cicely wrote:
Thanks to those who gave sound advice. I will be honest- I am beyond pissed off and mad at them for what I feel they did. But at the same time, I do realize that I made a couple small financial decisions that directly caused me to be in this predicament. I was merely looking for some help, they offered it, I fulfilled it... only to have them reneg on it.
Okay, let me put it to you this way...you work retail. Ever have customers lie to you? Ever have customers rant and rave that some employee promised them some RIDICULOUS deal? I worked at a stereo store in high school and had customers do that shit I'd be shocked if you've never seen it.
Do you honor ridiculous deals? No. I'm sure you don't.
I can almost guarantee you that they will not honor what was promised. I can tell you that I prep'd accounts for legal action and had unbelievable power to do whatever deal I wanted, including forgiveness of the debt (though I'd best be able to back my ass up on it
). I can tell you that NO ONE would ever be authorized to have you skip a future payment.
No way, no how.
Bring you current and not make you fork up the cash for missed payments? Surely. Tack it on to the loan. Same with late fees (which will not be forgiven once it's at the point of collections). Late fees may be forgiven if you're slightly late well before it's at the collection level.
So, since no one would EVER be authorized to offer you that deal, they have 2 options:
1) Assume you're a liar like every other person who doesn't pay their bills as they should...and that's how they view you. You're no longer a 'valued customer' you're a pain in the ass who doesn't pay on time. Sorry, but that's what you're regulated to once they have to collect from you.
2) Assume some idiot employee may have misspoken to some degree, but it's still your problem because you know the terms of your contract and you cannot renegotiate it to that level without resigning documents or speaking to someone higher in the food chain, which you should know.
So, get over your righteous indignation. Seriously. They don't care. And quite frankly it makes them less likely to do ANYTHING with you.
If I had your account (which I wouldn't have unless you were 4 mos behind) and saw that shit on it, and you have a job...I'd be verifying your employment, then demanding PIF...that's payment in full...of the loan. Why? I wouldn't want to DEAL WITH YOU, you're a pain in the ass. You're not worth the money we'd have to spend constantly dealing with you. And since you broke the terms of the loan, and you care about your credit and more importantly...you have a job I could garnish...I'd demand you pay in full.
And I'd give you three days to pony up the cash. Potentially extending that a week if you had me talk to relatives who SWORE they were scraping it together for you, and you were making good faith attempts (like half the balance)
Otherwise, fuck it...we'll see you in court. It's just easier.
That's their end, take it for what you will, but being a pissy customer doesn't work if they view you as a bad customer. And while you're 'only 7 days late' atm...you're a chronic non-payer to them. =\
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The thing is- right now, I have only missed one payment. It is only 7 days late. Nothing (to my knowledge, they even told me this- although they have also lied about many other things too) has been reported to the credit bureau. I was told by multiple people (including management/supervisor) that it *will* be reported at 30 days late. When I make my payment to them, it will have been 26 days late at that point. So theoretically, I will not be reported.
You were behind before, hence this deal. They were collecting it then, I guarantee you that they reported it then. And once you went 3 days late on this, given your previous failure to pay...they probably reported it. You'd have to request a copy of your credit report to see.
And whatever is reported stays reported. They cannot remove it, it would be fraud. After all...you ARE late. So if anyone gives you any bullshit about removing it off your credit report, they're a liar.
They're also pulling your credit report, which ...is a bad ding. Sorry.
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And if I am, I will have to fight that. Because I would think that is breaking some sort of law or business practice or something.
No it's not. I didn't handle reporting to the credit bureau, but you can't claim the contract was redone in good faith if the employee had no ability to bargain on behalf of the company. You also have no evidence they ever did. It's your word against theirs, contract prevails. Good luck!
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And it is not a collections agency- just a financial institution (a major one, you all know them) that I got a loan from. I have paid on time, every month, for the past 20 months or so... or thereabouts. Just had a small issue with this past month due to some unforseen financial issues that arose that caused me to reallocate funds from other areas to pay off other things.
Makes me wonder if it's the one I used to work for, though I wouldn't say who I worked for.
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I guess it is just a shame that after all the good stuff I have done, one (in my mind) minor thing has tumbled into a major issue with the institution. I know someone who got a DUI- 0.084 against a legal limit of 0.080. Just BARELY over. And yet they had to do jail time, have a breathalyzer on their car for a year, take rehab classes, etc etc etc... all in the same group of people who tested 0.18, 0.22, 0.21 for the THIRD time, etc etc. It seems like government and business wants to lump everyone into one specific category, when there is obviously a difference between someone who is 0.22 who drinks and drives three nights out of every week... and someone who had a drink or two at a restaurant, drinks/drives maybe once every 4 months (and even then it is just a drink or two) and gets caught at 0.084. Maybe I am biased cause I know the person, but I just can't see how those two are equal situations.
You keep thinking you're a good customer.
YOU ARE NOT.
I had to deal with that shit before. I understand why you think that. I dealt with people who had had many loans through my lender, who had been good customers. And then they expected that was worth something when they defaulted.
It's business. It's all about today. They're not dealing with loan officers or branch managers...they're dealing with the collections division and believe me the company has this attitude (and this was before the economic crisis, I'm sure it's moreso now)
WE DO NOT WANT YOU AS A CLIENT.
It's all bad paper, even if we bring you current, even if we do business with you down the road again (which the company might)...you're a 'bad' customer if you're not paying the bill.
I'm assuming your loan is a signature loan with high interest. That's from a B-C lender. It's high risk paper. We knew the percentage of default, which is why the interest is so high and they're term loans. It's also why the collections are aggressive, they're high risk loans and once someone starts dicking around with payment...the odds of them defaulting are high.
And once a company has to chase after you for money, they're losing money on you. It costs money to chase people down and get them to pay. So no they're not going to talk nicely to you, treat you like a valued customer and bend over backwards to appease you. You don't have a good foundation for demanding jack shit.
They do. Frankly they have all the power, because they can fuck your credit, and demand payment in full of the loan. They can probably enact some draconian penalties that they're not atm too, such as capping the rate. (Usually only done if it's in the contract, when a judgement is sought).
You DO have rights under the FDCPA (fair debts collections practices act, IIRC)...and consumers have lots of rights.
But on this issue...really not so much. If you call the branch you got the loan from (assuming it wasn't a mail in signature loan) they won't really care too much and they'll kiss you back to the dept. dealing with it.
Your best bet is to talk to someone in management there. DO NOT ACT LIKE AN ENTITLED ASSHOLE. Seriously that will piss them off like you wouldn't believe and you've probably done lots of damage already. Calmly explain your situation and hope that they will be in a good mood and work it out for you. Be gracious, polite, and try to be super friendly. Saying stuff like, 'Look...I'm sure you hear this all the time...I'm sure people say things untrue, but really...blah blah blah'.
And you *might* stand a chance.
Also just two additional tips for people dealing with collections, as hey times are tough. First...never ever lie. IF YOU LIE you'd better fucking remember it. Most of them write notes on the account and once you're branded a liar...the deals you will get will be much worse. You'll get no sympathy. You simply won't be believed even if you say the sky is blue.
Second, be polite. It can be hard, esp. when some of the collectors ARE complete pricks...but being polite goes a long way. Winning an argument over the phone is worthless if it costs you RL money.
Again, hope that helps. But you HAVE to get past the 'but they told me and I'm entitled...' thing. It simply doesn't matter because you cannot prove it and they will NEVER believe you. Sorry. =\