Is your Credit Report so bright that you gotta wear shades?
I was going to make this a rather technical piece of blogging information. I printed out page upon page of data to support my stance. I read through each page of data to compare it to what I really wanted to say about the subject of credit. Then, as typical, I ripped up the pages because they were quite boring... even though, informative.
My goal is to be less boring (I rarely have lofty expectations;) and just as informative.
To this day, I don't get why people wear shades. Okay, if the Sun hurts their eyes, I get that. But I'm convinced that many wear shades because they are under some grand illusion that they actually look cool. In reality, most just look like tourists. I bring this up because of the Title of this post. When you owe folks money, the easiest way to make it seemingly disappear is to hide. Hide from phone calls, certified letters, emails, and from your neighbor who just got information on your behalf.
Let's be Frank. You can be Susie. If you make enough money and handle it correctly... this stuff isn't an issue. However, if your credit score looks like Ted William's batting average from 1941, there is some serious 'issues' going on. While you can ignore creditors all you want, it will end up costing more than the comfort your so-called pride could ever allow.
Much has been written about this issue, even by yours truly. Instead of bombarding you, the reader, with facts, figures, and a brand new way to make money if you spend $19.95 on my 'Secret System', I will give you three Philosophical Facts (oxymoron, I know) about Credit. By the way, if you are interested in my 'Secret System' and are willing to spend almost twenty dollars for the privilege of implementing such, I'm also thinking about starting a cult in Waco.
When I read the word 'Dunning', I wondered what it meant. I'm no language genius and rarely study, as my college GPA can prove. Dunning is the process of methodically communicating with customers to ensure the collection of accounts receivable. Interesting. This would happen to be addressed by the first of three philosophies I have on credit. Be pro-active! Call them before they even think of calling you. Nobody knows your financial situation better than you. Calling the specific creditor and opening the lines of communication can go a long way in keeping things copacetic. If you are pro-active enough, it will ensure that you are more methodical than the counterpart you owe, which can help buy time to earn the time to appease your financial crime.
But what happens if I get someone on the line and can't pay them a dime? Here comes Philosophy Numero two. I'll use credit cards as an example. This one is a personal story. I had a credit card with an available balance of a mere $500.00. Because of finance charges and an overly high balance, I had incurred their over the balance fee just one month prior. The first time in seven years. I called to discuss and get rid of the issue. That wasn't much of a problem. Yet, the next month I ran into the same dilemma and their finance charges put me over my balance and I was once again confronted with a pretty staunch fee. I got on the horn and spoke to a young lady whose English wasn't akin to Shakespeare. She was passionate in her script in saying that the particular fee I was charged was only able to be waived once ever twelve months. After about twenty minutes, I asked her four times to let me talk to someone higher-up, a manager per se. According to her, they would say the same thing. On the fifth time, she put me on hold. Magically, she was actually able to waive the fee all by herself. Before your panties get wet as a reader, I had been a customer with them for quite sometime and had never been late on even one payment. But Philosophy Numero Two says that you be persistent in all dealings with those you owe money too. If you can't pay them a dime, they'll often accept a penny or two in the meantime.
Read up on this stuff. Information is extremely available, and as long as it's the accurate material, you should be quite fine. When I got my first collection call, I had more anxiety than O.J. after the whole Bronco Chase. Okay, bad analogy. But, I got through it. I learned to deal with it and keep my head about me. The majority of folks you talk to when dealing with any debts you have are hourly employees who probably are in the same boat. You'd be surprised about the credit profiles of collectors, doctors, lawyers, and what I do for a living. Never be intimidated, yet always be gracious. Don't kill them with kindness, confront them with Professionalism.
Pro-active, persistent, & professional. Tsk, I should have been a Social Worker. Then again, :)
Comments(1)