Cencosud Mastercard - Avoid This Credit Card

[Davidglen77]

Easy / Jumbo / Disco (and a few other major retailers) are owned by this very large company called Cencosud. They offer a MasterCard and there are many advertisements for discounts and 18 to 24 cuotas if you pay with this card. Of course they fail to mention that every month they charge a $30 peso YES thirty peso fee just to generate and send you a statement, even if it only comes to you by e-mail. And that is in addition to a $200 peso per year renovation fee. I was looking at some of the discounts that they offered on small appliances using this card and many of them ONLY apply if you pay for the item with the Cencosud credit card AND pay for it in 18 or 24 cuotas. In 18 billing periods you pay them $540 in fees and in 24 billing period $720 not to mention the $200 yearly fee that they charge for "renovation". With these fees any discounts they offer are a total WASH!! The same goes for groceries, any discounts get paid right back to them in usury fees!! Caveat Emptor!!

 

[argsteve]

I think a lot of them do this sort of thing..I was looking at the fallabella card charges ..they charge you some sort of life insurance just in case you die before you maybe pay the 12 payments or whatever....small fees.. but they add up after the 12 months...... just like all credit cards buyer beware on the extra hidden fees...

 

[Matiasba]

I have Cencosud and bought some stuff (a fridge, a washing machine) in the last 2 years with that card. And yes, each cuota has a plus of 30 pesos, which in the end is a lot of money. And they added me a 12 pesos insurance that I didnt ask for. They said they told me when I signed the contract, but they didnt, so when I realise I cancelled it but it took 3 more months!!!

LADRONES, thats what they are.

Two weeks ago they called me to offer me that Mastercard, and they said it was totally free of charge, that I dont have to spend a peso. I told them yes, but wasnt at home when they delivered it. So I understood that as a signal and I wont go and pick it up.

 

[EricLovesBA]

Two weeks ago they called me to offer me that Mastercard, and they said it was totally free of charge, that I dont have to spend a peso. I told them yes, but wasnt at home when they delivered it. So I understood that as a signal and I wont go and pick it up.

Ha. Some schmuck in customer service will go, "Wow, nobody came to pick up this card. Would be a shame to let it go to waste... "

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Am trying to avoid cencosud as a rule, one of the things i like here is not buying fruit, veg and meat in supermarkets. Cencosud dairy products are rubbish too.

 

[Davidglen77]

Just to be on the safe side, I would make sure that credit card is cancelled. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if in a year they charged you a renovation fee of $200 pesos, even if you never picked it up and used it! Here you don't need to activate credit cards after receiving them from the bank, they are already activated when you receive them. BEWARE!!

 

[Matiasba]

I think I had to call once Id have the card to activate it. That wont happen.


Edit: yes they told me that, I remember cause I would have to negotiate the limit.

 

[Ries]

But wait- isnt this how you avoid US Hegemony, and build a credit rating in Argentina?

 

[Gaucho_ec]

em, evey credit card charges you the administrative fees if you spent anything on the month, same for annual fee (and much higher than $200). Some Gold/platinum cards, or some banks "bonifican" the fee if you also have with them a checkings/savings accounts