Proposal for "credit card activism"

[burythehatchet]

1. Identify one credit card company, preferably the one that paid the most to lobby for this bill;
2. Target this company and A)do not start any new accounts with them, and B) destroy any card you have with this company
3. Do this on a highly publicized web site where people can register the card they cancelled.

If we can set a very conservative goal of 100,000 I think we can make a point. More importantly, we can elevate the awareness of this loan sharking industry.

Over the past 20 years I have slowly witnessed the complete decline of customer service and any shred of concern for the regular guy has been thrown out the window. The corporate maggots continue to take authority away from front line employees who get stuck having to deal with irate customers. My ire is directed to every large corporation that has been screwing consumers increasingly every year.

Constructive thoughts?

[Wapsie B]

1. Sounds good to me.

Target one company and bring it to its knees.

[Warpy]

2. Too late

I recognized the scam in process and got rid of them all in 1991.

[SemperEadem]

27. Same here

No matter what they tell you, cash still is in vogue. The more of it that's in your pocket, the better off you are. Credit cards steal your money from you with your permission.

[The Doctor.]

3. I like the idea...

Unfortunately most of those who could afford to participate in this protest pay almost nothing to the Credit Card companies.
Most individuals with steady cash-flow pay off balances without ever paying interest or fees.

The people these companies make the most from are those who do not have sufficient cash flow and can therefore not afford to do away with their emergency means.

It's an ugly catch-22.

[burythehatchet]

4. Valid points but the only activism that is going to make a difference

is when we do the right thing even though it may hurt. In the end its worth the pain

[The Doctor.]

21. Try to convince someone they don't need

heat or food for a month of that.

[burythehatchet]

5. I'm a perfect example

for my small business I use a credit card for convenience. Even though I don't carry a balance, every month I charge 12 to 15 hundred. The card company makes 2 to 3 percent of that. Its crazy. I'm going to start using checks again because that's 30 to 40 dollars they won't earn from me.

[AlCzervik]

7. Thats what my Dad does, he used to use credit cards

and pay them off every month but he ended up switching to checks.

[Deja Q]

8. My parents did the same thing; got harassed by the bank and accts closed:

Why? Because they never, if very rarely, used the cards.

Not a profit for the bank.

So people are damned with cards. And hurt without them.

But that's where debit cards come in: Used like credit cards, brand name and all, except it's tied to one's checking account... and exempt from fraud laws, ain't that nice?

[phylny]

23. The companies are like addicts, needing their "fix."

We moved this year, and due to the move and the need to juggle some expenses, we had a period of about six months where we carried a balance. One of the cards was a "zero interest for X months" card, which my husband wisely opened and used. The other was a card we've had for years. As a side note, carrying any balance on a card is unusual for us

When we paid off the bills (on two cards), and had zero debt again, both credit card companies sent us letters asking us if we wanted more credit, if we needed to "borrow" money from them, and basically if everything was "okay." They were actually panicked because we HAD NO DEBT.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

37. Just got a letter from a credit card company -

I paid off the balance almost a year ago and haven't used the card since. So the other day I got this smarmy letter saying something like, we noticed you haven't charged anything on the card since last May, and isn't it nice that now we RAISED your credit limit, blah, blah, blah...

Oh, I don't think so.

They are vampires.

[Tansy_Gold]

10. Not only does the card company, aka bank, make money

off your purchase, but if you patronize small independent businesses, they LOSE that 2-3%.

The same is true of debit cards -- the merchant pays the bank a portion of the sale, and the merchants are not allowed to raise the price to cover that fee.

The only really effective boycott is to cut back on non-essential spending.

Hubby and I had a long talk about this a couple weeks ago, just before the bankruptcy bill hit the mainstream. Our personal financial situation is precarious at the moment -- I'm one of the millions of uncounted unemployed -- and we've looked at various ways to weather the storm. We understand that most of those who face bankruptcy -- my brother did it back in the early 90s -- do so because of medical bills and other financial trauma.

But we also understand that part of the global problem is that Americans on the whole consume goods and services and resources at a much higher rate than people elsewhere. Our transportation system -- let's build more highways and fewer mass transit systems, for example -- encourages the consumption of vast quantities of increasingly scarce and increasingly expensive petroleum. Our housing system -- bedroom communities without integrated job and service facilities -- does the same. We have a consumer culture based on how much stuff any individual can acquire.

And a lot of what we acquire goes right into the trash. We don't recycle, we don't reuse, we waste and waste and waste.

Furthermore, we don't look beyond sticker price. We still, as a nation, shop at Wal-Mart because they've got cheap prices and we refuse to see the hidden costs of doing so. My mother STILL goes there, despite what they did to my dad (trumped up charges to fire him) that cut their income in half, and her explanation is always "but I can afford to buy more there." And telling her "buy less and buy it somewhere else!" doesn't work.

Buy less, buy local, and pay cash. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Waste not, want not.

