I had this same problem with Citi Cards. I had them set up on auto pay where THEY took money from my account. One day it expired and I got a notice they I was late and the intrest shot up to 30%. I called and got the fees waived but they wouldn't change my intrest rate back to the 6% it was. They also said my account was never set up so THEY took the money that I must of had my bank auto sending the money. I told them to re set up the auto pay, they told me they don't even have the ability to withdraw the money from my account I would have to have my banking institute send the money....WTF they were taking the money for over a year. I paid it off and didn't close it and just like Haunngh I got a bill the following month for somthing like $2. I still have it open but don't use it at all.
The Epic Fail of CitiCards
- Thread starter hannaugh
- Start date
Geez, when some people find their Wheaties swimming in piss, maybe they should refrain from posting!!
I am one of those people who out of circumstance feel that not everyone "needs" to go to college. Think about how many people from our parents and grandparents generation didn't go to college, yet held good paying jobs that they didn't have to struggle like the uneducated do now. I mean around here you need a 4 year degree to operate a milling machine, where 30 years ago you didn't need to go to college to operate that same milling machine. Hell you have to go to college to be a car mechanic these days!!
Let's talk about truck driving. Before all you had to do was go to the DMV, take some tests and you had a CDL and within a week or so of submitting applications, you had a job. Now, every trucking company wants 2 years experience or a recent graduate from truck driving school! Since when do you need an associates degree or certificate to drive a rig? So since I am ineligable for student loans or grants, I either have to shell out $8000 cash money to go to school or literally 'get on my knees and work' for a job. I feel really uneasy about having to 'buy my job' that is kind of what college means to me: A way of buying your career. Why can't grade and high schools offer curriculum that employers would actually give someone credit for. Anymore, unless you want to work fast food, you need to go and buy that 4 year degree!!
One catch 22 for me at least is "Question 35" on a federal student loan application. I have a misdemeaner marijuana possession charge, which makes me ineligable for student loans, grants or any type of subsidy from uncle sam of the good old commonwealth of PA. And the 'rehab' I was forced to go to for my parole isn't the kind of 'rehab' that the government considers proper for lending money for schooling drug possessers. So what does someone in my shoes do? Well, my choices are pretty limited: McDonalds, Burger King, or Wendy's!!! But BK and Wendy's won't let someone with a drug conviction work management in their company. All this for getting caught one day in a traffic stop with a little more pot than I could hide, cost me a good portion of time (Yes, I did jail time for marijuana possession) and a label that follows me for the rest of my life. So what, I had a little reefer, now I can't go to school, I can't get a decent job and frankly it had all but destroyed my will to even search for a job. I used to work for myself, but my type of buisiness has some real large corporate competition (UPS, FedEx, I'm in the delivery and logistics business) so I go through highs and lows. Thank god my wife has a good job as an RN, or we would have sunk years ago! What really irks me about this whole thing is this: Average joe citizen can go to the bar, get plowed, drive home and wrap his car around a telephone pole get a DUI, kill his passenger, and he gets a fine and gets put into a program where if he completes his probation and promises to 'never drink and drive again' he can still go to school, hold a decent job. All because getting crapfaced, is somehow socially acceptable, but smoking a doob is considered as bad as raping and murdering someone!!! BTW, I can't think of anyone who ever got 'too high' and wrapped a car around a telephone pole!! Nor have I ever heard of someone smoking too much pot and dying from it. But we have all heard or know of someone that drank too much one night and died.
So if anyone knows a solution to this little problem I just pointed out, please let me know!!! The simple solution is to decriminalize and legalize marijuana across the country. Drop the federal laws. Focus the DEA on crack and heroin, which, does kill people and destroys soceity!! I don' t honestly think it will ever happen, because I'd be the first on the list for refarations from the state and feds for my time that was taken from me. If they decriminalize or legalize pot, they will have a mess in civil courts across the country with people in my shoes suing the states and feds for the crap they have had to endure due to plant prohibition!!!
