The Scorpion and the Frog– why do abusive companies break the law?
This is a little different from our usual posts, however, I believe this story will be beneficial to you as you deal with abusive companies.
The Scorpion and the Frog
This story has application to debt collectors, credit reporting agencies, car finance companies, mortgage companies, etc.
Sometimes we sit and wonder, “Why do these companies do these dumb things where they’ll have to pay a lot of money after we sue them?”
Read the story of the scorpion and the frog below, and we will talk about how this applies to these abusive companies.
There was a river where the scorpion and the frog met.
The scorpion says to the frog, “Mr. Frog, let me get on your back, and we will swim to the other side of the river.”
The frog says, “Are you crazy? If I let you get on my back, I know that when we are halfway through the river you will sting me, and I will die.”
The scorpion replies, “Mr. Frog, you need to think about this. If we get halfway out there and I sting and killed you, I will die too. I’m not going to do that.”
The frog thinks that’s a great point and so he agrees to carry the scorpion over.
They start swimming, and halfway there, the scorpion stings the frog.
As the frog is dying, he looks up at the scorpion and says, “Why did you sting me? We’re both going to die!”
The scorpion responds, “Hey, it’s what scorpions do. We sting frogs.”
How does this apply to abusive companies?
This is a silly story, but if you’re wondering, “Why do collection companies do this or that? It’s dumb and it hurts them.” Or why would a company get a letter telling them don’t call my cell phone anymore and they robo dial me 260 times where they will be sued for at least $500 per call?
Sometimes it’s just in their nature to break the law.
They get so used to breaking the law that they apparently can’t help themselves.
Here’s a perfect example.
A credit reporting agency that claims that our client is dead.
Our client was turned down for credit because of this.
Well, you can imagine that our client was a little confused, seeing as he’s alive.
So, he sent a dispute letter.
Now, normally dead people don’t dispute the fact that they’re dead.
However, our client did because he was, well, alive.
Instead of acknowledging that our client is alive, they denied it
They said, “You’re dead.” We are keeping this information on your credit reports.
Now they mailed this to our client — the guy they insisted was dead.
Then they said, “In addition to being dead, if you like you write a statement to put into your credit report about not being dead when we think you are, you can do this.”
They encouraged the “dead guy” to send them a letter that they could add to his credit report.
Why would they do this?
That’s insane.
They’re going to get sued for that and have to pay money.
That’s just what they do
This is how credit reporting agencies, mortgage companies, and debt collection companies act.
Often times we have people that ask, “Why would they do something so dumb? That’s going to get them sued.”
Debt collectors say ridiculous stuff such as, “I’m going to call your family, friends, and co-workers.”
They do that, then they write a 6 figure check to pay our clients for it.
Why would they do this?
It’s their nature.
It’s in their nature to be habitual liars.
It would be difficult for them not to break the law.
When you’re sitting there wondering how companies can be so dumb, remember the scorpion. These companies are so used to breaking the law and so used to getting away with it, common sense leaves the room. When you sue them, they are stunned and angry. But soon after they pay the money to settle the case, they go back to their old ways.
They have to be sued by consumer after consumer before they will realize they must change their ways.
Let’s get to work doing this….
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Have a great day.