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January 9, 2006
just say no
i blogged the other day about some of the nightmares i've recently encountered with rebates. this brought me to thinking about other shady or irresponsible things that businesses do to get you to spend (waste?) your money with them. one thing that particularly galls me is the ads i hear on a local FM talk radio station here in detroit. the station i listen to is talk, but it's not NPR or otherwise educational talk -- the demographic clearly is the average joe, young, not necessarily educated, i-love-howard-stern-and-i'll-go-on-the-air-and-say-stupid-stuff kind of demographic. the commercials are right in line with that demographic, and i offer two examples here.
example 1: a conversation between a young man and young woman. man is polishing his new boat. woman is astounded that he could afford it given his financial issues and lack of job. he says, "the people at XXX financial refinanced my house, paid off my bills, AND gave me enough money to buy this new boat!" the conversation went on to talk about how they can always approve you, regardless of credit score or income.
example 2: the beginning of the commercial says: "interest rates are on the rise, and home values are declining. it's time to get your equity out while you still can!"
IMO, these are two extremely irresponsible tactics to get people to give them money for services they don't need. i've seen what financial issues (whether or not they were self-inflicted) can do to someone's health and well-being, and it's not pretty. this just perpetuates the problem.
now, on the flip side, it's good for people like me in the short term because all the people who are shafted by these "deals" will just pump the money back into the economy. however, i can't help but feel that in the long run it's bad for everyone because of all the impending financial disasters down the road, especially with the new bankruptcy laws.
thoughts? anyone have anything similar in their world?
Posted by eburke at January 9, 2006 11:38 AM
Comments
darren, i agree. the funny thing is, these two companies are so over-hyped that EVERYONE has heard of them. i can even sing the jingle “866… 554… 4-USA”. now if you’ll excuse me, my new boat awaits…
Posted by: eburke on January 26, 2006 9:04 PM ESTahktjgwr cwinmqovf mrsfgnedu xrfjes woqxl bkla gvnpb
Posted by: zqkls rlecuao on October 12, 2006 4:36 PM EDT
As a loan officer for an actual credible company (Countrywide), I have had enough of these slimeballs making a bad name for us all. Quick word of advice: If you haven’t heard of the company, then don’t use them. Stay with a company with a sterling reputation, like Countrywide (shameless plug)
Posted by: darren tracy on January 26, 2006 6:02 PM EST