Instant Credit

Part of working on this transfer deal is each one of us was issued a corporate credit card. Didn't matter if you had bad credit or no credit at all. You got a corporate card given to you which Bill and Dave's company apparently guarantees to pay off even if you screw it up really bad. Management required all of us to have the card so we could be reimbursed for certain expenses during the trip and time working away from home. It's easily tracked by the company's bean counters this way. I've never really had any credit before, and what little credit I did have up to that point wasn't good. Just out of high school my Dad co-signed on a electronics department store credit card for me and I messed it up. Not seriously or anything mind you, it was only a couple hundred bucks. Nevertheless I was irresponsible and Dad freaked out to a ridiculous degree about it like his credit would forever be ruined. I heard over and over again about how he'd never be able to buy another car or a house or some shit all because of me. Oh, the drama. I'll never forget that.

So I get this corporate card shoved into my face and I'm thinking this is pretty cool. I just got instant credit. I called up the credit company and I asked for more details about what I could and could not do with this sucker. Dollar signs were in my eyes. The temptation to spend recklessly was great and the card was starting to burn a hole into my wallet. When I made the call to the credit company they were extra nice and answered all of my questions. They told me I could use the card for whatever I wanted, didn't matter if it was company related or not. The only snag was that at the end of each month the entire balance of the card had to be paid off, no exceptions. This was a dangerous catch that I was glad to be aware of. No one at Bill and Dave's told me about that when I got the credit card. Knowing that whatever balance I ran up on the card had to be taken care of when the bill arrived would hopefully keep me honest.

One of the guys used the corporate card to charge up $4,000 worth of stereo equipment the first weekend he was here. I wonder if he knew that balance had to be paid off almost immediately. This could get interesting. I wonder how many of them will go bankrupt or get fired for abusing the card.