How have you been shafted by "Big Business", Credit cards, or the Goverment???

[stp1971]

This comes after reading the thread about MBNA. Sitting back and watching the steady decline of the American Economy and watching where people are going further and further in debt it just really pees me off.

Credit card companies are buying each other out to now if you do you homework you will find that the Big Bad BOA is now one of the strongest in the country (Bank Of America). They own several major credit card companies. Chase is in there too. There are not alot of choices left with regards to where you can shop to not get the shaft. Here is the problem with this. The American public is at an all time high with excessive debt and now the credit card companies can and will do as they please to screw you.

They will screw you by raising APR's without justification. Days not too long ago you could shop around, get good rates, and even demand rate reduction. Not anymore,, you can try,, but good luck. The companies have seen a problem with the extreme amount of Bankruptcy, foreclosure, Chapter 7, and Chapter 13's out there and what has the goverment done. Protect the people,, right. The goverment is in the process of passing a law that every American citizen will have to pay over the minimum monthly payment due.

What does that mean???? Does that mean that if you do not you are breaking the law??? Can credit card companies then have the right to garnish your wages more so than now???? Possibly so.

Here's some statistics for you.
1. In 1929 only 2 percent of homes had mortgages on them. By 1962 only 2 percent of homes did not have mortgages on them.
2. In 2003 a recent study showed that 70 percent of the American public lives paycheck to paycheck. Over 55 percent of the public worry constantly about their money.
3. The federal reserve says mortgage debt has more than doubled since the early nineties. Foreclosure has become a way of life. Foreclosures have increased 200 percent since 1980 with more than 600,000 homes lost in 2001. The American Bankruptcy Institute says that 1,500,000 were filed in 2002 with new records set every year after that.
4. 71 percent of the bankruptcies are Chapter 7, which is total bankruptcy where you lose everything, but 95 percent of those cases were no asset cases. That means that they had no assets to lose by the time they got to bankruptcy.
5. Just two weeks ago they announced that this past year was the highest amount of purchases made on credit that the country has ever seen. Not since the great depression and even then the comparison to dollar to dollar value it greatly exceeded the post depression era.

In the last 40 years we have become a nation of consumers versus a nation of producers that we used to be. We used to be a country that made stuff. We used to export and our people had jobs that made stuff to sell to other countries. We are now just a swap dollars for dollars country. We import far more stuff than we export. We have become a retail country. The bad thing about a retail country is when the economy fails no one has the money to buy anymore. When the buying stops then the economy stops. Jobs are lost and credit card companies, mortgage companies, banks, etc. will get your stuff.

Sounds pretty bleak doesn't it???? Yep,, so what can you do to fix it??? Stop spending money you do not have. The society makes you believe you need alot of stuff. If you cannot afford it then do not buy it. 60 years ago our grandparents believed that you live off of less than you make. That is why the grandparent that only made middle to low income was still able to have over a hundred grand in the bank. That is why people inherited money when they passed on. What do you inherit today???? Their debt.

Start paying off these cards, sacrificing the luxuries, and get back to basics.
Live a lifestyle less than what you make and start building that nest egg not that debt egg.

I have been screwed by the credit card companies, car dealerships, and loan companies. I was witness to a mortgage company who tried their hardest to bend me over with this property I was wanting to buy. I knew my budget. They came in with alot of extra fees. Jacked the interest rate up a full 1.25% higher than he said I might be able to get,, a full 1% higher than he said I will get. Then shortened the terms,, tacked on an unrealistic balloon payment in five years, jacked the payment up about $200.00 more than I was told,, and when I questioned him he acted like I was stupid.

He threw in the sales pitch about how great this property is, how good of a deal I was getting, and I was lucky that anyone would finance me almost 100% with my credit score of 806????? WTF???? Then after walking out of the closing and saying that nothing was as he said and the deal is off they come back the very next day and said that they "Accidentally" put down the wrong term of 15 years versus the 20 years we agreed to. That they "Accidentally" put down the wrong interest rate of 8.0% versus the 7.875% that we agreed upon.

I pointed out that it NEVER was told to me 7.875% that it was supposed to be possibly 6.75% but I should definately get 7.0%.

They were going to send me to closing with a shorter term, higher unrealistic payment, higher interest rate, and almost $5750.00 dollars at closing when originally it was supposed to be a zero money down deal.

So how have you been screwed and who is screwing you?

