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Credit card debt collection

bitsaboutmoney.com

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Re: Credit card debt collection

#191

Post by cavegirl »

worldwidelies wrote: post #189
Reason077 wrote: post #177

One thing that's not mentioned in this article is that credit card companies will sometimes make last-ditch "clear your debt at a discount" offers before passing your debt on to a collection agency. This happened to me many years ago. In the wake of the '08 financial crisis, I'd lost my job abruptly and decided to go travelling. I'd accumulated a balance that was fairly substantial for me at the time (on the order of…

same experience, except it wasn't that simple. A family member told me I should settle with them, because that's what they did too. They wiped the balance and closed the account but the settlement stayed on my credit score for 7 years. I had a friend who was getting calls by a debt servicer and was making it seem like no big deal. I told my friend to ask the person about the 7 years, the person reluctantly admitted t…

Might as well not pay it, if it follows you anyway

Re: Credit card debt collection

#192

Post by TheNewsIsHere »

I have come to truly loathe debt collection agencies. I see them as a pox. I’ve witnessed their conferences and the way they view other people. I’ve witnessed their tactics at work against people who were vulnerable.

Several years ago I was caught up in a case of mistaken identity with a debt collector. It was with glee that I sent them letters that included the (pre-purchased) tracking number for the envelope in the subject line. It was with glee that I sent those letters signature required, return receipt.

It was with glee that I offered them a settlement on terms I knew they couldn’t legally reply to, because they knew they had the wrong person and had already disclosed too much information without verifying my identity. It was with glee that I took the advice of an attorney to do all of that. To dangle a carrot I knew they could never grab.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#193

Post by standardUser »

b112 wrote: post #187
RobinL wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose the problem is that if that becomes too prevalent, people will stop paying their bill in the hope that the credit card company will give them a discount

Poor credit can cost you dearly. Higher rates on everything, and a .5% difference in a mortgate rate is massive. It's a way to burn your credit for years, at great personal cost, so not likely that people will take the out without desperation.

Higher rates on what exactly? Isn't it pretty much just mortgage rates? Plenty of people have no plan or desire to buy property within the next seven years.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#194

Post by pluijzer »

worldwidelies wrote: post #189
Reason077 wrote: post #177

One thing that's not mentioned in this article is that credit card companies will sometimes make last-ditch "clear your debt at a discount" offers before passing your debt on to a collection agency. This happened to me many years ago. In the wake of the '08 financial crisis, I'd lost my job abruptly and decided to go travelling. I'd accumulated a balance that was fairly substantial for me at the time (on the order of…

same experience, except it wasn't that simple. A family member told me I should settle with them, because that's what they did too. They wiped the balance and closed the account but the settlement stayed on my credit score for 7 years. I had a friend who was getting calls by a debt servicer and was making it seem like no big deal. I told my friend to ask the person about the 7 years, the person reluctantly admitted t…

Just a heads up for people living in the EU, it is possible to have things like negative credit ratings removed on grounds of GPRD.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#195

Post by qwytw »

kioleanu wrote: post #141
turdprincess wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other side, if you are privileged enough to be financially stable, in the USA it’s best to pay for every single thing with a credit card. Aside from the points and rewards, credit cards are much more likely to reverse fraud transactions. I’ve had banks deny fraud reports and demand police reports while credit cards always reverse the transaction no questions asked. Actually it’s best to not even have a debit c…

That is just another symptom of the problem I would say. Although it does happen, there are other mechanisms in place to protect you from fraud, which discourage fraud in the first place. I’ve been paying with debit cards for more than 15 years in Europe, tens of thousands of transactions and not once did I need to reverse one.

> Europe, tens of thousands of transactions and not once did I need to reverse one.

Me neither. But (living in an EU country) every time I hear about someone who was a victim of a fraud/scam/etc. when SEPA/Bank transfers or debit cards are involved the banks just seem to pretty much tell everyone that's not their problem and that you should go the police (who obviously can hardly ever get the money back from the scammers directly, especially if they are in another country).

