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19 March 2024

Creditors, if you don’t like the messenger, don’t victimize your customer

Theda Muller

Published
By Theda Muller

Creditors, if you don’t like the messenger, don’t victimize your customer, the debtor…

Creditors, there is a reason debtors approach remedial or consultant companies to assist them with their debt-crisis, where the core reason is that you refused that cry for help in the first place.

This statement is not generalizing, because there are many creditors who rather waste good energy transforming it into negative energy once they find that their customer has sought help somewhere else, to resolve their debt-crisis problems. It’s never personal, because most who reaches out to take that hand begging for help, does so with good intentions, where the core objective, is to reduce the customer’s total EMI’s (Equated Monthly Installment) to the industry regulation of 50% DBR (Debt Burden Ratio).

Some of you are as brazen enough to directly inform the customer that you will not approve their restructure or whatever remedial request is presented, simply because they solicited the services of what you term as ‘their financial consultant’.

The core issue here is that the presentation of the case for your review and approval, is never personal, because after all, you have a job to do yourself, which is to protect your employer’s assets.

So, if you have no idea just how that impacts your own livelihood in the future, then imagine one fine day there is insufficient funds to meet your ‘on the clock salary transfer’, then tell me you will not find yourself in the same situation, because we are all human and most have debts, even creditors.

You should realize that there are people out there who are willing to help those facing a debt-crisis, where not everyone who is seated on an authoritative throne are operating with a huge attitude of entitlement, snubbing those helping hands and taking the requests personally, for no justified reason at all, except with an excuse that ‘they don’t deal with third parties’, when the latter party is in possession of an official LOA (Letter of Authority) or a notarized POA (Power Of Attorney), which legally entitles them to represent the client.

Remedial companies align themselves with bank protocol, which means that we do not step out of line when it pertains to policies adhered to, as we not only respect ourselves, but the debtors we are attempting to support and then the banks or creditors we collaborate with on a daily business are viewed as our partners, with the ultimate outcome of saving their assets and the client’s livelihood.

More than often, debtors must endure themselves being throwed around like a ball, by collections representatives who promise to resolve their problems ‘if they pay 1 EMI’, and once done, the account is allocated and history starts repeating itself, where eventually, the debtor faces legal action, which in my book, could have been avoided for many years.

Realize that nothing is about you, if you don’t like it then opt to choose another vocation, as the world has evolved in a serious way since the global downturn at the end of 2008, and although long gone, significant lessons have been learnt by all those who realized that if they wish to change their own world, then they must learn to change themselves.

If you believe that you are better than the debtor begging for your help right now and can play roulette with their life, then think again, as you are sowing bad seed that must come back to you.

Authentic success today in any task we perform or job that we do, means that we do it from the heart, with all its purity, to help those who genuinely seek that help and who are willing to be committed, because then we are enabling everyone in the circle, including ourselves.

There is absolutely no room for victimizing those who are in dire financial difficulty today, to play on their situation and emotions, just because you can and because you derive some sadistic pleasure out of the sufferings of others as it’s a bad sign of your personality, which in turn means that if you assume you are progressing in your life, then let me share with you that it’s impossible, it might appear to be so, but it cannot be that bad seed sowed, cultivates any good for the individual.

Remedial companies who present consolidations or restructures have already justified that the reason for the submission, is that the client did not meet the qualifying criteria for a ‘buy-out’ of all their liabilities, which is the first obvious option. So, when you decline any remedial request because you took it personally, then refrain from making obnoxious remarks to the client that they should ask their financial consultants to get their salary bank to buyout all their debts.

Realize you are not the only individual with experience in this arena, where some companies who do this job, are just as experienced or more, where they don’t waste time as their eye is on a solution for the client, so that option was already checked prior to submitting the remedial request.

It appalls me that some creditor’s senior management simply do as they please and nobody stops them and yet, they are playing with real human lives and as far as they are concerned, they set the rules and nobody can override them. Wrong! You are not an island, you are seated in a job as an employee, where your employer entrusted you with the lives of others who need your help, so you have a moral duty to uphold that role and responsibility, you will not be doing anyone a favor, except also help yourself.

You need to understand that everyone exists in a cycle of evolution, there is no one policy or regulation and it stops right there, as it affects everyone in the chain when you make a bad decision, because you took something personal.

Let me give you a typical example:

1. Client requests a restructure;

2. You refuse as personally simply because you don’t like the source;

3. The client begs you that they don’t have enough money to meet their AED 5,000.00 EMI but only have AED 2,000.00 and you refuse, you want the full EMI;

4. So, the client is filled with emotional fear and doesn’t pay for the next 2months, as you demanded the full EMI;

5. Next is your team call their HR, or better still, visit the office demanding to meet the HR; OR;

6. They may get a warning letter or be terminated, depending on your team’s harshness; OR;

7. You opt to file a legal case and will not release the case unless the client pays the full outstanding or the total overdues, which they told you initially they did not have the full amount to pay as they need a reduced EMI;

Now I trust you can see if you sincerely did your job the 1st time to approve the restructure, then it would be a better choice, than to be seated on your invisible throne that you built, with no remorse for your bad actions.

Let this be a lesson to all of those seated on creditor thrones……. Think before you act nasty!