This former Ulta employee is coming clean about why you should avoid signing up for the Ulta credit card at all costs.
“I wanted to be brutally honest with y’all and tell y’all, coming from somebody who’s worked there for six months, that you should not be signing up for that credit card,” creator Madi (@addieislame) said.
In the TikTok, she explained that Ulta employees are hardcore about pushing the store credit cards because their managers are “constantly on our ass” to get signups, and they have a minimum number they need to hit.
At Madi’s store, she had to get about 10 credit card signups a day. If you don’t hit your assigned goals you’ll get scheduled less (aka make less money).
“Which is pretty [expletive] up,” Madi said.
She added that if you’ve ever noticed an Ulta employee get pissed off or start being rude after you declined the card, that’s probably why. “We’ll get in trouble if we don’t get you signing up.”
Madi also claimed that she heard customers complain about being charged late fees despite paying their balance in full, not giving notice on late payments, harassing people for payment, shutting down their cards unexpectedly (causing a big hit to their credit score), and charging the incorrect amount for purchases. We can’t confirm any of this, so as of right now it’s all speculation.
What we can partially back Madi on is this: “Another huge thing is that Ulta credit cards have the highest interest rates I’ve ever seen for a credit card.”
@addieislame Plz don’t fall for ulta beauty associates tactics getting you to sign up foe the credit card 😬 #xyz #xyzcba #fyp #relatable #ulta #ultaemployee #ultaworker #ultabeautyadvisor #ultacreditcard #creditcard ♬ original sound – Madi
As of this week, the average credit card interest rate is at 27.91%, according to Forbes. Yet at the time of publishing the Ulta Beauty Rewards™ Credit Card had a whopping 32.24% interest rate (this was not listed prominently on Ulta’s credit card page, we instead had to find it in the terms and conditions).
Ulta may not have the “highest interest rates” of any card, but they’re certainly higher than most. It is important to note that interest rates can vary based on your credit score and the market. (FYI, Ulta has multiple credit cards with varying rates and terms of use.)
“I hated the pressure of making y’all sign up for credit cards and I always felt so fucking bad when I would get a yes because I knew the consequences,” Madi said.
“But it’s like if I didn’t get those signups, I would get in trouble, and I wouldn’t get hours … it’s messed up, but that is how most retail stores are if they offer a credit card.”
Employees from several different retailers have taken to TikTok to warn people about signing up for store credit cards and to explain why employees are so persistent in getting you to sign up for one.
An Old Navy worker said her manager encouraged her to sign up people for the card who didn’t speak English natively because they “didn’t know any better.”
A former T.J. Maxx worker said that her manager would force the high schoolers who worked the register to “sell credit cards to struggling single mothers or threaten that they’d get fired.” She alluded that managers got more PTO or some other reward if their employees hit a certain number of card signups.
Another Ulta employee said that store policy required her to have a customer decline the credit card three times before she could stop asking them to sign up, otherwise, her manager would threaten to cut her hours.
Commenters had a lot to say under Madi’s video.
“I hated working at Ulta for this reason. I would only get 4hrs a week bc I couldn’t get credit card sign ups,” a former employee shared.
“I stopped shopping in store at ulta bc of the employees being so rude about saying no to the card,” a customer said.
“The interest is always insane I will never get a store credit card,” another chimed in.
The Daily Dot reached out to Madi and Ulta for comment via email.