Jim, go to Flightinfo and type in a search for TAB. It will make for some fun reading.
For the life of me, I can't understand why people are willing to pay for their own type ratings. The point of paying for all your initial flying certificates is so you can get a job and have someone else pay for the type rating and to pay you a salary while doing so. I can live with a Bond or a training contract, but not with having to pay for my own rating.
A type rating with little or no time in type is pretty much useless anyway. Someone may bring up Southwest, but the answer is that Southwest does not require you to pay for a type rating, they merely require that you have one. True, a lot of people go buy one in hopes of getting a good job and that is their choice.
If all pilots would just refuse to pay for training after obtaining the ATP then we would all stand to benefit from the effect it would have on employers. They could no longer demand that you pay for your own training.
TP