Korean Job Discussion Forums

[philipjames]

Normally I don't mind lending money. I've been in a tight spot in Korea before, and I've needed to borrow a few bucks. But I always pay it back asap. But when I lend money to people who I see on a regular basis, they simply disappear. Weeks will pass before I see them again. Often they start drinking at other bars. At other times, people who owe me money don't even acknowledge that they owe me money, even though they're eating expensive meals and drinking imported beers. Every time I've lent money in Korea, after a few weeks or a month I've had to hunt them down - even though they had promised to repay it in a day or two. I just don't get the nerve of some people. I like to help, and I believe in doing random acts of kindness even to complete strangers, but I'm starting to get annoyed. What pisses me off is if I catch wind that someone is tight I approach them, and if they need 30,000 won I offer them 50,000. I like to help.

A couple of months ago I lent 30,000 won to a complete stranger at Seoul station. He approached me, said his wallet had been stolen, and needed train money to get back ton Pusan. I gave him the money and my phone number and email. A week later I hadn't heard from him, so I phoned him. 'Sorry, I've been busy. I'll send it this week.' A week later I call him again. He gives me another excuse. A week later I repeat, only to have him pick up the phone and put it down again. He won't answer my once-a-week calls anymore, and I've given up on ever seeing the money. What pisses me off is the fact that a stranger approaches me in genuine need 'scam artist' will register in my mind and I'll refuse to help him. It's the dishonest ones who lead to decent people neglecting the moral responsibility to help those in need.

I've finally adopted a new approach to jerks who take advantage of other people's proclivity to help. I've decided to employ Stewie as my loan collector. Here's his website if any of you ever find yourself in need of such services. http://media.putfile.com/family-guy36

I do, however, get 10% of the funds collected.

[crazylemongirl]

Me too. There are very few people I will lend money to in Korea as Ive been burned one too many times.

The funny thing is that the people who don't repay loans are usually the worst at breathing down a borrowers' neck for cash and never coming up for their share of a group bill.

[sjrm]

first of all, what are you doing lending money to complete strangers?

[Ya-ta Boy]

The general consensus is that we all can live on half our salary quite comfortably. So how can someone be in need of a loan?

[JongnoGuru]

If that's the case, can somebody here lend me half their salary? We all know you can comfortably afford that much. Please?

[VanIslander]

I have been puzzled about that too. It's a rare character who does pay back quickly money that is borrowed.

I think too many momma boys "borrow" money from their family, knowing full well they won't pay back, nor be expected to pay back, any of it.

[Corporal]

I think that sucks. if I borrow money from someone I pay them back ASAP so they aren't left wondering or getting annoyed. And it's not the amount, it's the principle. If you borrow 20 thousand won or 200 thousand you should let the person know when they can expect to see that money again.

Some people have a skewed vision of money though. Look at all the cheap foreigners here who want to sell used magazines. Is it because they desperately need those funds? I hope so.

[Wangja]

Twice have I done it here in Korea.

Once, repayment was exactly as promised.

The other time, the chap was in a real bind, but kept me 100% up to date with how things were going and settled in full as soon as he could.

Everyone's experience is different and yes, I'd do it again if asked.

[seoulsucker]

I have a good friend here that I've known for over 10 years, and he's the only one I will lend a substantial amount (over 100,000) of cash to. If you're teaching in Korea, you really shouldn't have any problem putting cash together, with the possible exception of just having put down key money.

Put it this way...if you can't manage your finances well enough to take care of your needs, how are you going to do it well enough to take care of mine?

Too bad, so sad, but I say no 99% of the time.

[philipjames]

Boy, some of you folks are real cold hearted. I fully believe in kindness to strangers. As Jesus said. every criminals are kind to their own friends. Being kind to strangers is a measure of a person's decency. People fall on hard times for a thousand different reasons. To say 'too bad, so sad' is ice cold.

Random acts of kindness, baby. Random acts of kindness.

What thoroughly pisses me off is being exploited. Being screwed over deters people from helping those who are genuinely in need.

Looking only after yourself makes for a shallow, immoral life.

Selfishness sucks!

[JongnoGuru]

It would be interesting to hear from a real-life deadbeat here, how they go about sizing suckers up, their favourite delaying tactics, evasion techniques, lies, etc. I'm sure there are some of those types on Daves, just as I'm sure they'll never fess up. Pity. I've heard or read 1,000 accounts from the victim's perspective. Time to hear from the other side.

[RACETRAITOR]

I knew someone who was owed at least a couple million from a dude she thought she loved in this country. And another of my friend was owed almost that amount by his boss and a few friends. So 30 000 doesn't look like enough to lose sleep over. You got what you paid for.

[philipjames]

Dude, it's not the money I'm concerned about. It's the principle, the ethos, the whole attitude thing. Clue in. It's a moral issue here, not merely a matter of retrieving money.

[ilovebdt]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I've never had a problem with it. A friend of mine ran into a problem withdrawing money from a bank and had nothing for the weekend so I loaned him some. He called me back a few days later asking if I wanted to meet him at the bank to get repaid. I said 'no, I can't be arsed to walk ten minutes to the bank; just give it to me Friday night when we meet up'. I don't think there are too many friends I wouldn't trust not to pay me back. Also, I'm lazy with my bills and finances so I don't mind waiting a few weeks.

Maybe it depends more on what kind of friends you make?