I'm mad as heck, and I'm not gonna pay it anymore!!

[Darky]

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/s...woman-revolts-won-t-pay-credit-card-bill.aspx

Ann Minch is mad as hell and she's not going to take it anymore.
Like many, she has seen the interest rate on her credit card jacked up (in her case, to 30%), even though she made all the payments on time, wasn't over her limit and didn't in any way violate Bank of America's rules. She had been making the minimum payment on her account for years, about $130 a month.
After trying, and failing, to get the interest rate reduced, she has, in her words "fired the first shot in the debtors' revolution" by refusing to pay another cent of her $5,943.34 debt unless Bank of America returns the interest rate to its previous level, 12.99%. She has staked out her position in this YouTube video, which has circulated widely on the Internet and has been viewed more than 150,000 times.
Minch calls the credit card companies "evil, thieving bastards," which, she says, "have reaped ungodly profits in your behemoth casino scams, then lost -- only to turn around and usurp the wealth of this great nation by the outright rape and pillage of middle-class Americans whose sweat and toil built it." She adds, "Every last one of you should be rotting in prison."
Arthur Delaney of The Huffington Post did an interview with Minch, who is 46 and lives in Red Bluff, Calif. She recently lost her job as a mental health case manager. She notes in her video that she has nothing to lose, since she doesn't own a home and has no assets, but a plunge in her credit score could hurt her job search.
Ed Mierzwinski, program director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, told Delany that credit card lenders had better be paying attention.
"Historically, powerful and arrogant corporations, often protected by lazy regulators, have ignored consumer complaints -- now social media tools are leveling the playing field for victimized consumers," Mierzwinski wrote in an email to the Huffington Post. "The old web 1.0 mybanksucks.com sites that no one found are being replaced with real-time viral outrage that will require big business to start treating consumers more fairly or pay the price."
We can only hope.
Jason Steele at Ask Mr. Credit Card applauds Minch's decision to close her accounts at Bank of America. He also likes her use of social media to plead her case with the company's executives once appealing through normal channels failed.
But, he thinks she is misguided and that her viral protest will have no impact. Using some of the $5,000 in savings she withdrew from her account to pay off the debt, or doing a balance transfer, would have been much more responsible, he says.
"Acting in an irresponsible and financially self-destructive way is a terrible strategy," he said. "Encouraging others to follow her is morally wrong. The bank will survive her default, but she will be financially ruined."
What do you think? Is Minch engaging in a courageous act of civil disobedience or is she just being foolish? What should consumers do about credit card company practices they consider unfair, especially if they can't pay off their debt immediately?

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

so basically she is going to have $10000 in debt and relentless phone calls soon.

and it will not hurt the card company one bit. When my wifes CC got rate hiked we just paid them off and closed them. Some of the operators could not understand why though. Mine are all protected by the SCRA Credit act. If you are active military check that out.

 

[Ecomike]

One strategy that sometimes works is to call them and ask them to reduce the interest rate to zero, in return for closing the account and putting it in a fixed payment sort of forbearance status. As long as you make timely payments you get to keep the zero interest rate. The bait you use to get them to do this, is that if they don't work with you, you simply threaten to file bankruptcy, or walk and not pay anything. That usually gets their attention.

There are some local credit counseling centers that will help you do this too. Be careful who you use or trust, their are credit scam artists out there, but their are non-profit centers funded by retail credit companies whos job it is to act as an intermediary between the CCCs and the customers to help the CCCs get some of the debt back while helping the consumer avoid bankruptcy or default. They act as intermediate negotiators between you and the CCCs, and frequently can negotiate removal of interest and fees if you close your account and make regular payments, thus fixing, repairing your credit in a mutually agreeable fashion.

I did this in 1992 with some success all by myself.

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

That woman is an idiot.

 

[ehall]

she is going to be economically ruined for a minimum of 7 years ... hope her addiction to credit card debt was worth it

 

[Ecomike]

she is going to be economically ruined for a minimum of 7 years ... hope her addiction to credit card debt was worth it

Not if she uses the internet to start a non-profit group to fight big bad banks and takes donations via Paypal, names herself CEO to run it and collects enough donations for a paycheck and sticks it to the banks via the internet. I suspect the times are right for just such a coup. Or, since she is a woman, if she is cute she can just marry some rich city slicker.

But in general I agree, she could have handled it much better.

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

didnt watch the video. She Fu**ed herself. Deal with it.
dont like the game. dont participate in it.