[burythehatchet]

18. Right on

I wish yo strength in wethering this storm. Your comments are absolutely on target. I was watching some news show and the issue of the trade defecit basically means that we are asking the rest of the world to support our spending habits.
We're really screwed, I'm afraid. I just don't see us going back towards a path of sanity.

[LiberallyInclined]

6. I have no credit cards...and therefore no credit card debt.

we gave them up over 10 years ago.

[merh]

9. Cut up the credit cards and send the pieces to your favorite

representative or senator. I want to load up their asses with pieces of plastic. Tell them that they can return them to their favorite contributors.

When you receive a letter from the credit card company that offers you a card, take all of the paper and put it plus some additional junk mail in the postage prepaid envelope and return it to the credit card company. Load them up with trash at their expense.

[libnnc]

11. I have three really fat business reply mail envelopes

just waiting for the mail man today....

I did it last night at the kitchen table.

"Activism Craft Hour" :evilgrin:

[merh]

13. Good for you! I mailed one out yesterday

and received another one, so I will be sending it out today!

I think I will write across the back of the envelope and on the pages something like "You want bankruptcy reform, well, how about we never use your services again! Power to the people that are credit card free!"

[kcass1954]

35. I like that - "Activism Craft Hour"

I read the other thread Friday, and I'm now saving my junk mail. I decided that I should still shred the actual credit offer, especially if it's "preapproved", given the amount of identity theft going on these days. But I get lots of other stuff that someone else might enjoy. Hey, just because I don't want it doesn't mean that it's trash. Just doin' my part to recycle!

[Swamp Rat]

19. We should send them tea bags!

And as for the pre-paid return business postage, well, I also put a thin yet heavy object in the envelope. :D

washers, slugs, pennies... :)

[merh]

26. Tea Bags is good! I like that, do you think they will understand

the meaning behind the tea bags?

I also like the washer or slug in the envelopes sent back to the credit card companies!

[Swamp Rat]

28. Probably not

So, write "FU King George!" on the tea bag and I think they might get it. :)

[merh]

30. Or how about

"Remember the Boston Tea Party!"

I like it! :evilgrin:

[Swamp Rat]

31. Yes, I like that.

Especially if we send them to the White House (some of us already have ;)), but I don't know if Hindus, Sri Lankans, Bengalis, etc. will get that... remember, credit card companies have already outsourced most of their jobs.

[kohodog]

12. Some of these ideas have been discussed in an earlier thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3253436&mesg_id=3253436

Somehow we need to coordinate an effort. Someone suggested a "cut up your credit card day" when this bill gets signed or goes into effect. I'm currently taping pieces of mine to letters to the turncoat dems who voted for it (and one to my senator Lieberman who voted for cloture and then nay on the bill, a chickenshit move).

But we need to figure out a way to make a public statement that will be noticed. People need protection from these predatory monsters, and regulation is the only solution other than getting people off the habit. But once they're ensnared it can be very hard.

Can anyone name a bill in recent history that hasn't been pro-corporation? We are becoming sharecroppers in a fascist theocracy.

[AnnInLa]

17. "We need to coordinate an effort"

Many repukes hate the bankruptcy bill as much as we do (well, maybe not quite as much.) But, many repuke bloggers came out against it, and many of the freepers were fighting amongst themselves about it.

What if the most well-known liberal bloggers and the repuke bloggers JOINED FORCES this time to have a "cut up your credit card day" or some such stunt....just the fact that the bloggers joined forces would get MSM attention.

I sent the suggestion to about 10 of the lib bloggers but, evidently, they need you to email them too.

[Kazak]

14. Pay 'em all off and never carry a balance again.

That's the most effective thing you can do.

[Kazak]

15. If they want to force "personal responsibility"...

then they should get a big dose of it, right?

;)

[Swamp Rat]

20. That's EXACTLY what I do!

We're called "dead-beats" for some odd reason, eventhough we pay all that we owe. :D

[Melynn]

22. That's what I intend to do

Hit them were it hurts the most. The credit card companies are planning to make a pile of money off of this bankruptcy law, so turn it around on them and boycott them and don't do business with them.

[freestyle]

16. Big targets should be MBNA and Bank of America

In fact, the best thing is to deal with credit unions or local banks to the greatest extent possible. The megacorporations are a bad deal all the way around, and for banking and credit, the terms and service are better keeping it close to home.

[Make7]

32. Credit unions are definitely the way to go.

They are non-profit financial cooperatives that are owned and controlled by the members. They are usually community based and therefore are almost always more friendly and understanding. They don't have all those ridiculous fees just to have an account there either.

I've never been happy with any bank I've done business with, but I love both the credit unions I belong to.

If as many people as possible would transfer all their financial business to credit unions, it would take a huge chunk of money away from the banks.

-Make7

[Karenina]

39. Greenspan has been dispatched

to TAKE THEM OUTTA THE GAME. I'll go look for the link ... anybody else who saw it, puhleese woik wit me heah, ich bin eine kleine alte LUDDITE, but I KNOW I saw it in LBN.

