MBNA America has ripped me off with a pattern of ridiculous fees, lies, deception, harassment, and fraud.
They advertised their "Gold Option" loan at 9.99%, but then the loan suddenly was 17.99% AFTER I opened the account. I paid on time for over two years, then they suddenly raised it to 19.98% for no reason... So much for the "fixed" rate the lady said it was when I took out the loan. My credit is good, so I don't know why they did that, except just to rip me off.
Last fall, I was having trouble accessing their online "Net Access" payment service... They called me and asked if I wanted to make a payment via check by phone. I asked them "what about the online service?" They said that it was no longer available, and that I had to do the payment by phone. They never told me there would be a fee for this (every other place I deal with does phone payments for free). They charged me a $15 fee for the payment... FIFTEEN DOLLARS! The Net Access service is FREE. They processed the payment, and then STOLE an additional $500 out of my checking account, causing me to be overdrawn and incurring overdraft fees, as well as causing my pre-scheduled payments for my utility bills to be canceled, incurring further charges. It took me weeks to straighten all this out with my bank and utility companies. I later found out that they had lied to me... The online service is still available, thankfully, and I still use it every month, for FREE.
Regarding the additional $500 withdrawal, I called MBNA and asked them what the hell they thought they were doing... At first they said "sorry we can't refund any transfers once they are made", but finally decided to mail me a refund check after I threatened legal action. Of course, they can TAKE your $ instantly, but you have to wait two weeks to get it back via the mail.
To top it all off, their telemarketers called my home three to four times a day for two weeks and harassed my wife while I was out of town on business. Despite her repeated requests for them to stop calling, the calls persisted. They finally stopped calling after my wife threatened to call the police.in addition, when they called, they fraudulently represented themselves as Sallie Mae, with whom I have a totally unrelated student loan. I think Sallie Mae should be informed of this practice.
All of the above is 100% true and factual, and I will swear to the same under oath in any court of law should that be necessary.
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