MBNA L.L. Bean Visa
Written: Feb 28 '01
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Pros: You get free stuff with every purchase!
Cons: High APR
The Bottom Line: Ask Martha.
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| Mom2TyZick's Full Review: L.L.Bean Visa (MBNA America) |
I'm no Martha Stewart but I do admit to loving LL Bean. I like to see my husband dressed in those handsome sweaters that look like we've just come in from clamming and no one has better monogrammable bags. This makes the marriage between MBNA and LL Bean very lucrative for me!
We all know that having a credit card these days is an absolute necessity, no matter how evil they are to us. I swore them off after my excessive college days, but soon realized that I need something with which to pay for my online service, rent cars and reserve hotel rooms. I'm a gal who pays her bills on time, so why shouldn't I be rewarded for my efforts?
When you use the MBNA LL Bean Visa card, you get many perks if you are an LL Bean Shopper. First, they give you free shipping on all LL Bean purchases made with your MBNA LL Bean Visa card. Secondly, you get free monogramming when you purchase something monogrammable (yes, I made that word up) with your LL Bean Visa card. Lastly, you will receive a portion of your purchases back in the form of coupons to be spent at, you guessed it...LL Bean. The percentage that you receive from LL Bean purchases is 3% and for all other purchases you will receive merely .05%. It may not be the best deal going, but it is better than nothing.
Another perk that this card affords is that of no annual fee. It does come with a pretty hefty annual percentage rate, my last statement informs me I'm currently paying a cool 16.99%, but this may not matter if you pay off your balance each month.
I have had to call the customer service representatives from time to time, and while I can't say anything about them was exemplary, they were able to do a few tasks that some other companies may not have bothered with at all. I was assessed a late fee once when I am sure I mailed my payment on time, and after speaking to a representative, the fee was waived. I have also called to have my credit limit increased, but they had to pull my credit report again to grant this, so I declined. Every inquiry into your credit report is documented and can come back to haunt you when you are buying your first home, I've learned the hard way! My experience with other credit card companies is that they will raise your limit based on your payment history with them alone.
If you need basic information about your account, you can call the automated system and get an answer fairly quickly, just be prepared to wait a bit if you need to speak to a human being. I cannot hold this against them in fairness since this seems to be a credit card industry trait. The MBNA website is equally useful, so by all means give it a try before picking up the phone. You can also apply for the LL Bean card (or any other, they have some really neat cards!) right online.
There are probably always going to be better cards out there, but if you use your credit card for pretty insignificant purchases and like to shop from LL Bean, then this card would definitely be a good addition to your wallet. Like Martha says, "It's a good thing."
Recommended:
Yes
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Mom2TyZick
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Member: Suzanne
Location: North Carolina
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