MaiLuk Posted May 30, 2004 Report Share Posted May 30, 2004 FOZW: "this system only works because people are sheep and simply accept whatever bullshit is told to them." That's just lame. If customers were told incorrect information, or had a gun to there head, or if it was a monopolistic situation where there are no other available financial vehicles, then okay. Is a loane shark running a scam? No one forces the borrower to borrow, so by your definition no scam. CC card companies charge 18 to 25% interest and the result is that wealth gets transferred from millions of working families. The banks get people to accept and start swiping cards by using marketing techniques such as mailing pre-approved cards unsolicited, initial low interest rates that jump 10 or 15% after six months, award frequent flyer and other points etc all designed to get people to incur a balance. Once a working guy makes the mistake of incurring a balance, he can never pay it off because the interest is too high. He is hit with US$2,000 in annual interest on a $9,000 balance, that is a huge amount of money for a family that survives on their paychecks. And if you notice, if you pay only the minimum payment each month you will NEVER pay off the balance, only the recurring interest, which makes the bank very happy The ONLY reason banks get away with this is because they have pull with lawmakers (and also explains why they are first in line to get their money from debtors). There is nothing moral about the law of credit cards. Fraud has nothing to do with the shylock rates. Losses from fraud are almost non-existent compared to revenues. Statements otherwise are just propaganda put out by the industry to justify the ongoing scam. The high rates are charged because effective and pernicious marketing makes it possible. Don't defend the cc industry, it has a damaging effect on many decent people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted May 31, 2004 Report Share Posted May 31, 2004 "Once a working guy makes the mistake of incurring a balance, he can never pay it off because the interest is too high." On the contrary, he/she CAN pay it off. It's called SACRIFICING. Working a second job. Not spending. I'd like to live in a free society. You live by your choices. Want government to regulate the stupidity of our fellow man for signing up for these things? Government's job is to give everyone the opportunity to EDUCATE themselves about these issues. Information about credit cards is OUT there. Now FOZW has some personal beefs with financial institutions so he's not very logical to talk to on this subject, but financial institutions can be incredibly helpful as well. They can provide low cost loans. If one pays their credit card on time, the points can be redeemed for cool stuff and you don't pay any interest. blah blah blah. <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 31, 2004 Report Share Posted May 31, 2004 >>>Now FOZW has some personal beefs with financial institutions so he's not very logical to talk to on this subject<<< logical?! financial institutions helpful? LOL! i was defrauded of more money than most people would ever make or see in their life, and was basically left a pauper without a home. i have learnt a lot from that, and one thing is to never trust a bank ever again (which i guess won't help me much as i will have little chance to ever have more than spare change). once banks want to destroy you they will. if i wouldn't have the ability to laugh about myself i would have killed myself, and many people have killed themselves for far smaller losses. one day i may tell you the story in person. logical, pffff...easy to be "logical" when you were never the victim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaiLuk Posted May 31, 2004 Report Share Posted May 31, 2004 >>>I'd like to live in a free society.<<< I'm not one to advocate bigger gov't, i have a conservative bent. The problem (in the US anyway) is that the central gov't acts in areas it should not, and utterly fails to act when it should. Failing to regulate/limit the permissable fuel consumption of cars is one example of a failure, we now have roads full of gigantic SUVs, and for what? The CC industry is another failure because it is legalized loan sharking, and the law supports the sharks. >>>Government's job is to give everyone the opportunity to EDUCATE themselves about these issues. Information about credit cards is OUT there.<<< You can talk like this in the abstract, but the hard facts won't go away. Millions don't have the ability to, and never will educate themselves about CCs. They fall for the marketing and are easy victims. The Fed Reserve has the prime rate set at what, 5%? But the least capable of handling a high interest rate are hit with 25%. Not a bad arrangement for the banks. Work a second job so all the earnings can go to a CC company? Why not just institute neo-slavery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pe7e Posted May 31, 2004 Report Share Posted May 31, 2004 Want government to regulate the stupidity of our fellow man for signing up for these things? Yes I do! I think it is the duty of a decent government to protect the vunerable members of society from the rip off merchants. Would you like to justify an interest rate of 25% that these parasites charge, when base rates are under 5%? it is no more than legalised robbery. I think we should take action against them taking advantage of the vunerable by misleading marketing and hidden small print with draconian penalty clauses. Personally I would not hesitate to bite their arse if given the opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 "Work a second job so all the earnings can go to a CC company? Why not just institute neo-slavery." Can't do the time, don't do the crime. Work the second job and DON'T spend more is the key. "Would you like to justify an interest rate of 25% that these parasites charge" For really poor credit quality, it can be justified. This is not legalized robbery. The person signs up for this voluntarily. Secondly, and more important, there are much cheaper alternatives out there with someone who has half decent credit rating. If SO MANY PEOPLE weren't SO STUPID to keep signing up for those 19%+ interest credit cards, guess what?, we'd have more 15% credit cards, or, woooah nelly, even more lower % credit cards. The government is not there to protect the people from there own stupidity. It's there to protect each person's basic rights and the right to pursue happiness (or NOT pursue happiness). <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 nice attitude - you are educated enough in terms of banking systhem, and everything is cool. and if one is not educated enough, well fuck him, he deserves to be screwed. i mean isn't that what your argumentation boils down to - law of the djungle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 "everything is cool. and if one is not educated enough, well fuck him, he deserves to be screwed" Amen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pe7e Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 This is not legalized robbery Well personally i think it is, so we appear to have an impass here, you have your perfectly valid opinion and I have mine. As a parting comment I would confess one of my lives ambitions is to shag several CC companies up their arses and make them bleed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 if you find find a way to get away with it, count me in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.