There was a two hour delay because everything is covered in ice. The streets were pretty clear by the time the kids went to school, but everything else had a lovely glaze of ice on it, including our driveway and front walk. And we are completely out of salt and don't own one of those ice-breaker tools, so I have to pray no one visits us today and that the mail carrier will be wearing crampons, so we won't get sued when whomever approaches the house slips and cracks his head open. I'm going to have to get to the store and buy the proper ice-breaking equipment. We can't afford to be sued. Not now anyway.

We are getting our financial situation in order. It has been getting better and better. We closed our ten million credit cards at least two years ago and put them into a credit counseling program to get all the interest rates down. I've heard so many financial advisors on TV talk about how you can call your credit card companies and get rates lowered and fees taken off, that if you call them, they will work with you. To that I say a hearty BULLSHIT. We called every single card we had, and none of them wanted to do any such thing. They knew they had us in a vise, and they were going to keep squeezing it until we were bled completely dry, and then they would have went after our kids and probably our animals after that. For credit card companies to do anything for you, you have to have good credit. If you have good credit, you don't have an urgent need to get the interest rates lowered or fees waived. But that's the way it seems to work in most cases, which means it didn't work for us.

The worst company was American Express. No matter how many times we called or what we tried, they wouldn't work with us at all. The credit counseling place even said American Express would not work with them. Apparently, they don't work with anyone. They raise your credit limit until you get to the point where you have trouble making the payment. If you're late on payments, they raise the interest rate to 24% and charge you almost $30 in late fees. And if the interest charges put you over the limit, they'll charge you almost $30 for that too. Meanwhile, they will ask for a minimum payment that barely even covers the interest charged. Once you get in a bad spot, you have no real way to get out, because you're going further and further over you limit because of late and overlimit fees.

Granted, we got ourselves in the bad situation in the first place. We spent too much, used too much credit, and made the initial late payments. I fully believe that if we hadn't hit a couple of rough financial spots, those late payments never would have happened. But once they did, there was no redemption. The interest rate was jacked up, and the fees started coming. We made some bad decisions.

I'm pretty sure we are not a small minority. Americans in general are carrying too much debt, and don't think for a minute that credit card companies don't know this. Credit limits get raised automatically because they know if you have the credit, you're more likely to use it. And once you spend more than you can afford, you are stuck in the same vicious cycle that we were. Thank God other companies will at least work with credit counseling, giving you a chance to plug up your leaky boat. But while many of the holes were repaired, the Amex hole just kept leaking, and we found ourselves bailing water instead of getting back in ship shape.

Today, we sent American Express a big, fat check that will pay off our account and close it for good. I will never, ever have another Amex account again. I entertain dreams that if they ever send us credit applications or anything from now until the day my dead body is burnt to a cinder, I will send them photos of my middle finger or my ass with their lip prints on it. Being the despicable corporation they are, I'm sure they would spend the thousands of dollars they are making on poor schmucks like us to sue us for something. As a matter of fact, I'll probably get an official letter over writing this stuff here. I'm still waiting for my letter from Wells Fargo, who are just a notch below Amex on the Cindy hatred scale.

I've talked to a couple people who are so very shocked to hear how uncooperative and oppresive Amex has been. And I probably would have thought the same way back when I was a customer who was still getting her credit limit raised to tempt me. They are sweet as pie to anyone in good standing. Once you mess up though, watch out. They turn into the bully that holds your head under the water.

We never asked for special treatment. We only asked for a way out. They never gave it. They clearly didn't want us to get out. If I could have filed bankruptcy just on them, I would have, but I suspect they would have showed up with ten years' worth of credit card statements and demanded everything we bought using that card. They seem evil that way.

We're out now though, and I will go out of my way to never have contact with them again. They will receive wicked nasty letters from me if they send any credit applications, pre-approved offers, or anything else. I have no doubt we'll get them. Our credit is getting a lot better, and I'm sure we'll have credit offers out the wazoo in a year or so. And I will happily use their postage paid envelope to send them a letter telling them to go fuck themselves, except I'll use slightly nicer terms. I doubt the assholes in charge would ever see it anyway.

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One Year Ago Today:
Damn Monkeys (from two years ago)

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