Credit Card Amnesty

tokyojoe

Battling with credit card debt is like a war where up to now there only seems to be 1 winner - the credit card company. Both the missus and I have been paying off credit card debt for as long as I can remember but it has been years since the cards were actually used. I am sick of this and the misery it causes so I asked them to send me a statement of how mush was paid since last purchase and the results are interesting. We have paid almost 3 times what was owed and with the details requested came an offer to accept half the debt as settlement. 'Look everybody' in these days of social responsibility contracts that make you pay these rediculous sums and charges to the grave are just not acceptable and we should all lobby against these greedy sons of bitches who are not just happy with doubling their money but want to fleece you completely. If the banks etc want us to believe that they 'care' well then they should write off ccard debts in all cases where over double the amount owed has been paid. They would erase a lot of ****in misery and probably increase their business in the long term. Come on lets take the ****ers on!!!!

BendiBus

Alternatively you could live within your means and pay your debts rather than expect others to do it for you.

Jip

Now now BendiBus, how dare you interupt this totally ridiculous rant with something sensible, can't you see there's no place for that here.

cgarvey

tokyojoe wrote: »

Come on lets take the ****ers on!!!!

Might I respectably suggest that, just before you take 'em on, you get some financial advice.

Bluetonic

I don't know what APR is

kaizersoze1980

i don t know what a tracker mortgage is!!!!

eth0_

LOL this has to be a joke!
Take responsibility for your debts and pay them off! You shouldn't have run up a debt you couldn't pay back in the first place. Why not get a consolidation loan from your bank and cut up your cards?

Oh and there is an 'amnesty', it's called declaring yourself bankrupt. Might cause you some problems getting credit in the future, though

tokyojoe

Obviously a lot of you are so far up your own arses you dont know whats going on around you. If you believe its ok for a bank to recoup 10 times the original debt then there is not much hope for the country. If you had even the remotest idea of where banks get their credit card profits from then you might listen. High Rollers contribute nothing to bank ccard coffers - cc companies prey on people who basically cant afford credit card charges and gnaw away at them forever. The point I am making is if you are in hoc to ccard companies then make a stand and say **** you I've paid you whats more than fair. In most cases they will be afraid to stand in front of a judge and say ' well we got 5 times what he owes us but we want another couple of grand on top because we sent out 500 letters to the little bollix and he never replied'. As for credit ratings going back, they mean nothing if you can demonstrate that you have your current situation under control. Are there any rebels in Boards.ie or is it full of prim and proper ****?

dudara

tokyojoe wrote: »

If you believe its ok for a bank to recoup 10 times the original debt then there is not much hope for the country.

A bank, as a legal entity, is legally obliged to make money for its stakeholders. It's up to us, the consumer, to watch what we spend and the debt that we accumulate.

ballooba

Seriously OP get some financial advice. You are embarassing yourself.

You could have got a bank loan to pay off the credit card debt and it would have worked out cheaper. I'm not an expert but even I know you don't keep credit card debt long term.

helios

In fairness, you're better of getting a loan for the amount that you owe on your credit card. You will end up paying back more than the principle (of course) but you'll be charged less interest and it's understood that the loan will be paid off over time. Check with your bank on the percentages, but I've now done this twice and it's much easier and less head wrecking than trying to pay the card directly. By the sounds of it, you owe quite a bit, so you might find that paying a fixed amount over X number of years is more financially responsible than triple paying your credit card, and still being no further ahead...

ballooba

IIRC interest on credit cards is charged funnily. You still pay interest on money you have paid back? Until the full amount is paid back.

Tomlowe

insanity...

tokyojoe

I dont have a ccard problem anymore but I did have and it was very painful until I confronted the company with a number of questions which they did not want to answer. They offered a settlement equal to 50% rather than answer the questions. In the end I settled for about 35% which they were more than happy with. I am sure there are members of Boards who might find this info helpful and rather than criticise people for getting into debt, it might be more beneficial to help get them out of a bad situation. Consolidating debt may only lead to more problems later.

ballooba

Your advice is far from helpful. You're probably blacklisted because of what you did. There are free centres where people can get proper advice. There is no excuse.

tokyojoe

dudara wrote: »

A bank, as a legal entity, is legally obliged to make money for its stakeholders. It's up to us, the consumer, to watch what we spend and the debt that we accumulate.