Check out Dave Ramsey's website and listen to some of his broadcasts and read some of his books. It is an eye opening experience. It helped me pull myself out of over $42,000.00 worth of credit card debt and now "I AM FREE"!!!!! You can too,, really,,, you need to be.

[viper94bite]

Sean- are you bitter today? jk bro. I hear ya somebody is always out to screw ya. for me their name is Visa. lol

[arkieollie]

whew! Let me tell you my credit card story. First of all I pay my credit card off every month (believe it or not). I pay with a money order....I don't like the credit card people to have my checking account number (even though they probably do anyway). Anyways....they LOST or STOLE my $153.00 postal money order and then charged me a late fee ($39.00). I just knew I was screwed on this but I pursued it anyway ($153.00 is a lot to me). I ran a postal search (cost me 4.00) on the money order and after a long haggle it was determined that the credit card company was at fault!! Can you believe it? They credited me $153.00 + $39.00 + $4.00 + the interest on $192.00. the whole point being.....DON"T BACK DOWN FROM THEM.

[inspiron]

The question is ... if and when should the government step in?

On one side, when the regulatory agencies get involved, things tend to get worse before they get better. It gets harder for "borderline" cases to get loans, since the banking industry will get more careful and more selective about who they are willing to loan money to.

On the other side, 30% APR is inexcusable. The credit card companies are earning 3% to 6% on every transaction (the seller pays for the privilege of accepting credit cards), plus up to $100 for annual fees just to give you the card, then charging you 2.5% per MONTH for carrying a balance? If you own $1000 this month, you have to pay them back $1025 next month? And after just 6 months, your debt has risen to $1160!

Maybe it is time for the government to step in and tell credit card companies that they are not allowed to charge more than 10% above the federal reserve rate. Either play by these rules, or you can't do business in the USA anymore.

Just for the record ... I carry several charge cards, but don't have any credit cards. I have "EC" direct-debit cards for paying at the supermarket, etc. And I have two MasterCard/EuroCards which are direct-debit from my account at the end of the month. The only "credit" I use is the overdraft protection on my bank account, which currently costs me about 12% per year when I need it.

[Kehau D.]

Originally Posted by stp1971

They will screw you by raising APR's without justification. Days not too long ago you could shop around, get good rates, and even demand rate reduction.

A little bitter today Sean? Seriously though, funny you should bring this up. I just did a paper in my sociology class that had something to do about this. Here's something a little more bleak:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/01....ap/index.html

"Study: College students lack literacy for complex tasks

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than half of students at four-year colleges -- and at least 75 percent at two-year colleges -- lack the literacy to handle complex, real-life tasks such as understanding credit card offers, a study found."

The way I see it, as long as there is a growing population that doesn't know the meaning of APR and interest rates and such, the "big companies" will continue to try and take as much money as they possibly can from everyone, no matter what state the economy is in.

[stp1971]

Originally Posted by inspiron

Just for the record ... I carry several charge cards, but don't have any credit cards. I have "EC" direct-debit cards for paying at the supermarket, etc. And I have two MasterCard/EuroCards which are direct-debit from my account at the end of the month. The only "credit" I use is the overdraft protection on my bank account, which currently costs me about 12% per year when I need it.

+1!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excellent dude!!!!! I no longer use my credit cards. I carry my checkbook around with me everywhere I go. I use my debit card and immediately deduct it from my account. I write a check I immediately deduct it from my account. I did however use my discover card a couple of times with transactions over the phone since I have established a strict set of guidelines that the company has to adher to when any inquiries are asked for on my account. I dictate what my interest rate is on that card.

I have a set for life APR of 2.9% on all purchases, 7.9% for cash advances, and 0% for balance transfers. After I paid it off I waited about two months to ensure no outstanding charges were lingering. I then called them and told them I wanted to lower my rates to what I just stated. They told me they were unable. I told them then I would like to close my account.

They immediately switched me to a supervisor in charge of keeping customers. I told them what i wanted and they said once agian they could not do that but they would meet me half way. I TOLD THEM THANKS BUT NO THANKS AND PLEASE CLOSE MY ACCOUNT.

Now grant I had a $29,000 dollar limit on my card which at one time I had that much on it and was paying overage fees on. I had whittled that down to nothing. They reminded me of my outstanding record of paying on time and my good standing with them and I was a valued customer since 1998.

I told them once again what I wanted since I was such a good customer and if I did not receive it consider this account closed. He agreed to it. Then i told him I wanted a confirmation number for this and this conversation. He gave it to me. Then I told him I want extra security measures installed on my account to protect not only me but them from fraud. Done.

