Credit Card Companies Suck, Part Infinity

If you feel like springing for a fancy Rolex or some gold spinners for your ride, you can just take the money out of your 401(k), you know.

 

Good point, Rick. That's why I use the payday loans places instead.

 

So it turns out this graph was about McPoyle's CC interest rate all along!

 

OK, that was funny.

 

They did the same thing to me. They're also utterly clueless about their own changes.

I called up the number to get some more info (because the actual letter they sent is in another country from me) and talked to 'Jimmy,' who was less coherent than even the normal Bangalore night shift. Started explaining something about a 10 percent credit, blah blah blah. In my attempts to translate, I asked 'so does this mean I'd get a 10 percent rate on new purchases?' Yes, he said. Transfer me to someone in America please, I responded.

That it actually worked was the biggest surprise of all, but I got very few answers from the lady who actually speaks English as a first language either. You can opt out of this change, which means you keep your current rate, but when your card expires you don't get a new one. I asked if I could opt out now and opt back in later if I wanted, and she DIDN'T KNOW. 'That's always been the way it's been before, but we don't know about this one.'

Way to tell your own employees what's happening, assholes. Opted out for now, but because they jacked my rate up in a separate situation earlier (technically, I was at fault -- but it was bullshit), I'd already transferred the balance to another card.

Just remember: This is a company that's gotten three separate government bailouts (yeah, it was for the mortgage division, but it's all one money-sucking pit in the end), so they're basically loaning your own money back to you at a 30 percent interest rate.

And none of us would run credit card balances if we didn't have to. But the world doesn't work that way for some, and the snide judgment that seems to pervade these threads gets annoying after a while.

 

Nobody has to run a credit card debt. There are always other options.

It's not snide judgment at all. If everyone is doing it, it's a cultural problem. We have a cultural problem with debt and mismanaged personal finances.

 

I guess it's back to mugging old ladies in drug store parking lots for me, then. Damn. I was really trying to go straight this time, too.

 

Can I borrow some money, Rick?

 

Yes, but you are a journalist, so unless you put up some collateral I'm charging you a shitload of interest.

 

Then you need to work on your communication skills. If multiple people are telling you that you sound like an officious a--, maybe they have a point, no?

And I've been very good about my credit, which is why it's so good. And they're doing it to me anyway, because it's their last chance to squeeze every nickel before the laws are changed. I imagine they're doing it to a lot of other people who can't afford these changes right now. How about some sympathy for them?

 

Perhaps. I can live with it. I'm too dang old at this point in my life to undergo a personality overhaul.

I absolutely have sympathy for them. Like I said, it's a cultural problem, not an individual one. But that doesn't mean each individual can't fix it for themselves and make their lives better off.

Having sympathy doesn't change the simple fact that credit cards are a symptom of a deep, cultural problem with debt and overconsumption that ruins lives and adds ridiculous amounts of stress to almost everyone. It is also unsustainable macroeconomically and is driving us toward even deeper problems.

Spend less than you make. Save the difference. With a few years, have enough to overcome any temporary setback. It's like a foreign language to Americans, and it's a big problem. You cannot build an economy around consumer spending and unsecured debt. It just doesn't work.

 

Yeah I mean I agree with you.

I've just never thought about the emergencies which could come up if I had a home, a wife, kids etc.

I'm also a Citi cardholder. I've never missed a payment or been late in three years, but I also haven't gotten the letter.