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I hesitated to post this story because the bare facts of the matter are so commonplace. It's something that happens all the time. You sympathize with the customer. You try to help them. And then they go on to repeat the same behavior.
Last month, one of our customers overdrew her checking account. She came in after she got the overdraft notice, saying she didn't know how she could be overdrawn. (I hear this all the time. The most common reasons are an addition or subtraction error or they don't reconcile their checkbook to their statement, ever.) So I helped her figure out how far in the hole she was. Since she didn't have any savings or anything where she could pay back the overdraft, she offered to apply for a loan to cover the overdraft. Actually, she wanted to borrow more than what was needed to cover the overdraft, for some poorly-explained reason.
So I had her fill out an application. I pulled her income off our mainframe (since it was direct deposit). I pulled her credit and saw that it was horrid. She had numerous late payments on maxed-out credit cards. If she had actually been making the minimum payments, she would have been paying almost half her monthly income towards those payments every month. (Normally we prefer to see 41% or less.) Still, I decided to check with Goodhair to see if he would approve the exceptions. He did, on the condition that she agree to automatic payments on the day her social security arrives by direct deposit. She did, so we did the loan for just the amount of the overdraft (including the outstanding checks that hadn't cleared).
I set the first payment for about 45 days out, when her next month's social security would arrive. Her first payment is due this coming Friday. And she's already overdrawn again. I'm not surprised, just disappointed. We try to give customers the benefit of the doubt. We try to work with them whenever possible. Yet almost every time, they repeat the same behavior that got them in trouble in the first place.
Last month, one of our customers overdrew her checking account. She came in after she got the overdraft notice, saying she didn't know how she could be overdrawn. (I hear this all the time. The most common reasons are an addition or subtraction error or they don't reconcile their checkbook to their statement, ever.) So I helped her figure out how far in the hole she was. Since she didn't have any savings or anything where she could pay back the overdraft, she offered to apply for a loan to cover the overdraft. Actually, she wanted to borrow more than what was needed to cover the overdraft, for some poorly-explained reason.
So I had her fill out an application. I pulled her income off our mainframe (since it was direct deposit). I pulled her credit and saw that it was horrid. She had numerous late payments on maxed-out credit cards. If she had actually been making the minimum payments, she would have been paying almost half her monthly income towards those payments every month. (Normally we prefer to see 41% or less.) Still, I decided to check with Goodhair to see if he would approve the exceptions. He did, on the condition that she agree to automatic payments on the day her social security arrives by direct deposit. She did, so we did the loan for just the amount of the overdraft (including the outstanding checks that hadn't cleared).
I set the first payment for about 45 days out, when her next month's social security would arrive. Her first payment is due this coming Friday. And she's already overdrawn again. I'm not surprised, just disappointed. We try to give customers the benefit of the doubt. We try to work with them whenever possible. Yet almost every time, they repeat the same behavior that got them in trouble in the first place.
He is my Black Dragon (and yes, a good one) strong, protective, the guardian. I am his Silver Dragon, always by his side, shining for him, cherishing him.
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