Late payment? Into the stocks with you, sinner!

[mreilly]

Has anyone else noticed how insurance agencies, credit card companies and mortgage lenders are growing less and less tolerant of late payments? I sent in my car insurance payment (Arbella Insurance) a couple of days late last month because I'd been out of town. Yesterday I came home to find a notice that they were going to cancel the policy unless I paid up, with an extra $15.00 late fee. No nice "Did you forget to mail your check?" letter. No stern "your payment is late, please send." Nope, instead it was a whiny, "We're canceling your policy immediately unless you fork over the cash" announcement. What a petty bunch of assholes. You expect this kind of crap when you're six months late on your bill, but a couple of days after the payment is due they pull this?

I ran into a similar situation recently with a credit card I had with Providian bank - I filled out the paperwork to transfer the balance to a different card with a better percentage rate. I didn't mail them my monthly payment as I expected the balance to be transferred so I could close the account. Unfortuantely, the transfer took too long so at 12:01 am on day after the payment due date these bloodsuckers at Providian slammed me for a $35 late fee. Disgusting.

Not only that, I refinanced my mortgage last summer and amidst all the documentation I signed there was a statement which basically said they'll start foreclosure if I'm a few weeks late on payment. Lose your job and they'll swoop down and take the house, licking their chops and slobbering.

Boy, am I sick of these big business pieces of shit strutting about squeaking threats and hauling in fees left and right for any infraction they can spot. The sharks are madly circling us consumers in our puny little liferafts, eager for any drop of blood in the water. These companies will air commercials talking about how they're you're friend or neighbor or some other bullshit, but the second you cross the line with them they'll now come after you full throttle and suck the life out of you. one would think when the economy is down they'd show a little more reserve, but it's just the other way around - they're making a killing with the Gestapo tactics.

Thanks, Republicans, for pushing an agenda which gives agencies like this the right to do whatever they please, whenever they please, feeding off us sheep like vampires plucking victims in an Anne Rice novel. Why don't we just bring back stocks and debtors' prisons while we're at it?

[ixion]

1. Debtors prison was abolished, but

the repukes are doing everything in their power to see that it is revived.

[Don_G]

2. The Money Supply Has Effectively Dried Up

ShrubCo is borrowing to cover the decifit and the costs of the war so everyone is getting greedy and trying to make up for it.

[qb]

3. This is how they can afford their low interest rates

There are enough late-payers to make up for the lost interest income. One more Republican-led bankruptcy reform bill and they'll be set for life.

[On the Road]

4. I Came Across a New Wrinkle in the Debt Racket

I had an opportunity to buy a townhouse cheap -- for less than $30,000. It's in a rough section of Baltimore but looked to generate good rental income.

I had difficulty getting a regular mortgage in time, so I took a $25,000 cash advance from my MBNA credit card at 9.9% interest. I have good, stable income and a reasonably good credit rating. The low rate of interest was a big factor in doing it this way and waiting for a real mortgage until renovations were made.

Now here's what happenned: the additional consumer debt lowered my credit rating, and MBNA used that as a justification to raise my interest rate to 24.99%!

They are essentially saying: "We'll lend you the money at 10%, but if you actually borrow the money we'll charge you 25%." Unbelievable!

[mreilly]

5. There's always a gimmick like that

... that's why I am so inured to advertising that I don't pay attention to any of it. When these companies want to tell you about some "great deal" they're having there's always some shitty little catch designed to benefit their ends at our expense.

I know this doesn't compare to the fleecing MBNA pulled on you, but as an example of the relentless antics of these pukes: I bought a CD burner at Best Buy the other day and they wanted to sign me up for some "free" issues to a magazine (Sports Illustrated or Entertainment Weekly). Naturally it was one of those arrangements where you give them your credit card number and if you don't cancel the deal they'll bill you for the full subscription. God, I'm so sick and tired of shit like this; the constant "free, free, FREE" nonsense they yammer at us from every angle trying to reel in the fishies.

I've found that sticking to the philosophy of "NOTHING is ever free and you'll NEVER get something for nothing" has proven invaluable in recent times by allowing me to ignore and screen out the obsessed litany of advertishit out there. I barely watch television and listen mostly to CDs in the car as I just can't take the constant commercials any more.