AUSGEZEICHNET!!! Here ya go! MY SHORT-TERM MEMORY AIN'T TOTALLY KAPUTT!! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Lies they told me in HealthEd) :smoke:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1307629

[Iterate]

24. Find one good company, all support them

Counter-market =Finding a good company, if there is such a thing. Certainly there has to be one banker out there somewhere who's a progressive democrat? It's an oxymoron, but just one? And surely someone has to notice 50 million voters switching companies.

Starve the bastards. The great refusal. This is most likely to work if the impact is focused on 5 or 10 of the very worst companies. Since these companies also have the worst employment practices and working conditions, don't forget that angle.

Publicity, public cut ups. Counter ads next to every ad they use, every site, billboard, outhouse, sponsored event.

Mainly, don't forget the other part of the industry -the collection agencies. They often get huge tax breaks, training subsidies, etc. One of the largest is based in Rockford, IL., truly scum. They often skirt the law by tricking people into paying debts they no longer owe. Also involved in political payoffs, scandals. Often located in areas where wages are forced lowest and workers have less choice. These are cores of right wing support.

Sign up, sign off. Waste their effort for a change. Mass card sign-ups with phony names.

Aren't these the same people cutting forests to fill mail boxes with unsolicited crap?

Aren't these the same people calling at dinner time? Family values, right?

Maybe a progressive corporate rating system for all sorts of businesses: Use!, Safe, Mixed, Dicey, and Never!

Whoever volunteers for this will have to stay on it -for years. Take frequent showers.

[Iterate]

25. You don't have to live this way

In writing the previous note I was reminded that at one time I didn't know life could be otherwise. Few Americans know how the system works elsewhere. Why should you know?, and who's going to tell you?

Here's how it work's in Europe, generally, for most people.

You sign up for a bank account, usually in person at a local branch.
With that account is a question, how much do you earn in a month?. That's used to calculate the amount you'll be allowed for an overdraft at that bank. You are also have the option to sign up for a bank cash card and credit card. Both are tied directly to your bank account, with the whole CC balance, if there is one, deducted each month. So far that doesn't sound like credit at all, but you are allowed overdrafts at your bank without significant penalty and with a 'reasonable' interest. Your bills will continue to be paid even if there is an overdraft. If you have trouble and max it out, the bank will stop additional payments over the maximum and you will have to go talk to them, in person.

That part isn't fun for anyone, but from what people tell me it's not that bad. You wouldn't be in horrible trouble at that point and the bankers will work with you to take care of the problem while it's still manageable. They can actually be pleasant.

Remember also that if you have lost your job, you won't starve or be on the street in 13 weeks. You still have health care. No need to go start a revolution, steal, or slit your wrists. The CC isn't the safety net.

Don't get me wrong, there are still ways to get into financial trouble and there are still bankruptcies filed (though of course, not as many). Bankers are still bankers, they're just not predators. Once you do hit the edge though, it does tend to be more serious. They really will show up at the door and repo everything to satisfy a just debt.

Other differences? There are still big box stores, though not a many. German employment is high, but for other reasons. China is flooding Europe with cheap goods. (I do see that as being tied to the CC issue). None, or few CC offers in the mail. No junk phone calls. Either not permitted, or because, as my wife said, "Why would anyone do that? That would be rude." Bill collectors have less power, cause less fear.

And people tend to buy less junk, by far.

[burythehatchet]

33. The points you have brought forth

really deserve a discussion of their own. The issue of how the corporation interacts with the consumer is really very much at the core of many of our problems. While it can be tempting to idealize the European model (I often do), it is clear in my mind that when a society is organized around a set of social democratic ideals, as opposed to democratic republic, life tends to be far more humane.

[Rann]

29. Credit Cards

I have one I charge a tank of Gas to it each year, just to keep the card active. i hold it for the emergency stuff.


F... credit cards thiveing bastards.......

[DearAbby]

36. I am from "great depression parents"...they taught me

"Use it up, wear it out..make do or do without. If you can't pay cash for it, you don't need it." I have pretty much lived by that. I have one CC for emergencies only. Keep it active... like as you said, purchases small.

I will not be caught in this horrible spiral, living way beyond the means. My POS car does the same thing as a luxury car, it doesn't look as purdy, but it gets me from point A to point B, on less gas, I may add. I dont live in a mansion, but it's a sound roof and keeps me warm and dry, on less energy, I may add.

I dont care what the Jones' have. I have what I need, or I am saving money to get it.

Thanks Mom & Dad :)

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

34. How about applying for every credit card you can possibly get

those without annual fees at least. THEN immediately cut them up the very day you get them. Let each credit card company keep sending statements each month indicating no activity. Let them spend a little money for postage to boot. Is that too militaristic?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

38. Don't do that!

I leaned something interesting from a loan officer at my credit union -- every single time you apply for credit, your credit score takes a hit. That's because it's assumed you're broke and are shopping around for credit. So, for example, when you apply for a store credit card because the store is offering 10% off if you apply, your credit score loses a point or two. So even though it would cost the credit card companies a bit if you did this, it would hurt you even more.