Chase Credit Card Services just called and wanted to know if I could make a payment on my overdue credit card. The gentleman from India was polite and persistent, and he “can only imagine” what I’m going through. Damn straight.
After going around in circles for a while I asked the Chase man, “If I can’t pay my mortgage, how would you expect me to pay you?”
He asked, “How do you pay for your daily necessities?”
“I don’t pay for all of them. I have been able to buy food for myself. And I paid my electric bill,” I replied.
He was undeterred. “May I schedule a payment for the future?” he asked.
“How can you schedule a payment when I don’t have any income?”
“Well, we need to take care of this account. If we cannot schedule a payment, your credit report will reflect that it is 60 days overdue. (Like I care about my credit report right now.) When do you expect to have some income?”
“Oh, in about six or seven months.”
The conversation continued like this for five minutes, me explaining that I had no money, him asking for it anyway. He wanted to know if I could borrow the money from someone. Yeah, right, I’m gonna borrow some cash from a friend, forget all about the IRS lien on my business, forget the mortgage, car payment, insurance, my utilities, and eating, and I’m gonna pay Chase, a company that thinks it’s cool to charge 29.99% interest. Maybe if I fasted for a couple weeks I could send him my grocery money.
Last week I spoke with a wonderful young man from India. We talked a bit about the weather, finances, his job and how stressful it is for him. It took him six months to find this job, and the work is taking an emotional toll on him. What a rotten job. I felt worse for him than I do for me. I asked him if being a doctor or engineer was still the hot career in India. No, it appears finance is now the main educational interest and career opportunity.
An article by Heather Timmons states:
Armed with a sophisticated automated system that dials tens of thousands of Americans every hour, and puts confidential information like Social Security numbers, addresses and credit history at operators’ fingertips, this new breed of collectors is chasing down late car payments, overdue credit card debt and lapsed installment loans. Debt collectors in India often cost about one-quarter the price of their American counterparts, and are often better at the job, debt collection company executives say.
Now this was a credit card I got through Amazon. “Apply for this card and get $30 off your next order.” It had no interest for six months and for every dollar spent I would earn credit toward certificates on Amazon. But when I got overwhelmed by bills, work and worry, I was late making a payment, and my interest rate went up to 29.99%. I paid like a dutiful debtor until I decided to step off the treadmill.
I’d love to hear from others who applied for credit through offers like this and found with time that the bank was able to take advantage of either financial hardship or bad judgment by increasing the interest rate.
And for those who don’t have such cards, don’t get them! If you really need a credit card for hotels or car rentals, then put your own money into an account at the bank and have them issue you a credit card against it. It is a bonafide credit card–not a debit card–but the money is secured by you. It’ll make you think twice about blowing your own money, you can build your credit by carrying a small balance and making timely monthly payments on it, and if hard times befall you, you can pay it off.
The bank is not your friend.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Your story about the man asking if you could borrow the money reminded me of someone I know who is going through financial hardship. The collection agent (from the bank, on a car payment) asked her if she could borrow the money, when she said no, they then asked her if she could have a garage sale to get the payment money. Not the full balance of the loan, just the payment that was overdue. WHAT THEN? 2 more months being late, what would there be to sell?
You give a good idea at the end about not getting into the save $, to get buried later. I hope things keep work out for you.
It is so easy to get into debt by using the credit cards. I woke up and I got rid of my cards. Unfortunately, the debts were not as easy to get rid of.
After my bankruptcy is finalized, I’m not getting any more credit cards. Well, I’ll get a secured credit card, but that’s it. Sad thing is that most of the debt was for my business.
Thank you wonderfull people and your stories. It seems like there are more problems to come in this world of ression,depression and probably the fire,and floods will follow.All kidding aside (: Guess we will all hopefully get on with our lives somehow.