Last slap to them was when I told them I wanted to reduce my credit limit down to $1500.00,,, huh??? That was the response I got. He said that no-one EVER asks for a credit decrease like that. I told him I wasn't no-one. I then asked for the confirmation number to that also.

I called Chase, Bank of America, and one other I had and closed them all. Had them send letters of confirmation that they were closed at customers request. I called MBNA and lowered my $17,500.00 limit down to $500.00 .

I was screwed by all the ones I closed and I was screwed with by MBNA when I would ask for a limit increase to keep me from paying overage fees. They also would not reduce my APR when I asked. So I figure I will keep that card open and NEVER use it.

I also told MBNA that I want to receive a statement every month with my balance and account information so I can monitor any fraudalent activity. They agreed and started sending me that info. Every month no charges and no income for them. I also have no annual fees.

They called me and asked if I could start getting my balance and account information via email every month. I told them nope. I want it mailed. I figure it is costing them postage, price of paper, manpower to mail it, etc.

I am getting back some of that money I paid on overage fees.

[Trapper]

I don't know if Sears is big business but, I purchased a matress set 7 years ago with a 25 year limited warranty. Now the quilted top started to wear through (get your heads out of the gutter) and they sent a matress technician (???) to look at it and he said it was faulty. All I wanted was 18/25 of a new set. i.e. I would pay for 7/25 of the price. When they looked it up and saw that I had bought it on sale (A SALE AT SEARS...YOU DON"T SAY) The Manager of the store said he would refund 18/25 of the sale price. I told him I didn't want the money , I want a new set. He more or less said "Too Bad". The set was on for a really good deal when I bought it but it was not damaged or a "second", and they still carry the same product. So he offered me $350 towards a new $1400 set. WTF!!! So I decide to send an e-mail to Sears Canada's customer care website and within a day or so I received a call.... BY THE SAME MANAGER!!! Seems they just forwarded the e-mail to him. Oh well, I try not to shop there anymore but it's hard to keep the wife away from them.

[stp1971]

Good Post Kehau. That link is sad... but true. Alot of people I know don't even know how to budget their checkbook. That dumb saying if there is still checks there still must be money. You wouldn't believe the people that believe that.

Trapper. Sears is big business. In fact if you dig up some info on them you will see that "K-Mart" which filed bankruptcy a few years ago and its stock dropped to around $14.00 a share is now worth last time I looked a while ago $85.00 a share. It might be different now. But what happened is SEARS was bought out by K-Mart after K-Mart regrouped and came back streamlined and stronger.

Did you know that Discover card was in cohoots with SEARS???? They are part of that network. You can go to any SEARS store and pay your Discover card balance. Found that out a few years ago while paying down my debt.

My mom's Aunt and one of my Mom's best friends just recently, both of them on separate days, tried taking back a new blouse my mom bought for them at SEARS for Christmas. Neither of the blouses fit either woman. They went to separate SEARS on separate days and with the gift exchange receipts and both were told that they could not return the blouse because those particular blouses had already been returned. They said they just got them for Christmas. They said it didn't matter that those particular blouses had been returned.

They argued about it with the manager and evidentally the bar code shows each individual blouses sale history. Hmmmm,,not sure about that,, but even with the reciept they were eventually only given 80% of what my mom paid for it towards a new item. Here's the kicker,,, the new item is non-refundable.

SEARS also owns several automotive businesses. NTW-- National Tire Warehouse and a couple others. So now the previously bankrupt K-Mart is now rapidly becoming a super giant.

Bitter,, I am not,,,just tired of whatching people get themselves screwed and watching people screw others. I dug myself out and you can too. Information is the key and the more we can let others know about how things are going the better we all can defend ourselves.

[intimid8er]

One small way I "stick it to the man" is this: All the companies that send me junk mail. I take the postage paid envelope and load it with other harmless junk mail, and send it back to them.

[stp1971]

Originally Posted by intimid8er

One small way I "stick it to the man" is this: All the companies that send me junk mail. I take the postage paid envelope and load it with other harmless junk mail, and send it back to them.

+1!!!!!!!! I like it!!!!

[viper94bite]

Originally Posted by intimid8er

One small way I "stick it to the man" is this: All the companies that send me junk mail. I take the postage paid envelope and load it with other harmless junk mail, and send it back to them.

haha. I do that sometimes. It amuses me. I'm always trying to figure out what to put in there next.