 

[old_man]

Stupid question......Why does everybody think you have to use credit and without it you are screwed? I haven't borrowed a dime in almost 4 years. If we don't have the money we simply don't buy it. If you don't have money for gas, you walk or stay home. Budgeting and planning works. You would be surprised how much you really pay for that car by the time all the interest and charges are applied. Instead of a car payment, buy a cheap clunker or keep the one you have, save the difference until you can buy the car. Then instead of a payment, you have an asset.

This is how thing always were up until the 60's.

A house is about the only thing to borrow money for, but what happens when your $525k house drops to $212K like ours did?

 

[WrenchMonkey]

...what happens when your $525k house drops to $212K like ours did?

You just keep making the same payments as before.

Dropping home values really aren't that big a deal. You just have to accept that this is the house you bought, and this is the house you're committed to.

That when you bought it, it was worth 500k to you. And since the house hasn't really changed, there's no reason it shouldn't still be worth that 500k, to you anyway.

Even if it ain't worth that much to anybody else any more...

The only people that really got burnt are (a) the wanna-be investors, who assumed that real estate was a guaranteed profit cow, and (b) people who bought way more house than they could afford, assuming that the value would rise and they could refi the equity out of it.

If you bought the house at 123 Main Street, and you were willing and able to pay $4000 a month for it, you're fine.

You're still living in the same house, you're still making the same payment. What's the problem?

Robert

(All of my "you"s and "your"s are generalities, not you yourself, Tom! )

 

[Phil]

Stupid question......Why does everybody think you have to use credit and without it you are screwed? I haven't borrowed a dime in almost 4 years. If we don't have the money we simply don't buy it. If you don't have money for gas, you walk or stay home. Budgeting and planning works. You would be surprised how much you really pay for that car by the time all the interest and charges are applied. Instead of a car payment, buy a cheap clunker or keep the one you have, save the difference until you can buy the car. Then instead of a payment, you have an asset.

This is how thing always were up until the 60's.

A house is about the only thing to borrow money for, but what happens when your $525k house drops to $212K like ours did?

What about, why does everybody assume that if you use a credit card, you carry a balance and don't pay it off in full every month?

I love my credit card. It's quick, it's convenient, it has (some) consumer protection, and it'll let me buy stuff in an emergency even if I'll need a few days to transfer cash out of savings.

 

[old_man]

What about, why does everybody assume that if you use a credit card, you carry a balance and don't pay it off in full every month?

I love my credit card. It's quick, it's convenient, it has (some) consumer protection, and it'll let me buy stuff in an emergency even if I'll need a few days to transfer cash out of savings.

I use a debit card. Works just a well. Mine has all the protections of a credit card. I set it up that incase of an overdrawl, it automatically takes it from savings. No annual fees, no interest charges.

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

I'm curious how much of a balance some of these people are carrying that their rates are jumping that much.

I occasionally carry a small balance and my rate on one of my cards went up 1-2%. Another one went up 8%... I closed that card.

 

[bigalpha]

Stupid question......Why does everybody think you have to use credit and without it you are screwed? I haven't borrowed a dime in almost 4 years. If we don't have the money we simply don't buy it. If you don't have money for gas, you walk or stay home. Budgeting and planning works. You would be surprised how much you really pay for that car by the time all the interest and charges are applied. Instead of a car payment, buy a cheap clunker or keep the one you have, save the difference until you can buy the car. Then instead of a payment, you have an asset.

This is how thing always were up until the 60's.

A house is about the only thing to borrow money for, but what happens when your $525k house drops to $212K like ours did?

I know that w/o the one I had in college, I would not have made it.
Also, my girl had a clunker of a car. I thought it unacceptable that it was a POS and not-reliable so we bought a new one. It's under warranty and is reliable.

You just keep making the same payments as before.

Dropping home values really aren't that big a deal. You just have to accept that this is the house you bought, and this is the house you're committed to.

Well, home owners who are trying to move right now are getting burned hard. The house prices will go back up - they always do.

I'm curious how much of a balance some of these people are carrying that their rates are jumping that much.

I occasionally carry a small balance and my rate on one of my cards went up 1-2%. Another one went up 8%... I closed that card.

I have 2600 on one card and that's it. Can't afford to pay it all off, though. Else I would.

 

[kastein]

housing and school loans are the only ones I'll take... never have had a credit card, never will use one.

just need to find the right house... with enough land to build a 2-3 bay garage!