Banks also have a social responsibility and ripping people off does not allign itself to the tearjerker mission statements that they put in front of our noses. Dont take this personal but this '...legally obliged..' quote sounds like something from an accountancy student who is trying to sound grown up and professional but is afraid of his life to go into a bookies in case somebody might see him.

helios

tokyojoe wrote: »

Banks also have a social responsibility and ripping people off does not allign itself to the tearjerker mission statements that they put in front of our noses. Dont take this personal but this '...legally obliged..' quote sounds like something from an accountancy student who is trying to sound grown up and professional but is afraid of his life to go into a bookies in case somebody might see him.

It doesn't really matter what the banks social responsibility is. If you signed the contract for a credit card, your bound by the t's and c's of the contract, regardless if they're socially responsible or not. If you signed a contract saying that you had to give the bank a fresh turkey every week, you would have to because you signed a contract for it. Therefore, 'legally obligated' is a choice phrase to use since the contract you signed is legally binding.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

JohnC.

tokyojoe wrote: »

cc companies prey on people who basically cant afford credit card charges and gnaw away at them forever. The point I am making is if you are in hoc to ccard companies then make a stand and say **** you I've paid you whats more than fair.

If they can't afford CC charges, why on earth are they signing up for cards? You agree to the terms on what you will pay back. But then blame the bank rather than take responsibility when the obvious happens. If you can't afford a card, don't get one. No use abusing it and then saying you won't pay back what you agreed to pay back.

tokyojoe

ballooba wrote: »

Your advice is far from helpful. You're probably blacklisted because of what you did. There are free centres where people can get proper advice. There is no excuse.

Firstly, negotiating is not doing anything wrong and this is something people can try without getting 3rd party advice. There is a fear among banks about releasing info on what they charge and this is wrong. Look at the consumer assoc.'s that took the main banks in the UK to court over what is a legitimate charge. I dont know what planet you are on but if you think negotiating with ccard companies is doing something wrong and warrants being blacklisted then you are either a credit card company 'employee of the year' or a complete idiot.
Secondly you are right people should go to free centres for proper advice.

Nody

tokyojoe wrote: »

Firstly, negotiating is not doing anything wrong and this is something people can try without getting 3rd party advice.

Yes, because that appears to have worked well for you in managing your economy (you know fixing the ROOT problem instead of the symptoms and getting advice on how to cut the actual costs of the loan). Seriously, no matter what person does if they are in that situation they need to talk to a third party if nothing else to have someone else look at it objectively and see what can be done.

There is a fear among banks about releasing info on what they charge and this is wrong.

Uh private company, you are not forced by law to use them, ring any bells here? I hate the bank charges as much as anyone (possibly more, I find it ridiculous I'm paying for banks to hold my money and loan them to other in some cases...) but seriously if you don't read what you sign and don't have a basic grasp of economy don't come complaining that they should cut your debt because "you did not know".

Look at the consumer assoc.'s that took the main banks in the UK to court over what is a legitimate charge.

What is POTENTIALLY a to high charge to be decided by the court as the law (in the UK) requires that the charge is propionate to the cost. Until the court makes a call though the legality of it is not decided. Even then expect that you would be paying as much as you do now as the costs that are being complained about mainly are about bank accounts (overdraft etc.) and not CCs and there will still be a noticeable cost to this (it will be re wrapped under other names as the bank will not give up all that juicy income).

I dont know what planet you are on but if you think negotiating with ccard companies is doing something wrong and warrants being blacklisted

Actually your setting yourself up for more credit cards and high interest loans in the future. What you are doing is raising a hand saying I can't handle my debts please reduce them. This is not exactly a + in the margin for your credit rating now is it? On the other hand the companies who live of people like you (high interest loans ala the credit card bills you already built up) will most likely be more then happy to give you more loans in a year or two once the subprime loaning market gets more stable again. After all as you noted yourself you've paid back over twice the original amount already, what more could a subprime institute possible hope for?

eth0_

tokyojoe wrote: »

Obviously a lot of you are so far up your own arses you dont know whats going on around you. If you believe its ok for a bank to recoup 10 times the original debt then there is not much hope for the country

You KNEW how much the interest was when you VOLUNTARILY signed up for the credit card! :rolleyes:

As for settling your bill for a % of the total - well done, you got yourself into huge debt and had to get the bank or MABS to bail you out. And now you have a sh1tty credit rating.

What an achievement!

ballooba

tokyojoe wrote: »

I dont know what planet you are on but if you think negotiating with ccard companies is doing something wrong and warrants being blacklisted then you are either a credit card company 'employee of the year' or a complete idiot.

