Nice to see that the wonderful financial policies
of the Republicrats and Demicans are finally beginning to bear fruit.
Just yesterday, I personally witnessed the consequences of
simultaneously stealing citizens money and lavishing it on those in
charge of the credit market.
I was a customer of Capital One — you know: the “No Hassles” card — for
over a decade. My most recent card interest rate was about 6.5%. After
all, with the prime rate barely hovering above zero, the “cost” of
borrowing money is low. Just look at home mortgages in the 5-6% range
for fixed mortgages.
By golly, though, I guess the Capital “No Hassles” One folks made the
same realization that those in charge of our government have: don’t let
any crisis go without taking advantage of it. So, in this wondrous
world of the Sky Is Falling Unless We Act Immediately!, Capital One
sent me a notice that they were increasing my interest rate. Double it?
Nah. Triple it? Uh-uhn. Quadruple it? Are you kidding me? Oh, no. These
great souls are nearly
quintupling my interest rate to just under
30%!!! That’s right: a nearly 400% increase in the interest charged on any revolving balance.
400%!!!
I was so happy to be the target of this beneficent change, that I immediately called and canceled my card.
Well. I
tried to cancel it immediately.
The shill on the other end went on and on: well, my interest rate went up, too [
but only 10 points, not 25]; you’ve been with us for so long [
yeah, and I deserve better treatment as a customer]; it doesn’t matter what the interest rate is since you pay off your bills [
but I don’t do so every month]; the economy is having problems [
so I am a responsible person and customer who pays my bills and doesn’t go hog wild with charging things I can’t afford, and I am the one who gets punished for it?; welcome to the modern America...]; and on and on.
I had to get angry and firm and practically yell to get the stupid twit to cancel my card.
Fuck these people.
Don’t misunderstand me: I fully and completely believe and accept that
Capital One or whoever has the right to jack up the interest to 30
million percent, if they want, if that’s in the provisions of the
agreement. BUT...having the
right to do X does not mean that X
is the right thing to do.
If you’re a Capital One card holder — or maybe many other card issuers
will mimic these actions — prepare yourself for the possibility of
having something large and unpleasant shoved up your nether regions. I
hope — like me — you’re in a position to cancel that card and seek
greener pastures.
But the real problem is all those jerks who clamored and continue to
clamor for the State to “do something.” They were the ones who helped
create this mess, in the first place. I am as mad or madder at them.
After all, Capital One is merely exploiting a bad situation in a sucky
attempt to try to get more of my money. All the politicians and the 98%
of the voters who keep those assholes in office are doing something
much worse:
They’re out to get my freedom.
(from
Don't Get Me Started!, 2-13-09)