Everyone needs to quit believing Anslingers 'reefer madness' propaganda from the 1930's. And the other problem that marijuana legalization faces that not many people think of is this: Big Tobaccco, Alcohol, insurance, and especially Pharmicutical lobbyists see marijuana as a direct threat to their bottom dollar. Think about it: if a doctor told you to go home and smoke a joint to alleiviate your whatever, that is one less prescription sale they get. Multiply that by how many doctors in the country by 5 days a week, and you will see the millions of dollars that complete marijuana freedom would cost. And the argument that the states could tax and regulate it is crap, because the states would receive that money, not Glaxo or Phizer or Bayer. Big Pharmacy lobbies, and has the money to lobby. NORML doesn't have the money to line the correct pockets, that is why no legalization is going to happen. The alcohol people will say hands down like they were programmed to that marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol in moderation. Been to a bar lately? I have, and I see very few people enjoying thier spirits in 'moderation.'
BTW I am actually college educated. I have an associates degree in Building Construction Technology. I specialized my training in handicap accesable construction and zoning laws. Never once did this degree get me anything than an entry level position on a building crew, when I have the education to run the crew. So after years of total frustration at different jobs in the construction field, mainly having to put up with working under the company owner's brother in law or dart league partner, I gave it up and started a courier business, which went well till diesel went to $5.00 a gallon and broke me. I couldn't afford the fuel, the insurance, the truck payments and payroll. After all that, it left me with nothing to show for my work (and I drove for my company too) but a bunch of debt, cause I sold my box trucks at a huge loss!! I have even been in several construction unions, and my degree means nothing there on the job. The funny part of that was the foreman's I worked for would always ask me to read blueprints for them, because they couldn't. Funny how my 'job' was to clean up worksites and do light framing, but I would always find myself explaining how to do this or that. I signed up as a finish carpenter and foreman, but those jobs don't come up unless there is some under the desk shennagans going on, or the boss is your uncle. One house I worked on the foreman insisted we do the walls at 24" centers. I glanced over the blueprints which clearly an engineer and architect called for 16" centers, but the foreman got a bonus on unused materials. Well long story short, the house got inspected, and the first and second story wall framing was re built by non union workers at 16" centers!!! What is funny is that the low man on the totem pole (me) tried to explain to the head honcho that he was doing something wrong, and I got told to go cut shims. What is funnier, is that he still works for the same union. I don't, being told that you are stupid on a daily basis is not good for you so I left one day very uncerimoniously, with all of my tools. Some of which were my compressor and nail guns. You want to see something funny: watching guys try to hammer in nails in the days of nail guns!!!
hannaugh said:
I am one of those people who out of circumstance feel that not everyone "needs" to go to college. Think about how many people from our parents and grandparents generation didn't go to college, yet held good paying jobs that they didn't have to struggle like the uneducated do now. I mean around here you need a 4 year degree to operate a milling machine, where 30 years ago you didn't need to go to college to operate that same milling machine. Hell you have to go to college to be a car mechanic these days!!
Let's talk about truck driving. Before all you had to do was go to the DMV, take some tests and you had a CDL and within a week or so of submitting applications, you had a job. Now, every trucking company wants 2 years experience or a recent graduate from truck driving school! Since when do you need an associates degree or certificate to drive a rig? So since I am ineligable for student loans or grants, I either have to shell out $8000 cash money to go to school or literally 'get on my knees and work' for a job. I feel really uneasy about having to 'buy my job' that is kind of what college means to me: A way of buying your career. Why can't grade and high schools offer curriculum that employers would actually give someone credit for. Anymore, unless you want to work fast food, you need to go and buy that 4 year degree!!
One catch 22 for me at least is "Question 35" on a federal student loan application. I have a misdemeaner marijuana possession charge, which makes me ineligable for student loans, grants or any type of subsidy from uncle sam of the good old commonwealth of PA. And the 'rehab' I was forced to go to for my parole isn't the kind of 'rehab' that the government considers proper for lending money for schooling drug possessers. So what does someone in my shoes do? Well, my choices are pretty limited: McDonalds, Burger King, or Wendy's!!! But BK and Wendy's won't let someone with a drug conviction work management in their company. All this for getting caught one day in a traffic stop with a little more pot than I could hide, cost me a good portion of time (Yes, I did jail time for marijuana possession) and a label that follows me for the rest of my life. So what, I had a little reefer, now I can't go to school, I can't get a decent job and frankly it had all but destroyed my will to even search for a job. I used to work for myself, but my type of buisiness has some real large corporate competition (UPS, FedEx, I'm in the delivery and logistics business) so I go through highs and lows. Thank god my wife has a good job as an RN, or we would have sunk years ago! What really irks me about this whole thing is this: Average joe citizen can go to the bar, get plowed, drive home and wrap his car around a telephone pole get a DUI, kill his passenger, and he gets a fine and gets put into a program where if he completes his probation and promises to 'never drink and drive again' he can still go to school, hold a decent job. All because getting crapfaced, is somehow socially acceptable, but smoking a doob is considered as bad as raping and murdering someone!!! BTW, I can't think of anyone who ever got 'too high' and wrapped a car around a telephone pole!! Nor have I ever heard of someone smoking too much pot and dying from it. But we have all heard or know of someone that drank too much one night and died.
