I have a funny story to share....
Date: Wed, 05/17/2006 - 07:44
I have a friend whom is a mother and grandmother. She is about 48 years old and she is shy a few bricks if you know what I mean. She is very loving, friendly and outragiously funny!!! She can run circles around me and I am 33 years old..let me tell you.
Ok, I am driving to work and we have those quick cash loan places by the dozens in our small town and by the millions in the next town. One month, I swear I drove by and caught my friend Ola at each and every one of them. I was of course on my way to work each morning and did not have time to chit chat with her.
One weekend, I drove by and caught her at home. Were talking outside and she was complaining about never having money and having to make payments to the loan sharks. I kind of took it upon myself to mention the fact that IF she stayed away from them then she could pay them off and be on with her life.
She gave me the strangest look....she rolled and batted her eyes at me and put her hands on her hips and says, "IF I don't renew my loan, they will come and arrest me...I pay them off all the time and then they threaten me!" I said, "WHAT!?" I was looking at her in shock and could see I was getting nowhere. I told her, THEY can't arrest you for not renewing your loan with them, what on earth makes you think they can do that....? She was very persistant that she was right and I was wrong. She then showed me a "flyer" they had sent her and it read:
MRS. OLA,
You need to come and pick up the 350.00 dollars that we have in cash for you. COME GET IT TODAY!!!!!
Sincerely,
Your Lender
I had the hardest time explaining to her that this was an advertisment tactic they use to suck people into their scam to loan more and more money out. SHe was totally convinced that everytime she received this letter that she HAD to go get the money (even if she did not need it.)
I think they are misleading and there are probably more people out there in the world like my friend than I realize.
Your poor friend, I feel bad for her. I hope she now understand
Your poor friend, I feel bad for her. I hope she now understands that she can ignore these flyers, etc. You are a good person for helping her.
Oh that's just terrible. Thank god you were there to explain it
Oh that's just terrible. Thank god you were there to explain it to her...
You're right, it's funny but then again, not!
Reading things like this make me SO thankful I never got in that
Reading things like this make me SO thankful I never got in that rut. I had never heard of them until moving to Arkansas (although I'm sure they were in Austin, TX - but I just didn't pay attention). Thankfully, I have the time to pick up odd jobs (scoring softball games, house sitting, dog walking, ANYTHING) and can avoid those loans. I am so thankful for this site who has shed TONS of light on these farces.
Well I agree with all of you---it is both funny and very sad. Sa
Well I agree with all of you---it is both funny and very sad. Sad that there are people around that are that incapable of understanding something like that. Thank goodness she has a friend like you ljclark1.
the story
Well, I debated sharing at first, because I did not know how you all would react...but it took like 4 hours to explain to her that she DID NOT have to renew her loan with them. I can hear the company now, "Now OLA, you HAVE to keep you acct open at all times..." Of course they want her in there all the time.
I too, have been there at the quick cash places until a friend introduced me to the good ol' credit card which is just as quick only they sugar coat the small print. I quickly pulled out of the quick cash scene and went to cc's quick cash and found myself in deeper doo/doo than I was in before.
Did you know that since I enrolled in the debt settlement program that I have no major visa (only a department clothes store card) and I pay for everything with cash now and it is a wonderful feeling. At first it was like a drug addict and withdraws in the store. I literally dug in my purse looking for a cc. But now, I am trained to use nothing but cash...and I actually like it. Used to all I noticed was the looks the people would receive in the store for paying by cash (because they did not have enough credit to have a credit card) Now, I see it differently..I see people charging their lives away (like I did) and I feel sorry for them.
What a great change in your outlook on spending. I have drastic
What a great change in your outlook on spending. I have drastically reduced using credit cards and it feels really good being able to hand over cash for items (or a debit card... which still has the look and feel of a credit card for those who like to pretend). I've also noticed a lot less clothes and shoes going unused in my closet. I don't buy it unless I need it (or HAVE to have it). I used to constantly takes clothes to resale shops that still had tags on them. How sick is that? I don't do that anymore (I even find myself buying clothes at retail shops that have tags on them still - one suckers loss is my gain!)