured to secured. You can't
declare it in bankruptcy, must reaffirm your wonderful Sears account,
and can't get away from it.

(6) Now, when you make a payment on the secured items, you send the
payment in 10 days early and it is credited 1 day late.

(7) Your Sears card balance goes up every month and you resign
yourself to paying these people for the rest of your life.

(8) One month you decide to pay them in full. You send a check for
the payoff. It gets there one day late.

(9) The following month you call to get a balance, pay it by phone,
and find out that they charged you $15 for doing so, but did not tell
you.

(10) Next month you get a bill for $15. You know if you mail a
payment it will get there one day late. Faced with paying $29 late
fee and the $15 for another phone payment, or mailing a check for only
$15, you call them again.

(11) This time you explain what happened and they tell you they will
waive the current $15 phone pay fee, since you were honest with them
last month. You ask if they are sincere, they say yes, and you make a
payment of $44.

(12) Next month they bill you $15.

(13) You call them and ask for the customer service rep that made you
the offer. They never heard of them. You ask for a supervisor. You
state your case. The supervisor waives the $15 balance and you are
once again free and happy.

(14) The next month, you get a bill for $15, and a $29 late fee.

(15) You get really mad and call customer service. You ask to speak
with the Chairman and CEO, William F. Adinger. They tell you to sober up.

(16) Then customer service tells you that you need to grow up, become
a responsible adult, learn how to read a bill, get a grip on your
finances, come to grips with reality, and by the way, don't ever call
again and try to lie about someone that made you an offer a month ago
because there was never anybody by that name that ever worked there.
You get mad and raise your voice. They tell you they don't need to
tolerate that stuff and hang up on you.

(17) You send a check for another $44 and you send it registered mail,
15 days ahead of time, and you are again free. You state that they
should close your account, and you cut your Sears card to shreds.

(18) Two years later you try to buy a house and discover that your
former account which you paid off three times is in collections for
twice what you ever owed in the first place.

(19) You call the collection agency, explain that the account was paid
off, should not be in collection, and you dispute the error with all
three credit reporting agencies.

(20) The mortage company tells you that the underwriters can only get
you financed by one company - Household Finance.

(21) You look at the credit report after you decide that your mortgage
officer is wrong, crazy, a drug addict, or gets a kick back from
Household.

(22) You discover that your account was never closed and you have what
appears to be 10 times more available credit that you ever financed in
the first place, however, this time it is a liability instead of an
asset.

(23) While consulting with your mortage officer and a good attorney,
you get a bill on your former closed Sears/Household account for a one
year subscription to Rolling Stone Magazine, and find that the
magazine is mailed to the Household customer service center nearest
your home.

(24) You consider cutting off one of your *beep* and mailing it to
them if they would lose your name and address like they did back in
the good old days which was month number 2. It seems so long ago.

(25) Next month, your bill for Rolling Stone arrives in your mail box
one day after the payment was due.

--------------------------
From and old Marine
Semper Fi