For the purpose of SmartTiles development, I have a “few” SmartThings Accounts.
I definitely received this notice on an Account that I never opted-in to “Promotions”. Perhaps there was some opportunity to opt-out, but I didn’t see it.
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It’s not crazy, but it is, depending on one’s views, unethical.
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Consumer should not be enticed to use overpriced financing. Many “department store credit cards” (but not all) and auto loans by dealers, etc., charge 15% to much, much more, when often these same consumers are eligible for less expensive loans from their Credit Union. Or the consumer is already far too indebted.
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Consumers should not be enticed to use overpriced financing for something as unnecessary as “smart home technology”.
Just my opinion. “Credit” is the American way; I suppose I’m a communist.
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they still need your permission to send marketing materials to you, and you have the option to unsubscribe.
It is still spam if it’s not solicited. 
When you are dealing with the company in some way, they may add you on a list that requires you to “opt-out” of it. Just because I buy a product from SmartThings does not give them the rights to send me marketing advertisements like this without my consent.
Bad ethics.
edit: but speaking of bad ethics… lol @ affirm terms.
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lol. Does that department even exist? People with real marketing experience wouldn’t think this was a good idea to blast everyone with this option, especially if they knew their use base. Besides, is IoT’s user base the same ones that needs to finance an arm and a leg for $100 hub + $30-50 dollar sensors?
If that department even exists, it shows how out of touch they are with their target customers.
Or they’re too lazy to parse the data out, of who is a lead, and who are paying customers. Easier to Send All! Then again, Samsung TV’s all have advertisements when you log into the SmartHub now these days.
Error: Cannot send Z-WAVE command to “Front Door” Schlage Lock. You’re 5 days past due on your Affirm Payment. Would you like to process that today?
I saw this, bust out laughing and hit delete. My wife was intrigued and went into my deleted items, bust out laughing as well.
This goes back to personal accountability. Very few things in life should be financed, simple math tells one that if they need to finance and cant outright afford, and it’s not a NECESSITY, they don’t need it. But 'MERICA!
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Great Planet Money podcast episode about renting tires…
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/06/14/191379313/why-more-people-are-renting-tires
That’s called capitalism and personal responsibility. I have great credit and highest card is 12.25% car loans 1.49.
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True. House and car. House is good debt car is a must have and rates are damn near free anyway
Last car I got a loan on was 1% the one before was 0%, and I only did each for 6 months to help keep my credit up. Small cost for keeping that fake pile of crap number high!
Oh and massive down payment so that 1% cost me like twenty bucks.
@whoismoses WOW, just, WOW!
Hence @Geko’s point that the use of this high-interest rate loan company (up to 30%?) reeks of desperation (on both SmartThings’s part and/or Customers who decide to pay that rate).
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I agree but that is capitalism. But not at its finest
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I don’t rent tires, but some times you gotta do what you gotta do.
Did you listen to it?
Only 30% interest!
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I’m in favor of choice. I don’t see any harm in their offering this option. Consumers can decide for themselves whether it’s worth it once they see the actual charges.
There is a very high percentage of people between the age of 18 and 24 who don’t have a credit card but might be interested in SmartThings. Many retailers have been offering various installment purchase plans, sometimes re-introducing them after 20 or 30 years of not having them, specifically to reach this group.
Once these people get to be about age 25, they do typically have the same kind of credit cards as older people. But this particular generation under age 25 is much less likely to have a credit card then people who are now 45 were when they were 24.
Again, I wasn’t offended by it, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. They’ll offer it, if somebody wants to take advantage of it they can, if somebody thinks it’s too expensive, they don’t need to use it.
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30 seems high but most Dept stores are 28 unless offering a promotion which very few do.
It may not be a big deal, but it does smell fishy that SmartThings decided to resort to this kind of tactics to boost their sales. Affirm has been criticized in the media for their lending practices.
http://www.valuepenguin.com/sites/default/files/affirm-v-creditcards-interest.png
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This is a long-standing argument about consumer choice in the use of credit. I do understand that people end up paying a lot more when they use installment plans. But sometimes that is worth it to a particular person in order to get the item sooner.
Yes, that’s often frivolous entertainment stuff. But not always.
Take wheelchairs, something that I am personally familiar with. I personally have to pay about $2500 when I get a new wheelchair. The wheelchair itself costs much more and much of it is covered by insurance but I basically have a 20% co-pay.
I know what my monthly income is going to be two years from now, barring something really exceptional, so I can plan ahead.
Would I rather pay $2800 spread out over two years and get the wheelchair now? Or have no working wheelchair for year? If I know that the payments will fit my budget, then, yeah, I’ll pay that extra 10 or 15% in order to get the wheelchair sooner.
People who shouldn’t carry a credit balance are people who have no savings and are very unsure as to what their future income will be. That’s an entirely different group.
But if somebody decides they want the benefits of smart lighting now and they’re willing to pay an extra 15% to get it now and they have high confidence that is also realistic that they will be able to pay it off over 12 months, that’s a choice. It’s not necessarily dumb. Time has value too.
What’s dumb is carrying a high balance with no plan for paying it off and no good sense of what future earnings will be.
But if you have a plan to pay it off, and you have good expectations for being able to do so, and you’re willing to pay more in order to get it sooner, personally I don’t see a problem with that. It’s a choice.
Everyone once in awhile I splurge and pay six bucks to rent a current movie for 48 hours, even though I know if I wait long enough it will probably be available through the local library for free. That’s not necessarily a bad financial decision. It comes out of my entertainment budget. I can afford it if I don’t do it very often, and I get my money’s worth out of being able to discuss current movies with my friends while they are still current.
All JMO of course. 
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And you are right in your opinion, I share most of it. Like you always say JD, “my use case may not be yours.” Sometimes debt helps in a pickle, as long as you are careful with what you take on. Poor use case example to follow…
The problem is the predatory nature of it. There’s a fine line between offering a service that some may want, and providing a mechanism that can destroy your life financially by marketing it like candy to a kid. Humans are dumb, instant gratification is inherent in all of us. Looking to the future is not in our DNA. The will to control that is what most (seemingly) lack.
Companies like Affirm (all banks, lenders, etc) VERY WELL know that, and are simply taking advantage. A friend just bought a $900 cell phone that he in no way can afford, or likely pay off for that matter, while trying to pay off tens of thousands in other debt. Poor choice made simpler (and far less obvious) thanks to the marketing tactics of ONLY $39.99 a Month! And this example doesn’t even include interest!
This is what government regulation is for, not to control you, but to protect you (and thus the constituents), even if it’s from your own dumb a**. This is why the governments latest crackdown on payday loans is a good thing. But it doesn’t go far enough. Of course that’s just my opinion.
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Exactly… And Samsung SmartThings, like it or not, is “guilty by association” – i.e., by promoting a predatory lender, SmartThings taints their own reputation with that brush.
If consumers want to independently acquire and use a high-interest rate Credit Card, payday lender, pawn shop or their local loan shark, that’s none of my business. If SmartThings promotes a specific high-interest rate vendor (Affirm), that affects my impression of SmartThings.
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Adults are not children, that is why we call them adults.
Another podcast for your ears…
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