Stupid Posts On RipoffReport.com

If you didn't know already, there's this site called RipoffReport.com that gives regular consumers a way to fight back against unscrupulous individuals and companies. In principal, I like the idea. However, I have found that most postings are by complete morons who didn't live up to their end of the bargain.

Examples of types of posts you will see again and again if you check out this site:

1. "The company closed my credit card! Boo hoo!"

My response: I don't know when people started to get this idea, but a credit card is not a right. It is a line of credit that a bank can give or take away from you at their discretion. 99% of the time, your credit card will be canceled because your credit score dropped or you didn't use the card for several months. In any case, if not having a credit card has a significant impact on your life, you need to learn money management skills fast.

2. "The bank charged me an overdraft fee even though times are tough and my mother is in the hospital/I just lost my job/my son needs a tutor! Banks should be charities and never charge me fees just because I am irresponsible!"

My response: Tough freaking luck. Checking accounts are finite. If you spend more money than you have in your account, the bank is forced to give you a loan. And they charge you for that loan. If this was a total anomaly, most banks will refund the fee. But if it happens more than once a year, it's your fault. I don't care what's going on in your life, sad as it may be. Banks aren't charities. If you want a free loan, call up a relative. As long as that person isn't me.

3. "I fell for a quick money/get rich quick scheme! Boo hoo!"

My response: You're an idiot. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Any work at home "job" that requires no experience, promises lots of cash and is fuzzy on the details is probably a multi-level marketing scam or just a garden variety hoax. Read up on the various scams that exist and be a little less of a sucker. If you weren't so greedy you wouldn't have been taken in to begin with.

Those seem to be three major themes that show up again and again on that site. Horrible spelling abounds, and people seem to think that if they repeat their title over and over people will be more likely to click. Well I find it to be obnoxious, and it seriously removes any sympathetic inclination I might otherwise have.

It saddens me that most complaints are from people who feel entitled and refuse to understand simple cause and effect (not paying your car payment for four months leads to having it repossessed for example). Many, many people on there do not understand basic personal finance, and the way banks operate. They genuinely seem to think that their personal hardships give them the right to not pay their bills without consequence.

Meanwhile, the real complaints from smart, reasonable, hardworking people who were actually ripped off gets buried underneath thousands of pages of this dung.