So if anyone knows a solution to this little problem I just pointed out, please let me know!!! The simple solution is to decriminalize and legalize marijuana across the country. Drop the federal laws. Focus the DEA on crack and heroin, which, does kill people and destroys soceity!! I don' t honestly think it will ever happen, because I'd be the first on the list for refarations from the state and feds for my time that was taken from me. If they decriminalize or legalize pot, they will have a mess in civil courts across the country with people in my shoes suing the states and feds for the crap they have had to endure due to plant prohibition!!!
Everyone needs to quit believing Anslingers 'reefer madness' propaganda from the 1930's. And the other problem that marijuana legalization faces that not many people think of is this: Big Tobaccco, Alcohol, insurance, and especially Pharmicutical lobbyists see marijuana as a direct threat to their bottom dollar. Think about it: if a doctor told you to go home and smoke a joint to alleiviate your whatever, that is one less prescription sale they get. Multiply that by how many doctors in the country by 5 days a week, and you will see the millions of dollars that complete marijuana freedom would cost. And the argument that the states could tax and regulate it is crap, because the states would receive that money, not Glaxo or Phizer or Bayer. Big Pharmacy lobbies, and has the money to lobby. NORML doesn't have the money to line the correct pockets, that is why no legalization is going to happen. The alcohol people will say hands down like they were programmed to that marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol in moderation. Been to a bar lately? I have, and I see very few people enjoying thier spirits in 'moderation.'
BTW I am actually college educated. I have an associates degree in Building Construction Technology. I specialized my training in handicap accesable construction and zoning laws. Never once did this degree get me anything than an entry level position on a building crew, when I have the education to run the crew. So after years of total frustration at different jobs in the construction field, mainly having to put up with working under the company owner's brother in law or dart league partner, I gave it up and started a courier business, which went well till diesel went to $5.00 a gallon and broke me. I couldn't afford the fuel, the insurance, the truck payments and payroll. After all that, it left me with nothing to show for my work (and I drove for my company too) but a bunch of debt, cause I sold my box trucks at a huge loss!! I have even been in several construction unions, and my degree means nothing there on the job. The funny part of that was the foreman's I worked for would always ask me to read blueprints for them, because they couldn't. Funny how my 'job' was to clean up worksites and do light framing, but I would always find myself explaining how to do this or that. I signed up as a finish carpenter and foreman, but those jobs don't come up unless there is some under the desk shennagans going on, or the boss is your uncle. One house I worked on the foreman insisted we do the walls at 24" centers. I glanced over the blueprints which clearly an engineer and architect called for 16" centers, but the foreman got a bonus on unused materials. Well long story short, the house got inspected, and the first and second story wall framing was re built by non union workers at 16" centers!!! What is funny is that the low man on the totem pole (me) tried to explain to the head honcho that he was doing something wrong, and I got told to go cut shims. What is funnier, is that he still works for the same union. I don't, being told that you are stupid on a daily basis is not good for you so I left one day very uncerimoniously, with all of my tools. Some of which were my compressor and nail guns. You want to see something funny: watching guys try to hammer in nails in the days of nail guns!!!
erogenousjones17
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For what it's worth, I'm college-educated (just about done my Master's - yay!), and I'm with BigBeard; not everyone needs to go to college. Not everyone needs to become a doctor or lawyer. We need construction workers and machinists and lumberjacks and plumbers and...you get the idea. I think a lot of people would be better off in a trade program, but instead they get pushed off into college and university, where they flail their way through courses and programs that don't suit them and inevitably either give up and quit or end up working some job they hate.