EDIT: hey, just noticed this is my 666th post. Rather fitting that it's in a thread about credit card companies.

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

housing and school loans are the only ones I'll take... never have had a credit card, never will use one.

just need to find the right house... with enough land to build a 2-3 bay garage!

EDIT: hey, just noticed this is my 666th post. Rather fitting that it's in a thread about credit card companies.

My credit card was essential for me twice this year

First my Accord's tire developed a huge sidewall bulge. Took it in, all 4 tires needed replacing due to dry rot (I rarely look at the parts on that car). Without a credit card would have been hard to buy them as I didn't have cash sitting around at the time.

Then I moved to go to grad school. Furnishing an apartment, buying a computer and all without much income, and paying the school bills before the student loans got in.

Cards are useful, you just gotta know when to use them, or pay them off in full each month.

 

[msrorysddad]

I was laid off after 9/11, the construction industry I was in just dried up. I did all I could to find suitable work, Had a newborn child, you see the story. I was basically out of work for 5 years. I built up $60k in credit card debt, I had to use them, or go on welfare. I've had steady jobs for a while now, and have payed back all but $10k, it will be payed off within the next few months. We drive beaters, do not have cable, live in a tiny home, we do not spend money on much that is non essential, the xj is a must. I get sick of hearing people complain about the credit card companies, or any other lender. If ya don't wanna play the game, don't. If you play, don't bitch about the rules. I find it odd, that most of the individuals I personally hear and speak to about the predatory creditors trip out when I tell them to cut their cable off, downsize, and pay the debt. We as a society have been duped into thinking we "deserve" luxuries. A friend of mine whom is married, and just got a new 4x4 four door duramax, his wife has an excursion, was complaining about bills the other day. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him, or for the people he borrowed from and now feels he should not have to pay them back, as he watches cable tv on a plasma? If you borrow it, you pay it back, that is the rules that most of us live by. As for buying a home, and the value drops, did the creditor force you to buy it? Or, should everyone that buys something get to renegotiate because stuff looses value? I bought a head of lettuce the other day, it went bad, I can't get my money back, nor can I renegotiate the price of produce. Welcome to the world MOST grown ups live in. If ya don't like it, there is an alternative.

 

[bigalpha]

A friend of mine whom is married, and just got a new 4x4 four door duramax, his wife has an excursion, was complaining about bills the other day. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him, or for the people he borrowed from and now feels he should not have to pay them back, as he watches cable tv on a plasma?

No. My personal philosophy is: if you are bitching about something and you have the ability to make it right, either quit bitching or make it right.

Similar to going out for dinner and they undercook your steak. Either eat it and shut your mouth or send it back. Don't keep it and bitch.

 

[90Blue_XJ]

Went through the 7 years of bad credit about 20 years ago. Lived from paycheck to paycheck and survived OK. I hate credit cards and will never have another. Bankruptcy is a viable alternative if you can weather the 7 years and have no tangible saleable assets.

 

[old_man]

My credit card was essential for me twice this year

First my Accord's tire developed a huge sidewall bulge. Took it in, all 4 tires needed replacing due to dry rot (I rarely look at the parts on that car). Without a credit card would have been hard to buy them as I didn't have cash sitting around at the time.

Then I moved to go to grad school. Furnishing an apartment, buying a computer and all without much income, and paying the school bills before the student loans got in.

Cards are useful, you just gotta know when to use them, or pay them off in full each month.

My answer to that is unpopular these days. You should have a savings account. Especially in todays economy, you should have at least 6 months of income saved back in case of emergencies.

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

Went through the 7 years of bad credit about 20 years ago. Lived from paycheck to paycheck and survived OK. I hate credit cards and will never have another. Bankruptcy is a viable alternative if you can weather the 7 years and have no tangible saleable assets.

Agreed. im currently 35k in the hole. I Co-signed on a few things when i was 18, at 19 my credit score was 730.. (thats great for a 19yo!)
I went balistic with it. in a matter of two days i had 2 credit cards, a $5000 Non-secured loan, and a 19k Car loan. ALL IN 2 DAYS..

needless to say, 7mo later. the car was gone. and i had to change my number.

it sucks having your check garnished. but its nobodys fault but my own.

I am glad it happened when i was very young. i know what i did wrong, and now as a more mature adult, i dont see myself repeating the cycle. I could of easily filed Chapter.7 and called it a day. but i would rather deal with it, Chapter 7. would just clear the runway for me to pick up more debt.

no thanks!