A Dandy Indicator of Corporate Desperation

I have not attempted to hide my own financial distress on this blog previously so I am not ashamed to share with you, dear readers, the latest.

Today I got a call from one of the account managers at work who had a caller on the line she was trying to transfer to me. She didn't know how to do it except via conference call, and then she would hang up once we were connected.

I said, "ok."

The call was from one of my creditors associated with my failed business venture which necessitated my return into the steady employ of another.

The next thing I remember hearing was, "How do you plan to pay this debt?"

"What kind of time frame are we talking about here?" I asked.

"Within the next month," was the reply. "We'll take 50-cents on the dollar."

Oh, I thought. I was hoping for about 25 years, or about 5-cents on the dollar since that's about all I have. I told the person, first of all, that I did not appreciate being called at work, and would prefer they not call me at work ever again.

Then the conversation returned to how was I going to pay this debt. The person said "we have information on your holdings, your assets, your property, and.." blah blah blah. Knowing that they cannot seize my house or my car, and I have no other viable assets, she went on to a list of credit cards where I have available credit, or so she believed based on the information she had been provided.

Am I to believe I'm supposed to get cash advances from other credit cards in order to satisfy this entity, only to default on the ones I'm borrowing from? Then what about the six others?

Excuse me, but that seems shady and unethical, if not downright illegal.

When I told this person I did not have the means to pay right now, she said "we'll sue you."

I said, "you do what you have to do and I'll do what I have to do."

She mumbled something along the lines of "glad to have that on tape" and she hung up on me. I do know they record these conversations, but I stand by the truth. This isn't the first time I've been hung up on after speaking the truth.

They are all vultures. Some more than others. I have to wonder about one of the last calls I fielded in which the person asked, "how do you plan to pay this?"

"I don't have the means at this time," I replied.

He said, "Ok then, may we call you at this number later when your situation might be more favorable?"

I'm paraphrasing some of these latter conversations but not by much. But it's kind of interesting to be a participant in the tactics during an economic meltdown.

Some don't seem to give a shit, others I've barely heard from, and a couple are hounding me into insanity.

I would name names but that might not be wise. Maybe later.

How appropriate and coincidental that all this would happen on the day and night when Herr Bush would address the nation on the dire economic situation... for all of about 14 minutes?