There's no shame in not going to college (just so long as you do something with your life), and there's no shame in manual labour.
I'm not sure how we got to talking about pot vs. alcohol, but since we're on the subject, I don't think there's any shame in indulging in either one from time to time. The problem comes when they start to affect your productivity or your life in general. I may not know anyone who got high and wrapped their car around a telephone pole, but I do know my fair share of people who started smoking pot in high school and never looked back. I'm not here to talk about gateway drugs and all that; I just know a number of people who spend their time sitting on the couch, getting high and playing Xbox. Granted, the same thing may very well have happened without pot, but it is worth mentioning nonetheless.
There's no shame in not going to college (just so long as you do something with your life), and there's no shame in manual labour.
I'm not sure how we got to talking about pot vs. alcohol, but since we're on the subject, I don't think there's any shame in indulging in either one from time to time. The problem comes when they start to affect your productivity or your life in general. I may not know anyone who got high and wrapped their car around a telephone pole, but I do know my fair share of people who started smoking pot in high school and never looked back. I'm not here to talk about gateway drugs and all that; I just know a number of people who spend their time sitting on the couch, getting high and playing Xbox. Granted, the same thing may very well have happened without pot, but it is worth mentioning nonetheless.
hannaugh said:
I had a similar experience with Citibank. Once they get their claws in you, they don't like to let go. I spent many, painful hours on the phone with various low-paid Indian support people. Eventually I called Citigroup's headquarters in New York City and asked for (CEO) Vikram Pandit by name.
I was instantly transferred to their "executive response team" whose job it is to placate possibly-litigious customers. The angrier you are, the nicer they will be to you. They were very nice to me and my accounts were closed in a matter of hours.
Ironically, asking for Mr. Pandit was the only way I found to NOT get connected to some Indian guy.
ErogenousJones said:
Not so much flail through courses.... more in terms of the need for an outlet that they cannot control, at least for me. I have no trouble learning anything, as long as there is direct application that suits my interest or, more often, need. You'd be surprised at what the tradesmen do in their off time. Very cerebral stuff some of it, they just cant sit and learn in a university that says ok, you need A,B,K,L, and Q to pass. A bunch of folks are not able to deal with the structure, but do very well unstructured. In fact, some might say BETTER because of the lack of structure. Some dont realize what it takes to be themselves, until given the opportunity... in college years. Thinking off the cuff here... I know three plumbers, two electricians, two cabinet makers, and one self styled multi-millionare... and they all can attest to "come college" and no degree whatsoever. And, lets not forget those who are just BORED TO TEARS with the coursework, and need to get into something that "lets them think with both hands".
Well, in general I think college is a total rip off and it's dumb that you can't get anywhere with no degree because schools are so driven to get either you or the state to spend lots of cash on education that they have brainwashed society that secondary education is absolutely nessecary to be a functioning adult. I'm just saying though, if you really want to go, there are ways to get there even if you're poor. The pot thing is unfortunate, but it's not really related to what I was saying before. I never said "If you're poor AND have been arrested, you can get in."
But yeah, the pot laws are totally stupid if you ask me.
But yeah, the pot laws are totally stupid if you ask me.
hannaugh said:
Hannaugh, you are one of the lucky ones that lives in the state with Proposition 215
PA is mulling over "House bill 1393" which is essentially a compassionate care bill for med. weed. I seriously doubt that our COMMONWEALTH will ever pass it. Heck, you have to go to the 'State Store' to buy liquor or wine, and a beer distributor or 6 pack shop to buy beer. And lets not talk about fireworks! They are illegal here, too.
I'm one of those one tenth of one percent of the population: somone who was a non-violent drug offender that has never re-offended, or even had a parole violation. I was what they called a 'model' prisoner and parolee......... but that being said, when I fill out a job application and that question arises about your criminal past..... well that is all the further my application gets. I have lied on applications about my marijuana charge, only to get the job, and then lose the job when someone heard through the grapevine that I was in trouble. I live in a small town, word travels fast. But I must say that I got in trouble when I was 23, I'm 33 now, and I think I have learned my lesson, but how do you explain to the HR guy thinking of hiring me that I have made mistakes in the past and I have a different outlook and live my life differently now than I did then? It's just really frustrating me.