[eyesroll]

6. We've had a little trouble with Bank One

Bank One documents show our address without the "North." Now, in 99% of post offices, people would see the name and know that Eyesroll lives on North X Street, and someone else lives on South X Street, and route the letters that way.

Nope, they disappear into nothingness here. I have no idea if our neighbors who live at our address on South X Street get our mail, or if it gets returned, or what.

But anyway. We did not get the Bank One (car loan) bill. Payment was due Sept. 7. Because we did not get the bill, we forgot about it. I understand it's our responsibility to pay the loan, whether we get a bill or not. This is the first late payment on the 18 months or so that account's been active. We've got very, very good credit. OK. Our bad.

My husband got a late notice. That was fine. He sent a double payment (for Sept. and Oct.) and, under separate cover, requested automatic debit from the bank account. He sent this late September.

On or around Oct. 7, he gets a call from "Janet" at Bank One. Where's my money? He explains the situation, and she says she'll put a note in his file and call back in a week if nothing happens.

Two days later, "Chrissy" calls. (Sorry. I'm on a Three's Company thing for some reason.) Where's my money? My husband tells Chrissy about his two-days-prior conversation with Janet. "Oh, yeah, there is that note." Duh.

And a few days after that, Janet calls back. Where's my money? We're wondering what happened to the payment -- it should have been processed by now.

Finally, the following day (let's call it Oct. 13), we call Bank One to find out how to fix this, once and for all, and "Terri" tells us, "oh, we got the check a few days ago. It just hasn't been added to the computer yet."

If this wasn't enough.

Meanwhile, the automatic-payment thing sent got rejected, because on Oct. 12 -- in other words, when Bank One had the check but didn't process it -- the account was past due. Apparently, you can't set up automatic payment if your account is past due. AND they send back the whole application and make you start over, instead of just holding it until you're paid up.

Let me say that again: IF YOU HAVE A LATE PAYMENT, THEY WON'T LET YOU DO ANYTHING TO MAKE IT SO YOU'LL NEVER HAVE A LATE PAYMENT AGAIN. They make it harder for them to get your money.

:grr:

[mreilly]

7. Reminds me of our experience with Target

Target persuaded my wife and I to get a credit card with them. We filled out the information and got a hammock for my wife's Dad using the account.

We found out later they recorded our address incorrectly, so when they sent out the first bill it never came to us. Theoretically it should have been returned to them and alerted them that they did not have the correct address for us, but like you said these companies feel it's the consumer's responsibility to do everything. Immediately after thist we started receiving menacing voice mail messages from some guy (and when I say "menacing" I mean his tone of voice was exactly that) who identified himself and his company (it wasn't Target but the credit card company affiliated with them; I don't recall the name as it was a couple of years ago) but he wouldn't say what he was calling about.

I have a rule: if you leave me a message and I don't know you, say what you're calling about or I won't bother to get back to you - ever. I have experienced moronic telemarketing gimmicks where they leave you a message saying they have "urgent information for you" only to have you stupidly call them back on your nickel so they can hit you with a sales pitch. So, as you can imagine, the menacing messages began piling up, never with any indication of what this asshole was calling about. Finally I contacted him to say "What the fuck do you want?? Stop calling me!" and of course he was demanding payment for the Target account. I said we never got a bill, and he wanted me to contact another department to straighten out the whole matter. Finally we did that, and received our bill. Late, of course, due to the address mixup on their part.

I mailed in the first installment of the payment, but of course they didn't get it immediately like they wanted so we were back to receiving menacing messages from El Douchebag. Finally I called them up and told them to cancel the damned account; enough was enough and I was going to have them siccing asshole bill collectors (and there's no kind of asshole like a bill collector, that's for sure!) on me every month.

[DuctapeFatwa]

8. There is a way to avoid late payments, but it costs extra

Of course one way is to just send them all a check on the first of every month, whether you have a bill or not.

But some of them will consistently and conveniently lose your check, then send you a late notice, with a fee, and when you call you find out you can pay on the phone for an extra fee.

So, if they will apply your checks, just send them all on the first, and the ones who lose the checks, you just have to pay them the extra by phone fee, which will at least be cheaper than the late fee and the stop payment to the bank.