"Kindly machine-gun the choir!"

[chaletian]

I had a letter today from my bank. Well, not today, obviously. It's Sunday. It came on Thursday, I think, but I didn't get around to opening it till today. I get quite a lot of unexpected post from my bank, which always worries me, because I think I've got into banking trouble (even when I know perfectly well that there's nothing wrong with my account).

But anyway, my post today was offering me a £12,500 loan. This loan is, apparently, "ready and waiting just for [me]", because I am "a loyal customer who handles their account particularly well". The bank has "arranged everything": "all it takes is one phone call". They have been at particular pains to point out how easy it would be for me to get this £12,500 loan. How straightforward it would be.

I think this is absolutely appalling. How cavalier are they, to offer this sort of thing to any passing customer? I am *dreadful* with money. I mean, I'm not too bad these days. I have a regular income, which helps, and I budget regularly, and I tend to know exactly how much money I have in my bank account. But I still sometimes make stupid financial decisions, and in the past I have been absolutely unreliable, and frankly it's a miracle I managed to escape my late teens/early twenties without a CCJ. Offers like this make me feel quite threatened, really, because (after the annoyance of more junk mail) my first reaction is, ooh, lovely money, before the voice of reason takes over, but that reaction scares me a lot, because I don't want to be as crap with money as I used to be. Wah. I hate money.

Comments

[b-liz.livejournal.com]

Banks are very bad with that. I understand that they're trying to compete with all the companies advertising on TV telling you to take out a loan so you can 'pay off all your debts and have enough left over for a holiday/new kitchen/gas-guzzling car', but they should still act more responsibly. Tony gets letters like that and he's unemployed, so how on earth do they think he'd make repayments?!