Monday, September 5, 2011
You'll be Fixed, all right
I really hope that the woman in this ad is just an actress, and not a "satisfied customer" of WeFixMoney.com. Because anyone who thinks this is a good idea- well, as Gordon Gekko says in the only Wall Street movie worth viewing, "A fool and his money are lucky to get together in the first place..."
Ok, so this woman was faced with a bit of a financial crisis- she had a sudden car repair to deal with, and she found herself "surrounded by bills." Hey, it happens- especially if you aren't the "plan ahead" type. Or the "good enough credit to have a VISA card" type.
"I said, 'this has got to stop!'" Um, what is the "this" that "has to stop," exactly? The living on the margins? The lack of a rainy day fund? Turns out that neither is the correct answer- we know this, even though we never really do get a satisfactory answer to the question. Because this woman's "solution" was to accrue more debt. Not only that- but to add debt in the dumbest, most destructive way imaginable. She doesn't go to her bank or credit union (she seems to have a nice house there, or at least a decent apartment- something just doesn't compute here) or family. She goes online (she has internet access too- I guess the cable bill is in the "necessities" pile....) and finds WeFixMoney.com. She gets a short-term loan to tide her over till her paycheck shows up. Yay, problem solved.
Except, not really. Because these Payday loans are so expensive (can we spell Usury, boys and girls?) using them just puts you in a bigger hole than you were when you signed away your Common Sense for a fistful of dollars. Look, I get that there are these things called emergencies, and sometimes you can find yourself stuck. Sometimes, it's not even your fault. But this- this is not the answer.
If you've got any credit at all, you can carry a credit card for emergencies like a sudden car repair- and no credit card charges 300% if you don't pay off the balance inside of a month. I suspect that people who use "services" like WeFixMoney.com have already proven themselves incapable of handing credit cards, however. So I guess I really don't have any answers for this woman or people like her. Just pity. And disgust for the companies that prey on them- be it Aaron's, or Rent A Center, or CashStop, or WeFixMoney.com.
The little blurb included with the YouTube video says "Our Goal is to help you Navigate through Tough Financial Times..." Oh please. We know what you're goal is. Don't add insult to injury by embroidering it, ok?
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Companies like We Fix Money and Money Mutual and Western Sky and Aaron's and Rent A Center don't want to help you through tough times. They want to keep you at the margins. Any poorer and you couldn't afford them. Any better off and you wouldn't need them. They know it, they profit from it, and they have no incentive to change it.
ReplyDeleteI know from I've experienced, that when you are low on funds and owing, the loan companies find you like flies discovering day-old gristle on the grill.
ReplyDeleteBargain brand Shylocks like this have always been with us and, as nearly as I can recall, have always been this brazenly dishonest.
ReplyDeleteDrededCandiru2 - the term "Shylocks" is one you may want to examine more fully. It is an ethnic and religious slur, based, however loosely, on a character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice". It's a nasty old term, and it doesn't belong here.
ReplyDeleteShe could always hock that sweet stainless steel Viking double oven shes got. That thing is about a 5,000 oven. Not to mention the refrigerator....
ReplyDeleteDreaded throws out a "shylock". I love it.
thepapers, these commercials ALWAYS feature people who look like they live upper-middle class lifestyles in suburban castles, and "just happen" to have an "emergency" which requires them to take the desperate step of securing a Payday Loan. Which makes absolutely zero sense- if you own a house and live in the suburbs, you've got a credit card and a bank eager to lend you "emergency" money. They never show you anyone who looks like a real Payday Loan customer- someone living in a studio apartment or a trailer with a non-functioning car in the front and a half-dozen screaming, dirty kids fighting over the last Hostess Twinkie.
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