BUT now I want to pay, I have the money to pay and I will happily pay and I am being declinded from paying??? Odd.

In December, Wells Fargo Student Services division told me I was approximately $1100 behind and needed me to pay the full payment of 1100 dollars to bring my account current and out of charge off status. I explained I did not (and truely did not) have the 1100 dollars to give them. They assured me that was okay and there was other avenues I could take to just start paying the regular payment and work my way to current status without being charged off.

Form after form! I filled out the economic hardship paperwork in great detail after having to embarrassingly give my story to the customer service operator (who the hell are you?) and took to a local Wells Fargo branch to have it faxed in. I literally missed the mark by less than $200 and was denied.

Yet another form! So I then called back in and asked, what can I do? Again, I have the money and want to pay you, why can’t you take my money?? They referred me to yet another website to download yet another form….

Deferment. I filled out in detail the deferment form and went again to the local Wells Fargo branch to have it faxed in. I was again denied.

I have received 4, yes 4, thank you letters from Wells Fargo thanking me for contacting them and trying to resolve this issue. (Wonder if those will hold up in court.) Now, I also paid a monthly payment they called a “good faith” payment which really means “tough shit” payment in January right before I was denied, twice. I logged into Wells Fargo this afternoon to set up my February payments only to find my student loan account is unavailable. This could mean that they are tacking on their incredible interest rate or it could mean they have sent it into charge off status after I did everything they asked and more.

Hey banks! I realize you make more by charging off my account, packaging it up all pretty with some ribbon (which later I hope to strangle you with ) and selling it to the highest bidder but you have made some fatal flaws…

The best advice I can give anyone in my situation especially with a bank that auto spits out thank you notes for contacting them and then screws you is…keep calling customer service and stock piling those thank you notes!

They will come in handy, trust me!

We will have to see tomorrow why it is unavailable.

I read an article today on walletpop.com about the new scam the banks are running.  It’s bad enough they are getting paid to steal (yes steal) peoples homes with government money (yes the government knows and no they don’t care) but now the claim the banks made in recent months in the media about lowering fees and specifically dropping overdraft fees are turning out to be lies also.               <-   My surprised look…

It was last quarter I believe when the campaigns and numerous articles and press releases (especially for Wells Fargo) appeared regarding the “end of the overdraft fee”.  I’m not sure if this was supposed to be a warm fuzzy campaign to help lessen the growing public anger and scrutiny of the banking system or….nope it was supposed to be just that but now the secrets have leaked and the banks showing who they are, once again.

(Imagine in a creepy old man voice….)  “Yes, pay check to pay check banking customer we will graciously pay for that $10 you didn’t have in your account to cover your kids weekly lunch cost but we will loan that to you at a 350% interest rate.”  Yes, at a $35 fee hit that is a 350% interest rate for the $10!!!

Now, we, the nice, not at all greedy banks are going to take that fee away and make you feel better about our bank for a week or two until your next statement hits your inbox and you realize we just changed the name.  GOTCHA!  Yes, the $35 fee still exists, and NO, we did NOT lie….the “overdraft charge” is gone….BUT to cover cost (and by cost I mean record bonuses) and increase our record profits of 2009 (look it up people, record profits!) we will now call them insufficient fund fees.

Funny, Wells Fargo used to hit me with both fees and I ended up paying $70 for every overdraft….seems like they were lying from the start. 

Doesn’t matter what you call it, overdraft, insufficient, no money, broke….I call it lack of integrity, greed and disgusting.

I paid both of my credit cards this month as well and scheduled another payment for next month on the small credit card I tend to forget about.

So far, so good.

1 month down, 11 to go….

Student Loan: $18,943.78

Credit Card: $8224.85

Credit Card: $305.45

You always hear the horror stories about the crazy phone calls and the nasty way the customer service reps talk to you when dealing with debt.  I have never had that experience before and thought it must be overblown exaggerations regarding these horror stories surrounding credit card negotiation phone calls.  Surely, if you are willing to pay, you have the money and they certainly want the money there is a middle ground both of you can stand on, right?

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

Not only was I cursed out by a Wells Fargo credit card representative but I was called various names, and hung up on twice.  They refused to lower my rate which is holding and accumulating at a 23% interest rate.  They said they would lower my minimum payment so I could pay them but still keep the 23% interest rate.  I explained to the irate rep that this would not solve the big picture in eliminating the debt.  Paying less than the minimum with a 23% interest rate my debt would increase not decrease.  I stated this and he said, “Yeah so…but then you would be current.”  SO Again, back to the banks being the new mobsters.  I would then be paying you not to pay off the debt but I would be paying you, the new mob, to not take a hit out on me…..interesting.

I was then told by the same customer service rep to “forget the big picture” meaning:  forget paying the debt off….okay man behind the curtain, IT IS ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE!  Seriously, America and its banks are the new Land of Oz.  We have a few men behind the curtains selling us dreams…go to college, use your credit card, etc.  I bought into those dream, I didn’t understand the man behind the fine print, it was my fault for not educating myself and I’m not taking the victim stand I just find it scary that the biggest scam we have in Oz, cough, I meant America, is the banks. 

Pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

“No heart, no brain…oh we’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful wizard of Ozzzzzzz.”  Sing it all the way to the bank.

They welcome you into the “family”, you feel secure and safe knowing you are in THE families good graces. When your on top and paying your monetary dues it’s understood that they won’t take any hits out on you but when life intervenes and you fall behind they show no mercy before kissing your forehead and pulling the trigger.

Sad thing is the new Mob is the banks. The self appointed Godfather’s are the customer service reps who are themselves living paycheck to paycheck, erasing the collectors phone calls on their lunch break from harassing and lecturing others on financial responsibility with not much more than a high school diploma under their belt to award them with so much power.

We tell the Godfathers we want to pay them but they continue with the hits, credit hits, one after another each month. They call us several times in a row harrassing and yelling over our debt as if it’s their own but when we reach out to make things right they will make no deals, just hits.