Final Word from Tuesday, February 12, 2013
A new industry is sprouting up in the CR to make money on the public outrage over bank fees. The leader in this new industry is BSP Lawyer Partners, whose Poplatkyzpět.cz promises to represent all willing clients in recovering unjustified fees. Its sales pitch on the power of attorney is the typical "you pay nothing," but the fine print states that you actually might have to pay Kč 400-800 in court fees per bank account. This omission from the power of attorney should raise a red flag about what BSP's real game is. Anyone considering signing on the dotted line should remember that BSP is primarily a debt-collection firm. As long as it uses its skills in this area to hound the banks, the client should be okay. But it would be in the nature of this particular company to somehow also use the misleading power of attorney to turn things around on the client and to make him the target of its debt-collection skills.[Czech Republic a.s. Toman Devátý bad-debt]
Glossary of difficult words
to sprout (up) - to spring up, start to appear;
sales pitch - a routine used to convince a potential customer to buy something;
fine print - inconspicuous details or conditions printed in an agreement or contract, esp. ones that may prove unfavorable;
omission - something that has been left out or excluded;
red flag - a warning or danger sign of a problem;
to hound - to harass or persecute relentlessly;
misleading - giving the wrong idea or impression.