"I know the rent is in arrears, the dog's not been fed in years, it's even worse than it appears, but it's allright. I will get by"
fred flintstone said:
Nice. I know hannaugh well enough from the boards and my post was intended more as a "I work in an area of my company that gives me an understanding of why that stupid crap happens sometimes."
I really wish I was as rich as you seem to think I am. With a mortgage and two kids in day care, I am more than familiar with NSF fees. Difference between you and me is I don't piss and moan like a two year old when I write a check I know I can't cover and then want to be surprised when I get charged for it.
I ain't a banker. I ain't a vp. And I sure as hell ain't rich.
It is kind of nice to know I can inspire such a hate filled diatribe by saying what kind of company I work for.
Actually, let me just say in defense of Lucky here that my insurance agent has been my family's insurance agent since I was a little kid, and he is a stand up dude. He has been able to get me all kinds of discounts on my car insurance, and even when the company messes stuff up, he always comes through and manages to get me some sort of credit to make up for it. He actually just got my rate lowered by $45 a month and got me a $200 credit a couple weeks ago when he really probably shouldn't have... good guy.
erogenousjones17
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I feel the need to point out how fitting it is that here we are discussing bankers and insurance reps when, lo and behold, who should come knocking at my door this morning but two lovely young ladies selling insurance. Synchronicity, man. :laughing7:
BigBeard said:
I think that's exactly how I'd explain it Big Beard. It's a shitty situation regardless and, as you said, lying about it is only going to get you the job for a little while anyway. Keep plugging away man, at some point someone will consider it a youthful mistake. Hell, knowing that question is going to come up anyway, I'd bring it up right off the bat. It might actually earn you some points.
One other thing on these systems, a lot of times, especially with the first person that answers the phone, they can't do much of anything. It has nothing to do with whether or not they want to. They are incapable of dropping fees at all or beyond a certain point. You have to get up the chain before someone can do that and even then that isn't always the case. Just to clarify, I don't sell insurance or sit in a corner office. I work directly with the business area to solve some of these issues that pop up and make changes to our systems to help. My original post was only intended to say that the systems involved in make these large financial institutions are incredibly complicated and there are dozens of them working together. Things go wrong sometimes. The response hannaugh got was a bad one and I can't imagine that it is even legal.
O
OzziePete
Guest
Wow. In defense of Lucky's post at least they had the courtesy to cite their interest in the field, and at least try to explain a bit about what happens on the other side of the phone.
@ Fred - has to be someone known already on this board, posting using a multi ...... Seen this happen on other forums before, but I've not seen one (so obvious) before on this forum. :icon_scratch:
I'll stay out of a lot of the arguments put up here, a lot of it is intrinsic to the US banking/financial services sector. But as Australia tends to follow a fair bit of what happens in the US a while later, it helpful to see what may happen in the future....... :dontknow:
FWIW, there's a stack of problems with the Australian banking system, even though we missed the huge belting the US banks took. The problem with cheques taking forever to clear & clearance of funds transferred even electronically, has long been an issue within our banking system and one we know is a loophole exploited by our banks (they 'play' with the money while it is in limbo in the 'clearing house' between one account to the other, using the short term money market. Makes them millions every year, in daily interest earned .)
@ Fred - has to be someone known already on this board, posting using a multi ...... Seen this happen on other forums before, but I've not seen one (so obvious) before on this forum. :icon_scratch:
I'll stay out of a lot of the arguments put up here, a lot of it is intrinsic to the US banking/financial services sector. But as Australia tends to follow a fair bit of what happens in the US a while later, it helpful to see what may happen in the future....... :dontknow:
FWIW, there's a stack of problems with the Australian banking system, even though we missed the huge belting the US banks took. The problem with cheques taking forever to clear & clearance of funds transferred even electronically, has long been an issue within our banking system and one we know is a loophole exploited by our banks (they 'play' with the money while it is in limbo in the 'clearing house' between one account to the other, using the short term money market. Makes them millions every year, in daily interest earned .)
mullyman
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Lucky #007 said:
I think it's fair to say that a lot of us live from paycheck to paycheck. Regardless of your job, unless you're making an insane amount of money or are a total lifeless turd that never does anything, if you make more you spend more. It's as simple as that. It's hard to get ahead. I get bonuses twice a year and that affords me my toys. This year though I plan on paying some things off.
