Don't you ever feel like Alexander? Gum stuck in the hair, the bank screwing you over, a check you should have deposited but realize is now void because it's been longer than 30 days? Yeah. Me too.As for my previous post, I will now tell you why it was not in actuality bank fraud in the exact sense of the phrase. I will also enlighten you as to why I think America's credit system is total crap.
You see, it apparently started about 7 years ago when I opted to get only a debit card rather than a student credit card. Had I gotten a credit card like any normal student, I'd have been able to avoid all this hassle I am dealing with right now. I'd always been taught to stay out of debt and I did that completely. I viewed credit cards as slippery little buggers that could ruin your life if you weren't careful. I wanted to buy only what I had money for and nothing more. I didn't know how to dance their little credit card jig. And truthfully I didn't want to play their little game. Sure I could have used the credit card like a debit card and paid it off completely every month, but I didn't.
I didn't really know that I would have a big fat zero when my credit score pulled up. I also didn't realize what that big fat zero would me for me in the way of opportunities and necessary expensive expenditures. I thought have a checking and savings account in good standing would count for something. I thought that your debit card would help. I thought it would be better to pay things off as you go. But no. It didn't and it wasn't. I don't have bad credit; I have no credit. When we bought our house I wasn't allowed on the mortgage because of it. Not even with my husband, who has very good credit, as a co-signer.
So, as long as I have a husband I guess it's not that big of a deal if I have no credit. He could buy the cars and the houses. But after I found out I couldn't be on our mortgage I began to wonder what would happen if something ever happened to him. I would be totally screwed.
My siblings all told me I should get a credit card. "With self-discipline the rewards cards are amazing! I don't know why anyone wouldn't have one!" So, I began to look into it. I found that as a person with no credit, those rewards cards were out of my reach. I couldn't qualify because I had no credit at all. I compared all of the credit cards available to a person with no credit or bad credit. The choices really were not very appealing in the least. Students have decent basic cards available, but now that I'm a graduate, the options are slim. They all had what I considered to be high annual fees and no redemptive qualities. Many of them were just pre-paid credit cards which I really wanted to avoid because of the shear stupidity of the whole sham.
So, last week I looked over Wells Fargo's options. They weren't much better, but their annual fees were lower than the others so I thought, "what the heck, I'll get one. I gotta start building credit somehow." I took the plunge and applied for their secure credit card (the only card they offered that was available to me). BIG MISTAKE. Mainly because I didn't understand the wording of the application. They said that they'd used my checking account as collateral. I thought that meant if I were to overdraw my limit, they'd use my checking as overdraft protection. So I went ahead and set a $2000 limit so I could pay all my bills, buy groceries and gas, etc. with it each month.
That's where that $2000 I thought was taken by bank fraud comes in. What a secure credit card really means is that it's a pre-paid credit card. You know, the thing I really was trying to avoid. The limit you set yourself is promptly taken from your checking account and put in a mule account for the new credit card. That is where that money went. Because our mortgage payment and that application cleared within a couple days of each other, our account went into overdraft.
What an incredibly STUPID concept. What is a pre-paid credit card if not a debit card? Come on? Tell me. Stupid piece of crap is what it is. If I can't earn credit by being a responsibly debit card owner and I can earn credit with a pre-paid credit card, this system is JACKED UP! [expletive inserted here]!
So I canceled the credit card. You think that they'd be able to just electronically give us our money back. But no. They can only send us the money in the form of a check. A check?!? Fine. Ok. Just give us our money back. They took of the overdraft fee but promptly told us that was our one and only time we'd have that taken off for us.
And another thing. Why in the world would you be penalized for closing an account? Huh? Give me a good reason. What if I just want to change banks because there were more WaMu's accessible here than Wells Fargo? Why should I be penalized because my previous bank is now over a half an hour away?
And yet another thing. Why should I be penalized every time my credit is reviewed? Is it like some old document parchment that can't see the light of day too often or it will disintegrate? Our credit is checked when we apply for a new credit card, a loan, a phone account, a cable account, when we want to buy a fridge, etc., etc., etc. If it is required for them to check there is no reason I should be hurt by it. Jerks. Kick a lady with glasses when she's down why don't you.
On the up side, nobody stole our identity.
9 comments:
Ok. ok. My anger has abated somewhat though I am still a bit miffed. Don't be frightened off my friends. I won't bite or yell at you. Comment at your leisure...
Wow...wow. That STINKS. I'm sorry you have to deal with all that. What a royal pain. I wish I had some sage words of advice, but alas, I do not. But I can wish you good luck. So, Good Luck.
.
I hate banks. Don't bank at banks. Credit unions arent' perfect, but at least they don't actively pursue new avenues of screwing over their customers.
When you were in school I gave you some advice about teachers---figure out what they want and play their game.
Ditto for banks. Now you know what it means to use your checking account for collateral. I did not know that's what it meant either. BUT, now you know the hard way and thanks for letting the rest of us know.
Now you know this game and it's rules. Don't be angry. Just play the game to your advantage. Find the closest bank to you that has free to cheap checking and if possible the ability to use your savings account as an overdraft. My bank (Wells Fargo, incidently) doesn't have that feature anymore and I miss it. But hopefully there is one out there.
Then see if you can get a credit card from them with a $500 limit, even if you have to pay $40 a year. Use it, pay it off, use it, pay it off. At the end of the year they will say "good news, we have just increased your credit limit." Then one day you will get a letter in the mail offering you let you transfer your balance to them for 0%, or 3%, etc. Now you have some options. Not that YOU will have a balance but now you can get a better card. In a few years your options will include no annual fees.
It is important to play the game just in case anything should happen to Matt.
It's a waste of your emotional energy to be angry unless it will be a catalyst for getting things changed, which won't happen in this case. So blessings on your head for having survived a learning experience. I hope your $2000 comes quickly.
If you go looking for a new bank avoid Bank of America. It is almost impossible to speak with a live person there.
I guess Dad would say this has given you something to write about in your journal. :P We are so proud of your ability to handle money. Much love to you!!
Credit cards aren't the only way to build credit history. Just find some small items to buy on credit. Need a lawnmower? Purchase that on credit and pay it off quickly. Need a new washer or dryer? Same thing. Just get a credit for a couple hundred and make payments. That's all they need, is a history that you pay your bills on time. I'd also put all the utility payments in your name, those are always paid.
Yeah, the system stinkith. I just got a credit report and you can't win either way. They took off points from our credit score because we have TOO MANY accounts with balances (3 is too many?) and because we have had too many credit inquiries into our account (like we can control that).
Our score also went down because we had an credit account opened within the past 12 months.
I've had a credit card ever since I was 18 and only made one late payment in all those years but somehow, they find ways to tell me I'm less than ideal.
Lame. Your situation sounds like a nightmare - good luck building up credit. Like Miziki said though, there are other ways to do it than with credit cards. But lets just keep our fingers crossed that Matt outlives you!
Thanks for the suggestions.
De verdad, gracias por compartir! Will and I have just realized we're BOTH in the same perdicament as you! Not that we're in the position to buy a house right now, anyways(let alone soon), but we were behind you in figuring out the saddness behind applying for different credit cards. Thanks for sharing.
leathie, it's not too late for you guys to get student credit cards since he's still in school! Do it while you can!! They generally don't even have a yearly fee. They're not rewards cards, but it will helpyou build up credit.
Post a Comment