I purchased my dryer at HD with the same terms.  Common sense should tell people that you're going to be hit with interest if it's not paid within the year.  I paid it off little by little throughout the year and made the last payment the day before the 1 year anniversery.  It worked fine for me and in fact, I just bought my washer last weekend with the same terms and intend to pay it off the same way.  Interest free.  I'm pretty sure if you read the terms it tells you that interest does accrue..I have no problem with that policy..  It works for me...

 Credit card advice:

always read the fine print

disregard everything you just read as the cc company can and will change the rules at any given moment and hit you with universal default asap

If you swim with the sharks you will get bit.

Frolic with the guerillas you will get stomped.

Why bother to purchase on those terms?  Delay the instant gratification if at all possible and SAVE the same amount of money up and pay cash.  CASH does not come with fine print terms and universal default, fees, and all those other lovely things attached to buying when we don't have the $ upfront.

I agree with Rolo.  I've succumbed to the "no interest for 12 months" advertising a few times and managed to pay off the full amount each time without incurring interest.  But I was always worried that something would go wrong:  what if I got laid off work, what if I got ill, what if an emergency household expense should come up, what if I made a late payment by mistake, etc., etc.  I'm actually currently in a race-against-time with one of these deals and I swear this will be the last one.  I intend to stay far away from all credit card companies in future. The stress they induce with their nickle-and-diming, sneaky rule changes, and too-good-to-be-true come-on's just isn't worth it.  Besides, I'd be foolish to believe I can continue swimming with sharks indefinitely without getting bitten.

I did this once, to replace a washer that had died - not because I wanted to buy it on credit, but because the deal was there and the cash wasn't.  I paid it off well before the anniversary, and therefore it wasn't a problem.  It's not something I would do on a regular basis - but in an emergency, and knowing what you are doing going in, it can be a good deal.

I have done this many times and I wonder now if it was worth the stress I felt for a whole year or two.  I think I am going to try to go by the rule if you don't have the cash, you can't afford it.  Unless of course, it is an emergency.

If you did buys something.. pay whatever you can every month toward it and you will not be so shaken by it in the end!

It's not all bad,  you just have to wiegh it out personally.

 As an employee of home depot credit services.....I can tell you that the terms are in the brochure that you fill oyut to apply for a card.  Whether or not the terms were readf is another issue. 

karenteacher:

I did this once, to replace a washer that had died - not because I wanted to buy it on credit, but because the deal was there and the cash wasn't.  I paid it off well before the anniversary, and therefore it wasn't a problem.  It's not something I would do on a regular basis - but in an emergency, and knowing what you are doing going in, it can be a good deal.

That is why it is so important to set aside cash in your emergency fund, if at all possible.  Appliances die, cars break down, etc. 

rolo:

karenteacher:

I did this once, to replace a washer that had died - not because I wanted to buy it on credit, but because the deal was there and the cash wasn't.  I paid it off well before the anniversary, and therefore it wasn't a problem.  It's not something I would do on a regular basis - but in an emergency, and knowing what you are doing going in, it can be a good deal.

 

That is why it is so important to set aside cash in your emergency fund, if at all possible.  Appliances die, cars break down, etc. 

I have one now, but at the time, it had just been started, and didn't have enough in it.

Thrifty60:

Sorry.  That's not always the case.   I've had the same types of deals with CitiFinancial, Sears and with Lowe's and they each really were interest free – that was the inducement – meaning that NO INTEREST accrues unless you do not pay within the time stated – then they start charging the interest – not charging for all the interest since you charged the item to the new account.  Proof of this was going into each account online and the balances remaining the same through-out the time until the anniverary dates.    As I paid each off by 2pm - one business day prior to the anniversary date - I never saw any amount of interest charged on the 3 accounts.

Over the years, we've had these types of deals with HD, Lowes and Sears also.  We often use them when making a large purchase, such as an appliance, because you can usually save 10% off the purchase price.  We only do this if we've already saved the cash and pay the card off immediately.  (although, of course, sometimes emergencies do happen and you don't always have the cash ready).  I figure we've saved several hundred dollars over the years with this 10% discount.  But I have never, ever, seen a card that didn't accrue interest from day 1.  Your payoff balance doesn't change as long as you're within the deffered year, but one day past that and BAM, you get it all.  It can really bite you in the butt, and that does happen.

Thrifty60, if you really have found deals that don't start accruing interest, perhaps you could share them with the group by linking to the credit card web page or promotional offer.