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What credit-card payoff? Consumers are dumping debt

NoJingoLingo said:
However, stores must still pay a transaction fee, charged by their merchant services account, for each CC transaction. Where do you think the money for those fees comes from? Not a decrease in the CEO's pay, I can assure you.
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Of course, we all pay in increased prices, even customers who pay cash. It hardly seems fair, does it?
 
Dittohead not! said:
Overall, I think you're right. People buy things that they don't need and can't afford, then get trapped on the interest and penalties treadmill.

Guys like me make out quite well with credit cards. I charge virtually everything, but pay the bill in full at the end of the month. That way, I pay no interest, yet get the goodies, sometimes as much as 5% back on purchases. Over time, that adds up.

Of course, the credit card companies refer to us as "freeloaders", since we don't pay their outrageous interest rates.

I'm proud to be a freeloader.
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Maybe now but your were originally called "deadbeats" by them. That just gives a window into their world view, eh. ;)
 
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Dittohead not! said:
Of course, we all pay in increased prices, even customers who pay cash. It hardly seems fair, does it?
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So stop using your credit card for every mundane purchase. You're just feeding the beast. Use CASH!!!
 
Shadow Serious said:
Maybe now but your were originally called "deadbeats" by them. That just gives a window into their world view, eh. ;)
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I had a citibank credit card for many years. Then one day I spaced out and missed the payment. I called to get the late fee reversed and the guy said he couldn't do it. I complained that I've been a customer for about 10 years and never missed a payment (I don't carry a balance, I pay it off each month) and he said, "I'm sorry but we don't make any money off of your account". I reminded him that they get a transaction fee every time I use their card. I told him not to worry because they won't ever be getting that fee from me again. That card went right in the ****can.
 
NoJingoLingo said:
So stop using your credit card for every mundane purchase. You're just feeding the beast. Use CASH!!!
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Then, I'd be paying for people who use credit cards and collect the cash dividends. I'd be on the recieving end of the unfairness.

I find that unacceptable. It's much better when things are slanted unfairly to my benefit, don't you think?
 
NoJingoLingo said:
I had a citibank credit card for many years. Then one day I spaced out and missed the payment. I called to get the late fee reversed and the guy said he couldn't do it. I complained that I've been a customer for about 10 years and never missed a payment (I don't carry a balance, I pay it off each month) and he said, "I'm sorry but we don't make any money off of your account". I reminded him that they get a transaction fee every time I use their card. I told him not to worry because they won't ever be getting that fee from me again. That card went right in the ****can.
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I used to have a Citibank card too. The deal that they made was for 5% back on every purchase, sweet! Then, I discovered that they kept shortening the period between the bill and the due date. OK, fair enough, it's still worth it to make a trip to the bank every month, pay the bill there, and get a reciept.

Then the lousy buggers reniged on the deal and quit paying the 5%. What a bunch of creeps, worse than politicians and their campaign promises. My Citibank card went in the trash, too.
 
I'm in debt up to my eyeballs, but thankfully none of it is credit cards. Mine is all student loans.
 
NoJingoLingo said:
You mean credit card companies that that have been draining American wealth over the last 15 years by ****ing their customers are getting ****ed by their customers? :lol:
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You're one of those people that doesn't read the fine print on the agreements you sign aren't you?
 
NoJingoLingo said:
I had a citibank credit card for many years. Then one day I spaced out and missed the payment. I called to get the late fee reversed and the guy said he couldn't do it. I complained that I've been a customer for about 10 years and never missed a payment (I don't carry a balance, I pay it off each month) and he said, "I'm sorry but we don't make any money off of your account". I reminded him that they get a transaction fee every time I use their card. I told him not to worry because they won't ever be getting that fee from me again. That card went right in the ****can.
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So you're saying that when faced with a company that was not willing to offer you a line of credit on terms you were happy with, you were able to settle up and walk away from it? You didn't even need the government to step in and pass regulation detailing exactly how the company could and could not react to your missed payment?

That's just amazing. Now if only the rest of the country could learn that same lesson...

molten_dragon said:
I'm in debt up to my eyeballs, but thankfully none of it is credit cards. Mine is all student loans.
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True story. I spent the day going through exit interviews for stafford/plus/perkins loans and totaling up my balance. Bleak.
 
MrVicchio said:
You're one of those people that doesn't read the fine print on the agreements you sign aren't you?
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Do you ever bother reading the thread before you stumble into the discussion?
 
RightinNYC said:
So you're saying that when faced with a company that was not willing to offer you a line of credit on terms you were happy with, you were able to settle up and walk away from it? You didn't even need the government to step in and pass regulation detailing exactly how the company could and could not react to your missed payment?

That's just amazing. Now if only the rest of the country could learn that same lesson...



True story. I spent the day going through exit interviews for stafford/plus/perkins loans and totaling up my balance. Bleak.
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What's amazing is how easily you ignore societal pressures.
 
RightinNYC said:
Not sure what you're trying to say.
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You and yours promote personal responsibility as if it exists in a vacuum. People respond differently to various societal pressures, like advertising or ladder climbing or keeping up with the Jones' or "live better, pay less" or you're only worth what you produce or you're only worth your monetary worth or "every kiss begins with Kay" or work harder for less pay ... Some people scoff at such nonsense and some people find themselves with a new car and a new higher payment when they didn't need a new car. Believe it or not, psychology works.
 
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NoJingoLingo said:
You and yours promote personal responsibility as if it exists in a vacuum. People respond differently to various societal pressures, like advertising or ladder climbing or keeping up with the Jones' or "live better, pay less" or you're only worth what you produce or you're only worth your monetary worth or "every kiss begins with Kay" or work harder for less pay ... Some people scoff at such nonsense and some people find themselves with a new car and a new higher payment when they didn't need a new car. Believe it or not, psychology works.
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So the solution to people being susceptible to peer pressure is...?
 
Credit card use allows instant gratification of our wants, with delayed buyers remorse for being so stupid as to let our wants run our lives.
 
Mickey Shane said:
Education.
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You mean that by the time people have finished 13 years of free schooling, we shouldn't have expected them to learn that you can't pay off a $600k mortgage on a $40k salary?
 
RightinNYC said:
You mean that by the time people have finished 13 years of free schooling, we shouldn't have expected them to learn that you can't pay off a $600k mortgage on a $40k salary?
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Our schools, sadly, don't delve much into the basics of managing a household budget. It's really a travesty, actually. I don't remember learning a darned thing about it, and I went to a top-notch high school.
 
MyOwnDrum said:
Our schools, sadly, don't delve much into the basics of managing a household budget. It's really a travesty, actually. I don't remember learning a darned thing about it, and I went to a top-notch high school.
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I agree that there should be more financial management classes, but there are some things that are pretty elementary.
 
RightinNYC said:
I agree that there should be more financial management classes, but there are some things that are pretty elementary.
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I have kids in school, and they teach a lot of fluff these days. They have a touchy feeling conflict resolution lady who my kids think is ridiculous. They teach a lot of psycho-babble nonsense, mostly, it seems, to keep them from having to come down on bullies in more old-fashioned ways.

Why not teach the kids financial management, the kiddos aren't likely to learn it from their debt-ridden parents. They teach about condoms and those are pretty darned simple to use...
 
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