Thursday, May 24, 2012

I Hate Bureacracy

I've noticed that any company or organization that wants to set you up on a contract, or set up automatic billing, or has any reason to get your bank info, credit card number or SIN will very often make your life miserable.

Take my gym for example. Let's call them "Goal's Gym" to protect the innocent. After closing my account with them over a year ago, they continued to bill me. When I asked them to refund the money, they said no, and wouldn't give me a reason, even though I had the paperwork showing I had indeed cancelled. It wasn't until I threatened to sue that they decided to refund me.

A friend had a similar experience where after cancelling, they sent him to collections, damaging his credit over a matter of $120 that he didn't owe them.

Or the phone company. They can charge you rediculous fees that you don't owe, but you'll end up paying or they'll send you to collections.

How about the bank? An NSF fee is now $42.50. It doesn't cost the bank a dime to simply tell a company that, no there isn't enough money in your account, yet they can charge over $40 for it. If you let an account lie dormant for any length of time, they now charge you $20 for an inactive account fee. They use your money as collateral agains which to lend to others, charging interest and earning money, yet they feel the need to charge a $20 fee because you're doing nothing with the account.

So I've given up my dream of being a film maker and am opening a bank. You all owe me $20 for the "you don't have an account here fee".