Geek Soap Box

Like many Americans, I have found myself completely buried under a mountain of unsecured debt — i.e., the dangerous and often-uncontrollable weight of financial turmoil brought forth from the irresponsible overuse of credit cards.

Now, before I begin my rant, let me make it perfectly clear: my situation arose as the direct result of my own actions, and stems from a series of bad financial decisions (moving debt around to clear other accounts), simple overspending (the management of Amazon.com probably knows me by name), and outrageous vice (cash advances to fuel gambling).  It’s nobody’s fault but my own, and I am not the victim of some grand corporate conspiracy or other marketing malfeasance.

That being said, sometimes those big credit card companies make me want to go Tyler Durden on their collective asses so damn badly.

Take one company — we’ll call it “DiskCover.”  Facing a maxed-out limit and a horribly high percentage rate (again, my own fault stemming from late payments), I called the main customer service line and begged for a little help.  The resultant deal seemed fairly reasonable and a positive for both sides — if I agreed to set up a monthly, recurring payment (we negotiated $403) that automatically debits from my bank account every month, my percentage rate will drop to a miraculous 3%.  The goal is to allow cardholders a means to honestly and easily pay off their debt, as I was told.  I thought it was a dream come true.

Then I looked at the bill.  Sure, “DiskCover” is taking the prerequisite $403 from my account every month, but not all of it is going towards my debt.

Yup, in addition to the standard monthly finance charges, now I am being hit with a $10 “pay by telephone” fee each month because I had the temerity to set up this payment plan…over the telephone, I suppose.

Look, ten bucks is no big deal in the big picture.  But at the same time, the petty penny games being played by a multinational billion-dollar corporation to maximize profits and cover poor, risky, speculative schemes undertaken by managers with million-dollar bonuses irks me to no end.  ”Oh, you want to give us money?  That will cost you an extra picture of Alexander Hamilton, because we don’t like the way you have decided to give it to us.”

Bite me, “DiskCover.”