[intimid8er]

Originally Posted by viper94bite

It amuses me. I'm always trying to figure out what to put in there next.

I know! That is the hardest part of the whole deal!!!! Finding stuff to put in the there. I can see you're like me on that deal. I get so damn amused stuffing the envelopes.

I'm thinking of getting creative. Maybe a plastic bag with a note in it that states the bag is full of pure Florida Sunshine. Hmmn.....wait a minute....there seems to be a metaphor there...........you know...Blow that Sunshine up your own...nevermind.

Oh damn! Maybe a chain letter? That'd be funny. Please read this and forward it to five of your friends for good luck. Can you imagine the look on the persons face on the other end?

[blackie1491]

I do the same thing here.

[Trapper]

My new hobby.

[Pinhy]

bunch of stuff to say here:

i have been with BOA since they were barnett....since i got a checking account in 1989. no problems with tme in banking, dont use there CC's though


i had a 820 credit score when i was house hunting last year...i get CC offers every day in the mail for 0% balance transfer till mid year, next jan...etc. right now my motorcycle is on a 0% transfer till august...the balance will get transfered to a new on in july till july 07 i am sure.. i havent paid interest on a CC in years! i had a 1900 balance on one and they all of a sudden said i had a late fee and i got them to reverse the late fee and the interest in the last month, but would from now on have interest (they couldnt reverse it once it had registered as a late fee my into offer was gone..BS they can if they WANT too!)...so i paid it off that day! screw them!


so other than my bike (which i consider more of a bike loan at 0% interest reather than a CC debt) i am CC debt free....next is to try a keep a car more than 3 years and not have car payments!


regarding teh sending junk mail back....i happen to really like my mail lady, shes hot! you are creating much more work for them by doing that. still funny, i just wont do it.

.

[Trapper]

Originally Posted by Pinhy

regarding teh sending junk mail back....i happen to really like my mail lady, shes hot! you are creating much more work for them by doing that. still funny, i just wont do it.

How do you figure? Does she take your outgoing mail too?

[stp1971]

I still think that is a funny idea. The whole thing here is to get out of debt and build a wealth plan. Get to the point where you can walk into a dealership with cash in hand and buy that car, that bike, or whatever. If all goes as planned without any hiccups then by this time next year I will be able to buy a house for about $80,000 to $110,000 and have it paid for within 5 to 6 years.

If not then I will have an affordable house that can be supported on one salary and the additional salary will be icing on the cake,, or gravy on the biscuit.

So how's the mail lady thing going Doug??? My bro has a mail lady that is trying to hook him up with one of her friends. Funny they used to say that an illegitimate kid was from the mailman,, seems times have changed!!!!

[intimid8er]

I AM the mailmans kid!!!!

[blackie1491]

Originally Posted by intimid8er

I AM the mailmans kid!!!!

That explains it.

[ELGOLD C50T]

Originally Posted by stp1971

This comes after reading the thread about MBNA. Sitting back and watching the steady decline of the American Economy and watching where people are going further and further in debt it just really pees me off.

Credit card companies are buying each other out to now if you do you homework you will find that the Big Bad BOA is now one of the strongest in the country (Bank Of America). They own several major credit card companies. Chase is in there too. There are not alot of choices left with regards to where you can shop to not get the shaft. Here is the problem with this. The American public is at an all time high with excessive debt and now the credit card companies can and will do as they please to screw you.

They will screw you by raising APR's without justification. Days not too long ago you could shop around, get good rates, and even demand rate reduction. Not anymore,, you can try,, but good luck. The companies have seen a problem with the extreme amount of Bankruptcy, foreclosure, Chapter 7, and Chapter 13's out there and what has the goverment done. Protect the people,, right. The goverment is in the process of passing a law that every American citizen will have to pay over the minimum monthly payment due.

What does that mean???? Does that mean that if you do not you are breaking the law??? Can credit card companies then have the right to garnish your wages more so than now???? Possibly so.

