John Harlow wrote:

I have an MBNA credit card and I hardly feel like I'm being screwed.

To feel even less screwed get a rewards card and actually get paid to use
it.

Getting angry on them does not pay off because they do
what is "usual and customary." As a matter of fact in an
impulse one year go months ago I was also angry with them
and thought of asking AOPA as their member to look for
a new partner. Than however I rather informed myself
about the situation of customer rights versus credit
card companies and I discovered that this is how they
run the business.

Here is the punch line:

1) If your spending seem to be larger than usual, or
if they see that you are on vacations (remote billing
pattern) somehow miraculously the due date is shorter
by two-three days than usual. They have a *probability*
that a few hundred thousand payments will come in a few
days too late and yield them (say) in each instance $25
late fee + their interest. Eeeeasy money! Millions flow
in from suckers.

2) They tell you about the percentage on unpaid balance,
but they do not tell you *percentage of what amount*!!
This is even worse than raising percentage alone!


This latter trick took me by surprise. I am around 50,
and yet I have never ever before had unpaid credit card
bill in my entire life. Thus this trick was not obvious
to me. This is how it works:


As we bought a new in Dec car, we made a down payment
using the "rewards card" from MBNA, which you recommend.
How "clever"! We will collect thousands of points toward
that next Hawaii flight!

But than, as it happens, we got around Christmas a few
spending and a medical bill, and I was short by one
single thousand toward my CC bill.

So what! No problem. The next paycheck was only 7 days
later. I even did not sold any stock to pay this bill.
What for? I thought. $1000 for 12.99% annually is approx.
$129.9 per anno, the one week will cost me $2.50 in
interest.

Wrong wrong wrong!

MBNA takes 12.99% all right, but of the largest amount
which occurs on the card at any given time *during the
entire month,* and even than after the payment, a few
dollars will incurs one more fee for the next month!
Suddenly we paid almost $100 total to MBNA for being
late for mere 7 days by $1000. How "clever," but of them.

However, we suckers have now a few thousands more of
these reward points toward our next Hawaii flight :-)

This enraged me so much that I contacted lawyer through
our legal insurance and I demanded from AOPA to take my
demand under vote to ban MBNA from AOPA as a fraudulent
company.

Wrong wrong wrong. All this what they did is in writing,
give to each of us. And, every credit card company do the
same. Such law suits agaisnt banks were attempted thousands
of times and they failed.


Like someone said: Be clever enough to never ever have
any late payment with these hooligans. If you go for
vacations or travel, pay at least the expected minimum
payment in advance, if not the entire expected bill.
Use online services to pay on time, even remotely.

Be clever, earn some money from your money, instead
of feeding these credit card companies with noticeable
part of your income!

Happy Flying!

Thomas
PAO