I diaried here way back in June about my financial and credit card meltdown as a result of loss or work and medical bills. In that post I described how a young man named Mohammed at a Capital One call center overseas expressed compassion and how touched I was by this spark of humanity. Apparently that was a fluke. You know those barbarian thugs that used to be in the Capital One commercials? The ones that smash things and harass people. They haven’t been on tv lately. Turns out Capital One is using them to train their collections phone people.
First there were the script calls trying to get me to “discover” other sources of money. “What about your husband or another household member?” At first I’d explain I’m single. Initially, I really did try not to be verbally aggressive or sarcastic. Then I started saying, “Oh that’s right. What a great idea! Why didn’t I think to ask my billionaire husband to pay off my Capital One card. I’ll do that right now.”
After the script calls were unsuccessful in getting me to pay up, the barbarian calls started. One chastised me for the last charge of $380.00 before I was cut off. “Why would you charge that if you knew you didn’t have work?” he demanded. I explained it was an autodebit for my health insurance. Interestingly, the tenor of the phone calls changed dramatically after I told one particularly nasty Capital One employee I was recording his call to put on YouTube. It was just something that popped into my head. Ironically, about a month later Ann Minch launched “the debtor’s revolt” with her YouTube video that went viral thanks to HuffPost. She’s been on TV, had a personal phone call from Bank of America to make “arrangements”. Since then others have posted similar videos. Of course I’d be eager to jump into this debtor’s revolt. However, I’m wondering what can they do to me? My credit rating is trashed. Over 30 years of great credit gone, wiped out, meaningless because of my current situation.
Currently my priority is to pay my mortgage and utilities. My mortgage company was great and helped me get signed up for the mortgage bailout so my payments are reduced. However, I’m terrified because I can’t pay my medical bills and credit card bills. I’ve heard the term “forced into bankruptcy”. Can these companies do that to me? Could I loose my house even though I can make those payments but nothing else? These are terrifying times for consumers. And, while some consumers can boldly join a debtor’s revolt what are the consequences for those of us who own property?
Capital One received $3.56 BILLION in bail-out money and yet their “hardship” department says they can only reduce my rate to 23.5% on my business card and my personal card stays at 28%. However, “as a courtesy” they will stop adding on late charges of $38 each month. What genuine recourse do consumers have? Are we totally at their mercy?