On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 11:19:21 -0600 "VideoGuy" gkasten at brick dot net wrote:


"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
. ..

Of course, MBNA seems to have gone down hill, following the fine tendency
for any AOPA recommended service to be a good deal for nobody but AOPA.
They so screwed up my account and ****ed off both my mechanic and
insurance
agent...that it was easier for me to just pay off the remainder of the
loan than
to deal with the arrogant asshole there.


I'd be wiling to go out on a limb and offer the opinion that nearly all of
the credit companies have become more difficult. Don't put the blame solely
on AOPA. As the interest rates the creditors pay to the Fed to borrow money
has been very low for quite a few years, the overall interest rates paid by
the public has either held fast, or risen. The only notable exception to
this seems to be home loans; and the money there seems to be in refinancing
fees rather than interest. Possibly this is because the majority of home
loans do not run out the term. They are either refinanced by the original
borrower, or the home is sold and the loan is paid off early.


Credit card rates are high because so many people run up debt and then just
bail on it. The ability to file for bankruptcy is a foundation of our system
but it is abused of course. So credit card debt is risky, hence the higher
rates. Banks manage risk. Everyone manages risk now that I think of it.



MBNA and CitiBank both seem to be pretty poor at customer "service" and damn
good at assessing late fees and punitive interest rates for someone who's
payment is even ONE day past their deadline. I STRONGLY suspect that there
is a delay in processing payments just to push more people into the late
category. My suspicions are based on USPS delivery receipts and the
tracking of delivery dates and times. I was told by one CitiBank customer
"service" employee that payments received after 10AM on a given BUSINESS day
are credited the NEXT business day. However, interest is calculated on a
DAILY basis; so, a FRIDAY noon receipt of a payment is credited on Monday
and is therefore THREE days late! Pretty clever, don't you think? MBNA
seems to be operating on many of the same principals. I have heard, but
been unable to verify that CitiBank and MBNA are actually subsidiaries of
the same corporation. My CitiBank account is closed, and the MBNA isn't
used much either. My other Mastercard has just been transferred (hijacked?)
by Citibank, so I guess I'll have to drop that one into the shreadder too.


I have found that local banks or credit unions are much nicer to do business
with. Of course they don't usually offer aircraft financing.


If things don't change dramatically, I don't know how I'm going to be able
to secure financing in a year or so for ANY kind of modest, 30-year old
plane. If I have to wait until I can pay cash for a plane, I'll be too old
to learn to fly it! (sigh) :-((


A 30 yr. old plane financed over 20 years can give you pretty low monthly
payments. If you plan to be the sole flyer it's not too bad.

BTW you can never be too old to learn to fly!


R. Hubbell


Gary Kasten