“Credit Amnesty Week”
I’m with extended family in central Texas for the Christmas break right now, and I was out running some errands yesterday when I heard a radio commercial from a local car dealership advertising “Credit Amnesty Week”.
The ad claimed that anyone with a job and who could afford a $155/month payment could qualify for a new car from their dealership. They encouraged listeners to put away concerns about their credit, and assured them that they could qualify regardless of their credit score.
Some searches online revealed to me that this marketing banner of a supposed “Credit Amnesty Week” is employed by a variety of auto sales and auto financing companies around the country. One place said all you had to show to buy a car was that you had $350/week of income, “proof of roof”, and a telephone line. Another dealer using the same marketing phrase online insisted that interested individuals shoud bring their driver license and “whatever your down payment is.” It claims that “everyone is approved and driving out today”.
These companies are certainly free to market to potential customers as they wish, just as they can make any type of internal decision or arrangement with external banks and financing sources to make low payment arrangements possible. What I have a problem with, however, is the the implication in their advertising that individuals can truly experience “credit amnesty” in any way, shape, or form for any time period whatsoever. Merriam-Webster defines “the act of authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted t0 a large group of individuals”. The idea or even the impression that not only will your past credit mistakes not affect your ability to buy a new car, but also the idea that you can escape or be pardoned for your credit problems for a week is a dangerous message to be sending consumers. All another purchase will do will be to add to your debt load, and give you another payment to fall behind on. For someone already struggling financially, the last thing they need to do is to incur more debt. And the dealership certainly possesses no type of authority to do any type of long-term wipe out or “pardon” on your credit report. The dealer may or may not take a look at your credit, but I can assure that your purchase and subsequent consistency or inconsistency of payments on this new car will hit your credit record.
Obviously, there are extreme situations and sometimes we borrow money to get through a tough time–but the trend over the long-term of a financially responsible person should be LESS debt, more savings, more giving, and less stress. These types of aggressive marketing approaches do NOT move us, as individuals or as a society, in that direction. When we learn to digest these types of ads with discerning minds and ears, we can avoid falling into these credit traps that so many companies set around us.
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