Here's some statistics for you.
1. In 1929 only 2 percent of homes had mortgages on them. By 1962 only 2 percent of homes did not have mortgages on them.
2. In 2003 a recent study showed that 70 percent of the American public lives paycheck to paycheck. Over 55 percent of the public worry constantly about their money.
3. The federal reserve says mortgage debt has more than doubled since the early nineties. Foreclosure has become a way of life. Foreclosures have increased 200 percent since 1980 with more than 600,000 homes lost in 2001. The American Bankruptcy Institute says that 1,500,000 were filed in 2002 with new records set every year after that.
4. 71 percent of the bankruptcies are Chapter 7, which is total bankruptcy where you lose everything, but 95 percent of those cases were no asset cases. That means that they had no assets to lose by the time they got to bankruptcy.
5. Just two weeks ago they announced that this past year was the highest amount of purchases made on credit that the country has ever seen. Not since the great depression and even then the comparison to dollar to dollar value it greatly exceeded the post depression era.

In the last 40 years we have become a nation of consumers versus a nation of producers that we used to be. We used to be a country that made stuff. We used to export and our people had jobs that made stuff to sell to other countries. We are now just a swap dollars for dollars country. We import far more stuff than we export. We have become a retail country. The bad thing about a retail country is when the economy fails no one has the money to buy anymore. When the buying stops then the economy stops. Jobs are lost and credit card companies, mortgage companies, banks, etc. will get your stuff.

Sounds pretty bleak doesn't it???? Yep,, so what can you do to fix it??? Stop spending money you do not have. The society makes you believe you need alot of stuff. If you cannot afford it then do not buy it. 60 years ago our grandparents believed that you live off of less than you make. That is why the grandparent that only made middle to low income was still able to have over a hundred grand in the bank. That is why people inherited money when they passed on. What do you inherit today???? Their debt.

Start paying off these cards, sacrificing the luxuries, and get back to basics.
Live a lifestyle less than what you make and start building that nest egg not that debt egg.

I have been screwed by the credit card companies, car dealerships, and loan companies. I was witness to a mortgage company who tried their hardest to bend me over with this property I was wanting to buy. I knew my budget. They came in with alot of extra fees. Jacked the interest rate up a full 1.25% higher than he said I might be able to get,, a full 1% higher than he said I will get. Then shortened the terms,, tacked on an unrealistic balloon payment in five years, jacked the payment up about $200.00 more than I was told,, and when I questioned him he acted like I was stupid.

He threw in the sales pitch about how great this property is, how good of a deal I was getting, and I was lucky that anyone would finance me almost 100% with my credit score of 806????? WTF???? Then after walking out of the closing and saying that nothing was as he said and the deal is off they come back the very next day and said that they "Accidentally" put down the wrong term of 15 years versus the 20 years we agreed to. That they "Accidentally" put down the wrong interest rate of 8.0% versus the 7.875% that we agreed upon.

I pointed out that it NEVER was told to me 7.875% that it was supposed to be possibly 6.75% but I should definately get 7.0%.

They were going to send me to closing with a shorter term, higher unrealistic payment, higher interest rate, and almost $5750.00 dollars at closing when originally it was supposed to be a zero money down deal.

So how have you been screwed and who is screwing you?

Check out Dave Ramsey's website and listen to some of his broadcasts and read some of his books. It is an eye opening experience. It helped me pull myself out of over $42,000.00 worth of credit card debt and now "I AM FREE"!!!!! You can too,, really,,, you need to be.

YOU HAVE HIT IT RIGHT ON THE NOSE! I THINK PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH NORTH AMERICAN CONSUMERS IS THE EASE OF OBTAINING CREDIT CARDS AND USING THEM AS A WEAPON AGAINST OURSELVES. I KNOW SOMEONE WHO JUST GOT ONE FOR THEIR 13 YEAR OLD KID JUST TO TEACH THEM RESPONSIBILITY OF CREDIT. WELL YOU KNOW WHO THEY'RE GOING TO HURT IN THE LONG RUN.

MY BELIEF IS SIMPLE. IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE MONEY IN YOUR POCKET OR IN THE BANK TO BUY ANYTHING OTHER THAN MAJOR PURCHASES (ie; house, car, not toys) JUST STAY AWAY AND DON'T BUY IT. I AM ONE OF THE RARE PEOPLE THAT DOESN'T USE CARDS FOR ANYTHING BUT SITUATIONS WHERE THERE IS NO OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT AVAILABLE. I DON'T LACK ANYTHING AND SLEEP WELL AT NIGHT.

CREDIT DEBTS DESTROY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE EACH AND EVERY DAY AND OUR SOCIETY KEEPS FEEDING THIS MACHINE BY OFFERING MORE CREDIT TO THOSE THAT SHOULD NOT BE ENTITLED TO IT. CONGRATS ON GETTING OUT OF THE HOLE - AND MAKE SURE YOU STAY OUT.