Credit Card Owners…

Now that I am officially a “collector” I’ve seen the worst of debt.  I must say not a day goes by that I am not utterly astounded at the amount of money people charge on credit cards.  The largest I’ve seen so far: 150,000.00  Yes that much.  I don’t think this would be that big of a deal, but the owner of said credit card called in needing a payment arrangement because they could no longer afford the monthly payment.  The interest rate on that account: 5.4. 

I don’t know if you all are privy to credit card interest rates, but 5.4 is exceptional, especially on that high of a balance.  What made the situation worse was the owner didn’t have a job loss, had no emergency medical issue, he/she was just over-extended and realized with a mortgage, car payments and other credit card debt they could pay no longer.  Unfortunately, we don’t have payment arrangements available for those people who are irresponsible with their credit.  They have to pay because they charged the debt. 

Esseentially what happens to an account like this is the debtor will stop making the monthly payments and the exceptional interest rate of 5.4 immediately turns into 28.99 due to non payment.  No matter how high the balance rises, the owner is still responsible.  But I guess they didn’t think about that as they were charging thousands of dollars to their credit card.

Yet my favorite conversation by far has been the one today.  It went like this:

“So your company helps LOSERS who don’t pay their bill, and your company helps TRASHY people on welfare make their mortgage payments, but you won’t help me.  I’m the middle class guy who makes his payments every month on time.  But I guess I have to be the SLUDGE of society in order to get help!  What the hell is wrong with your company?  And you wonder why America is in the situation it is in now!  I mean seriously, you people are just THIEVES!”

This is just part of the yelling and screaming from the card member.  Here is my problem with his statements.

1.  We don’t want to help people, we are forced to.  If you honestly think that our company enjoys losing millions of dollars a day because people don’t pay their debt you are wrong.

2.  Hey, if you don’t want to pay your bill and go delinquent that’s your choice BUT  you’re going to get a 39.00 late fee every month along with additional finance charges at 28.99% on the $10,000.00   balance you have on your card.  Believe me, I’ve seen it-that’s not a good thing!

3.  The problem with our economy is not that banks help people in trouble, the problem with our economy is that debtors borrow more than they can afford and don’t pay their bills.  Irresponsibility on the part of the borrow is not the banks fault.  (Think of it like this:  A married man cheats on his wife and his excuse is that the woman was dressed in skimpy clothing and offered herself up)  We’re a bank!  We are not a non-profit organization.  The very essence of our organization is to MAKE MONEY OFF OF YOU.  Just like the prostitute who walks the street, she’s not there for love.  So the whole excuse of “I can’t believe your company would do this to me” just doesn’t get you anywhere when you’re calling in to get help.

4.  Having good credit and making your payments on time is a GOOD THING.  Taking responsibility for your debt is honorable, knowing how much you can afford to pay each month is responsible.  So why would you want to be thought of as a loser, trash, and sludge?  Obviously you’re complaining about “those” people, so why are you upset that you’re making it?  You should be thankful you haven’t lost your job, or your wife isn’t dying of terminal cancer, or you haven’t been permanently disabled due to a recent automobile accident.

Anyway, enough of my ranting.  My point in this whole thing is this:  Banks want to take advantage of you, don’t be willfully ignorant