I hate MBNA. No, wait -- I love them again.

Today MBNA called me (from India, by the accents of the people I talked to) to say that I had missed last month's payment (they were right -- I had neglected to extend the limit on # of payments in my electronic billpaying svc). Anyway, they said they were going to charge me $49 and report me to the credit bureau if I didn't make a pymt over the phone in the next two hrs.

I said I never gave my bank acct info to someone who called ME.

They gave me to a manager who assured me that it was completely safe, hundreds of customers do it, it's entirely confidential, and "I will personally put the payment in under my ID" all of which had nothing to do with the question of whether they were actually MBNA or a person in their garage in L.A. Or possibly Bombay.

I said I had already sent a pymt electronically which would credit on the 16th. Mr Manager said it wasnt' good enough, that he needed a pymt in the next two hours.

I said the fact the I had paid 6 times the minimum every month without fail for the last four years ought to buy me some grace. The guy said sorry. I said I was sorry too, and I would find a different bank who would work with me.

Then the guy wanted to hook me up with a salesperson to talk about other MBNA products I might be interested in. I felt he was unclear on the concept.

So I called MBNA cust svc directly, and they took my pymt over the phone, waived the over-the-phone charge and the late fee, and assured me I was the splendid person I was already pretty sure I was. So we're tight again.

Look, no one *made* you read this post.