My wife and I have been loyal customers of Sam's Club spending $22, 987.23 in their stores since 1997. We began charging purchases to the Sam's Credit Card when that became available in the Spring of 2003, and since then have always paid our monthly balance in full and on time. In November 2008 my wife and I took a 2 week vacation to Hawaii, and while we were gone received a $144. bill for charges at Sam's Club. We returned on December 7 and I paid the bill in full on December 7.

Shortly thereafter I received a statement for a $25 late fee on the $144. purchase which equals 17.4% interest. When I called the credit company that works behind the scenes for Sam's Club they refused to talk to me since my wife's name was on the card, although everything we have is jointly owned. I then went to the local store to get their help and they said my problem was with GMAC, not Sam's, and they couldn't help me. All I know is when I pay for the goods at Sam's store, the blue card says Sam's Club so as far as I'm concerned, Sam's owns the responsibility to resolve any credit issues.
I promptly explained to the Sam's associate that I would spend another $23, 000 over the coming years, but not at Sam's, at COSTCO (where I can earn a rebate by the way). As such I have canceled all of my memberships with Sam's Club and have joined COSTCO. This is no loss to me, and maybe my little bit of business is a minimal loss to Sam's. But rest assured, I plan to tell everyone I know of my Sam's experience. Simply put, Sam's cannot partner with another company to provide services to its customers and not provide proper oversight. It is Sam's Club brand that is being tarnished here, not GMAC which only appears in the fine print of the statement.