Negotiating is all well and good as long as part of your negotiated deal is to stay off the blacklists. I hope this was part of your deal. At least then you would have done one thing right in this mess.

I am neither of the above by the way and I would never have ended up paying what you did.

Slice

I agree with the OP; he is right in that it is unacceptable what some credit card companies charge - this is the consumer board after all isn't it?? These are cold-hearted responses.

But there are a number of steps any consumer can take to limit their exposure to such absurd charges. You'd be complicit in these high charges if you didn't follow these steps. The first thing would be to make yourself aware of the alternatives to credit card debt and high repayments. A personal loan would cost much less - a fixed rate personal loan would cap the amount of interest you pay over the course of the loan. Even doing something simple such as moving to a different credit card company with better interest and repayment terms or with a 0% interest free introductory offer would help. Approaching your creditor directly and negotiating a settlement or better credit terms will not affect your credit rating as it's something that's agreed by both parties and not a decision you've made unilaterally without consulting your credit card company (which is something that would affect your credit rating if you just chose to default on repayments). Always approaching your creditor in advance of a payment due date if you anticipate difficulty repaying is the best thing to do as it shows you've acted in good faith.

It should be kept in mind when negotiating that it's not in the interests of the individual or the creditors for anyone to default on their payments or for it to reach the stage of debt collection and write offs.

tokyojoe

look people are throwing themselves off cliffs because they cant get out of debt or best scenario they become a burden on the health service cos they are depressed, so really to say to them when they are half way down the cliff ' you should have read the small print' is a bit gestapo - ish. Im sure for a lot of people in a tight situation having a ****ty credit rating is better than not been able to sleep at night. Forgiving debt has its merits. If it didnt Africa would have no chance

dudara

tokyojoe wrote: »

Dont take this personal but this '...legally obliged..' quote sounds like something from an accountancy student who is trying to sound grown up and professional but is afraid of his life to go into a bookies in case somebody might see him.

Not a accountancy student I'm afraid... sorry to disappoint. I'm well past that at this stage. Read here for an introduction to companies law

dudara

tokyojoe wrote: »

look people are throwing themselves off cliffs because they cant get out of debt or best scenario they become a burden on the health service cos they are depressed, so really to say to them when they are half way down the cliff ' you should have read the small print' is a bit gestapo - ish. Im sure for a lot of people in a tight situation having a ****ty credit rating is better than not been able to sleep at night. Forgiving debt has its merits. If it didnt Africa would have no chance

I won't argue with you on the mental effects of being in debt. It's a bad place to be in. But you simply cannot place the blame solely on the financial institutions.

eth0_

tokyojoe - if those people had lived within their means, they wouldn't be in a sh1tty situation. I feel sorry for people who get into massive debt because of ill-health or losing their job etc, but society does not owe you anything if you ran up credit card debts on frivolities.

You f*cked up and now you will have trouble with finances for a long time to come.

jimi_t

tokyojoe wrote: »

look people are throwing themselves off cliffs because they cant get out of debt...

Glad you realise that. The point people are making, however, is that you're a new poster with a badly worded and hard to read post, who then starts throwing a hissy fit when he doesn't get instant acclamation for his 'triumph' over adversity.

Obviously a lot of you are so far up your own arses you dont know whats going on around you... Are there any rebels in Boards.ie or is it full of prim and proper ****?

I dont know what planet you are on but if you think negotiating with ccard companies is doing something wrong and warrants being blacklisted then you are either a credit card company 'employee of the year' or a complete idiot.

Thankfully you're now getting torn apart by people who actually KNOW something about the matter at hand, rather than relentlessly offering unsolicited (and frequently misleading) financial advice.

ballooba

Slice wrote: »

I agree with the OP; he is right in that it is unacceptable what some credit card companies charge - this is the consumer board after all isn't it?? These are cold-hearted responses.

Credit card companies do take advantage of naiive vulnerable people. The advice the OP is offering is wrong though. He ended up paying three times the consideration back. If he had used a small loan to pay off the debt then he could have managed his repayments and saved a lot of money.

miju

sorry have to agree with others here OP. you live within your means and certainly do not live outside it using a credit card to finance it.

my limit on my card is €10k but do you think I would even dream of spending that much on it? you ****ed up show some responsibility and learn from your mistake and don't repeat it in the future.