Some banks ever offer some sort of a "scam insurance" for a fixed monthly fee, which just seems absurd. Why do I even have to pay them in the first place (most banks charge some monthly fee just a for a debit card) if they can't guarantee they won't just start giving away my money to random people with no recourse?

OTH if you're using a credit card chargebacks seem to be an option even here (local banks just do their best to hide that from you)...

Re: Credit card debt collection

#196

Post by differentView »

Reason077 wrote: post #177

One thing that's not mentioned in this article is that credit card companies will sometimes make last-ditch "clear your debt at a discount" offers before passing your debt on to a collection agency. This happened to me many years ago. In the wake of the '08 financial crisis, I'd lost my job abruptly and decided to go travelling. I'd accumulated a balance that was fairly substantial for me at the time (on the order of…

What bank was it? Have you tried getting a credit card with them since? If so, were you successful?

Re: Credit card debt collection

#197

Post by qwytw »

adev_ wrote: post #151
unmole wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It might be a very European view to the problem but: Why does the American government does even tolerate this credit card garbage business in the first place ? TIL: Credit cards are banned in Europe. /s

> TIL: Credit cards are banned in Europe. /s They are not banned. They are heavily regulated in many European countries. In several of them: - Cashback systems are simply banned. - Credit card are by default Debit Card. The credit option need to be opt-in. - Credit Card payments spread over several months are discouraged or simply banned by default. Credit cards are also much more rare. With an average of ~1 Credit C…

> - Cashback systems are simply banned.

The fees are so heavily restricted EU wide that cashbacks are generally infeasible even where they are legal (I hadn't know they were banned in some countries) (e.g. I have card with a effective 0.2% cashback (in gift cards), it used to be 1-2% back in 2014).

Re: Credit card debt collection

#198

Post by qwytw »

eru wrote: post #147
scatters wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but instead of consumption, that alternative money would be biased towards investment or even less productive activities, such as house price speculation. Consumer credit creates money where it has the greatest benefit.

> [...] that alternative money would be biased towards investment or even less productive activities, such as house price speculation. How is that supposed to work? When the central bank injects money into the economy, they don't earmark it to be only spend in specific ways. Just to forestall one pseudo-explanation: yes, a central bank usually injects money into the economy by buying government bonds. However (a) the…

I guess the idea that directly giving out money to consumers is more beneficial to the economy (e.g. if the government just gives a $1000 check to everyone making under 100k) they are more likely to just spend it on goods and services.

If the central bank printed an equivalent amount per capita, more of it would be invested (into both productive and unproductive assets). On the other hand that wouldn't increase consumer good inflation as much.

Re: Credit card debt collection

#199

Post by notahacker »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #157
acyou wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singapore has many systems, rules and laws that would not and could not work elsewhere. It's great that it works for them, but it doesn't work in the USA, or most other countries. I will point out that they are an affluent, monocultural, somewhat xenophobic, authoritarian and borderline fascist city-state.

Singapore is monocultural? Please explain.

It has a relative lack of subcultures, but that's not really the same thing

Re: Credit card debt collection

#200

Post by distances »

chipsa wrote: post #126
adev_ wrote: post #91

It might be a very European view to the problem but: Why does the American government does even tolerate this credit card garbage business in the first place ? We are in the 21th century. Most payment can be validated electronically and processed under 200ms. I can pay something with my phone and get money taken directly from my bank account within seconds. There is absolutely no need of Credit Cards where Debit Card…

Someone mentioned fraud protection, to be more explicit: With credit cards, you haven't truly paid until the credit card bill gets paid. So, if you have a dispute, you don't have to pay the disputed amount until the dispute is resolved. With a debit card, you've already paid, and so you're out the money until the dispute is resolved. Now, if the dispute is not resolved in your favor, you may have to pay interest on t…

My experience is similar to another commenter: never in my life did I have to dispute any payment (in Europe). I understand the idea of added consumer protection, but in practice there seems to be very little need for it.

And apparently banks in Europe tend to side with the creditor anyway, so I'm not looking forward to the day I actually have to dispute anything, be it credit or debit.

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