RANT: Being nibbled to death by late fees!
Mar. 4th, 2005 01:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1I really effing hate how credit card companies gouge their customers, especially with their policies on late fees. In the past several years, they're really raised the bar on them. First, they've moved up the date of the fee assessment so that if the check isn't physically there by X:00 PM on the day the bill is due, the cardholder gets dinged. Second, they've raised the amount to something obscene; the highest I've had to pay for a late fee is $39. I probably shouldn't name names, but their initials are MBNA.
And today, I found out that I missed two payments on two different items. Thankfully, the credit union only dinged me $20 for not having enough money in my savings account to pay for insurance. But one loaner dinged me $39.
It's almost like predatory lending, like the GetMoneyNow! places that seem to have appeared out of nowhere in the past few years. I avoid these places because I know they charge an arm, a leg, and half a torso for their services -- even higher than credit card companies.
It's like I'm being penalized for being poor. Since I'm still underemployed -- working short-term part-time jobs and not full-time -- I often don't have the cash at the time it's needed. And I'm not about to incur even more fees for returned or bounced checks.
So, what course of action do I have? I'd love to be able to have the cash to pay off these debts once and for all, but I don't, so I'm stuck. The banks are free to rewrite their rules at any time, and if you don't like 'em, your only course of action is to cancel the card. I could write to my Congressman and have the government impose ceilings on late fees, but they're probably getting lots of cash from the banking industry lobbyists. Proof once again that the Golden Rule is alive and well: Those who have the gold make the rules.
Now, if the government wanted to eliminate consumer debt, it should be setting a better example. The amount the US is paying in interest is probably enough to match the GDP of a small-to-medium sized country. And ultimately, its citizens -- us -- are paying that interest with our tax money. Money that could be better spent on other things besides interest.
In the meantime, the rich folks get richer, the poor still are poor, and the middle class work for the banks.
And today, I found out that I missed two payments on two different items. Thankfully, the credit union only dinged me $20 for not having enough money in my savings account to pay for insurance. But one loaner dinged me $39.
It's almost like predatory lending, like the GetMoneyNow! places that seem to have appeared out of nowhere in the past few years. I avoid these places because I know they charge an arm, a leg, and half a torso for their services -- even higher than credit card companies.
It's like I'm being penalized for being poor. Since I'm still underemployed -- working short-term part-time jobs and not full-time -- I often don't have the cash at the time it's needed. And I'm not about to incur even more fees for returned or bounced checks.
So, what course of action do I have? I'd love to be able to have the cash to pay off these debts once and for all, but I don't, so I'm stuck. The banks are free to rewrite their rules at any time, and if you don't like 'em, your only course of action is to cancel the card. I could write to my Congressman and have the government impose ceilings on late fees, but they're probably getting lots of cash from the banking industry lobbyists. Proof once again that the Golden Rule is alive and well: Those who have the gold make the rules.
Now, if the government wanted to eliminate consumer debt, it should be setting a better example. The amount the US is paying in interest is probably enough to match the GDP of a small-to-medium sized country. And ultimately, its citizens -- us -- are paying that interest with our tax money. Money that could be better spent on other things besides interest.
In the meantime, the rich folks get richer, the poor still are poor, and the middle class work for the banks.
