You can't blame the economy for your personal finance shortfalls.

Yesterday I took a very frustrating call from a customer about her account being over drafted because we kept her deposit current (translated into non-enterprise terms: she has had the car for longer then she said she would and she owes money over the amount she left for the deposit when she originally picked up the car). She began the call by blaming it on poor communication between her and the rep, my manager, she had been working with. But then as she became more frustrated because I couldn't refund any of her money she started saying things like "in this economy you should understand".

I wanted to ask her what exactly it was I should understand? I understand that the global economy is experiencing a recession. I understand that people are losing their jobs and that those who are nearing retirement have a lot less to live off of. I also understand that Maryland has for the most part been pretty well isolated from the issues others are experiencing. (Don't believe me? check out the chart at cnn.com that lists the jobless rates by state, and if thats not convincing a report released by the National Association of Realtors shows only a 5.5% decline in home values in the Baltimore-Towson area compared to a 35% drop in Grand Rapids Michigan. ) I also understand that for the most part you over drafting your bank account has less to do with the overall state of the economy and more about you not keeping track of where your money is going.


Now, to be fair to the customer her overdraft was 100% Enterprise's fault because of my managers lack of communication with the her and from talking to her she seemed to have a good handle on where her money goes and how much should be taken. I lost respect for her though when she brought the economy into the mix even after I had offered to refund an amount equal to her overdraft fee at the end of the rental. The big picture is that this customer is choosing to pay $800/month for a rental car instead of financing a new car for half that. The money that was withdrawn was amount due to Enterprise for the rental of a car. If you do not have enough money to make those payments each month then you are living outside of your means. That has nothing to do with the economy and as a result I have no sympathy for you.

So instead of blaming the economy for your missteps, take ownership. Please. For my sanity.