MULLY
hannaugh said:
i disagree, i believe you can get somewhere without college but it takes ambition and talent doesn't hurt, and you can make a fine living as a laborer as well. electricians in new york can get payed over $30/hr with benifits. steamfitters can gross over $150,000 yearly. and if your not into physical labor there are government jobs, or join the military, then you can get trained in a marketable trade if you take tests well and make it clear of what you want to do. and if you like military life and stay in the pay is good in the nco ranks. you wont be rich but not poor either. they'll even offer degrees in the comunity college of the branch you join where your training counts as credit and they accept all sorts of outside credits. plus tuition assistance and the GI bill.
all that said i wasn't a good student, i didnt want to continue my education because i hated the system and was sick of school and i was bored the material wasn't interesting. now i want to go back. i never had problems figuring things out but i want to see how the experts do things, i want to be challanged, i want to think about things, i'm bored.
AprioriMark
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A lot of liberal arts degrees are worthless, but a technical degree or certification is worth every penny.
-Mark
-Mark
Electricians and just about anyone who has some sort of certification has to go through secondary education of some kind to get that certification. Not university per se, but secondary education none the less. If all you have is high school and you're up against someone with a degree of some kind, even if it is underwater basket weaving, they will most likely get the job before you, unless it's a crappy job and the person with the degree is "overqualified" (that's code for "we don't want to pay them very much"), or it's some sort of talent or appearance based job like acting. And even then, if it is serious stage acting and you did just as well in your audition as someone who has a degree from Juliard, the person with the degree will probably get it because it looks good in a playbill bio. It's stupid, but it's true a lot of the time. There are exceptions, but more often than not, that's the case.
hannaugh said:
secondary education that is often part of a work school program when you join the union. you get paid to go, although it's not much. $8-10/hr usually.
i am operating CNC machines in a factory, the company just hired 2 other new guys, neither has any experience, one is 19. their pay is $16/hr which certainly isn't alot but i have friends that live off that. that is starting out, if they get good they will progress and get promoted, and there is a lot of overtime potential at my job.
my big point was that there are options that dont need college despite what they tell you in high school, if you dont like to work for a living then college helps but people always seem to forget about those nasty blue collar jobs, who would want to do those? right! you dont need college to drive a truck, or a school bus, or a city bus, you dont need college to frame a house, or paint, or shingle a roof. ups and fedex drivers sometimes have the options to buy a route, i know a guy that owns several hes under 30 years old, he pays his own drivers now and makes a sizable amount of money.
my father supervises ALL maintenance for the NYC department of sanitation, he started as a diesel mechanic, not any type of specialist like a machinist. he didn't even have a GED till he became a supervisor. he had and still has zero secondary schooling.
my father supervises ALL maintenance for the NYC department of sanitation, he started as a diesel mechanic, not any type of specialist like a machinist. he didn't even have a GED till he became a supervisor. he had and still has zero secondary schooling.
Dan025 said:
You do however, need two years verifiable experience along with a class A CDL to get a job in this career field!!!!
Very few trucking companies (or their insurance companies) will allow a driver with no CDL experience out on the road with half a million dollars worth of equipment.
But hey, if you know of a company that hires drivers with no experience, send that info my way!!!! I got my class A CDL with double/triple trailer, tanker and HazMat (which is an extra $60 for the federal background check and fingerprints) but no 'experience.' Now that being said, I have logged close to 20,000 miles in a big truck helping my dad at his job and my buddy at his. But none of that experience is 'verifiable' So for me it is either pay $8,000 in cash (because marijuana offenders can't get student aid) or find a different career. I have been a courier and delivery guy now for over 10 years, most of that as an independent contractor. None of that counts, because it cannot be 'verified' I just sometimes feel like I wasted the past 10 years of my life and a lot of effort and money, because what I want to do is basicaly out of reach. But to find another career would mean, well, college..... And that damn question #35 on the FAFSA automatically makes me ineligable.
You said in your post: college helps but people always seem to forget about those nasty blue collar jobs, who would want to do those?
I do!!!! Never for a minute of my life did I ever desire to sit behind a desk in a suit and tie and push paper all day!! I'd rather be behind the wheel of something!!
