While Klarna may be a new high tech version, as a child of a blue collar family in the 70's, much of my school clothes and Christmas presents came to me via Lay-Away services at stores like Bradlee's, Two Guys, Sears, and JC Penney. Back when credit cards were for rich people, this was how to make sure that they things you wanted were still available when you were able to finally pay. And yet this was treated the same as Klara is now, when the fact is, our financial system was designed to help those who have money, and prevent those who don't from joining their ranks.
The difference is that layaway was held at the store until you paid the bill in full. BNPL allows the customer to have use of the item while they are paying, which can cause people to lose track of how much they are spending that way, imo.
I'm in retail. I know that when you return an item you've paid for by credit card, it takes a few business days for the credit to hit your account. With BNPL, the customer gets some kind of 'alternate card number', and that's where the credit goes, not to the card the customer uses. I have no idea how long it takes or how they get the credit to their actual card for the amount they've already paid. All I know is that the average customer doesn't understand the process and gets mad at me. It's a mess.
Yes! I'm sorry you bear the brunt of this in your job; we put so much onto people in customer-facing roles. This is one of the biggest issues with technocapitalism — it's sold to us as a convenience, but when we're dealing with these weird webs of tech companies behind the scenes, we just create distance between the customer and anyone who can actually help them with an issue. DoorDash already created this issue by inserting itself between customers and restaurants, and adding Klarna as the payment processor is definitely going to make things more complicated.
I think this might be the first time that former fashion editor Alec Leach’s Substack landed in my inbox within hours of yours, and there are increasingly more connected threads between both of your newsletters https://alecleach.substack.com/p/a-glitch-in-the-new-stuff-industrial
I don’t love BNPL services but I know they have their place sometimes. I do see DoorDash as a way that people can easily lose money if it becomes a way of life, especially now when everything is about to become more expensive. Learning to cook is one of the best money savers of all and it can be creative not punitive.
I had a friend who stereotypically had multiple Starbucks/fast food daily. She also complained about mounting credit card debt. I finally asked how she was paying for her twice daily Starbucks and she told me she was using her debit card, so I was relieved that she wasn't paying interest on her latte, at least. I also think it would be easy to get out of control charging a lot of meals.
I hate to habit shame and I still believe the fault lies with the system, not the users but one of the ways we take back our power is realizing what is being marketed to us and actively resisting it. One of my biggest pet peeves is that self care is now an excuse to sell things to people.
While Klarna may be a new high tech version, as a child of a blue collar family in the 70's, much of my school clothes and Christmas presents came to me via Lay-Away services at stores like Bradlee's, Two Guys, Sears, and JC Penney. Back when credit cards were for rich people, this was how to make sure that they things you wanted were still available when you were able to finally pay. And yet this was treated the same as Klara is now, when the fact is, our financial system was designed to help those who have money, and prevent those who don't from joining their ranks.
Yes! Layaway was my first thought when I saw this discourse. This isn’t new; we’re always going to find a way to get things they try to keep from us.
The difference is that layaway was held at the store until you paid the bill in full. BNPL allows the customer to have use of the item while they are paying, which can cause people to lose track of how much they are spending that way, imo.
I'm in retail. I know that when you return an item you've paid for by credit card, it takes a few business days for the credit to hit your account. With BNPL, the customer gets some kind of 'alternate card number', and that's where the credit goes, not to the card the customer uses. I have no idea how long it takes or how they get the credit to their actual card for the amount they've already paid. All I know is that the average customer doesn't understand the process and gets mad at me. It's a mess.
Yes! I'm sorry you bear the brunt of this in your job; we put so much onto people in customer-facing roles. This is one of the biggest issues with technocapitalism — it's sold to us as a convenience, but when we're dealing with these weird webs of tech companies behind the scenes, we just create distance between the customer and anyone who can actually help them with an issue. DoorDash already created this issue by inserting itself between customers and restaurants, and adding Klarna as the payment processor is definitely going to make things more complicated.
This was a top-notch essay. Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated it.
Thank you so much!
I think this might be the first time that former fashion editor Alec Leach’s Substack landed in my inbox within hours of yours, and there are increasingly more connected threads between both of your newsletters https://alecleach.substack.com/p/a-glitch-in-the-new-stuff-industrial
This was such a good read. I so appreciate everything you write, Dana. Thank you.
Oh my goodness, Keris, thank you! 💖
Honestly, you’ve made me think about so many things in a completely new light.
I don’t love BNPL services but I know they have their place sometimes. I do see DoorDash as a way that people can easily lose money if it becomes a way of life, especially now when everything is about to become more expensive. Learning to cook is one of the best money savers of all and it can be creative not punitive.
I had a friend who stereotypically had multiple Starbucks/fast food daily. She also complained about mounting credit card debt. I finally asked how she was paying for her twice daily Starbucks and she told me she was using her debit card, so I was relieved that she wasn't paying interest on her latte, at least. I also think it would be easy to get out of control charging a lot of meals.
I hate to habit shame and I still believe the fault lies with the system, not the users but one of the ways we take back our power is realizing what is being marketed to us and actively resisting it. One of my biggest pet peeves is that self care is now an excuse to sell things to people.