Forum Moderators: open
There's also a convenient link to go to their online payment page so I can take care of it right away and avoid a late payment. Of course it still changed the late fee.
Nice.
I'm not sure how much I can complain at this point because I DID get snail mail from them a few weeks ago. But I'll have to check if it was for this payment or for other services that aren't due until next year.
Can well imagine there are bugs in software and people finding software difficult to use, but it's difficult to forgive it when it's not corrected within a few days.
But I can't imagine why utility companies would expect us to log into our accounts every day, or why we or our software would expect their emails not to be phishing attempts. It's just a usability fail. Give them a few years and they'll figure it out.
My bank tries to get me to do everything by email. That's not going to happen as I regard every email I get from a bank as phishing.
I phoned them again last time and pointed out that if they want payment by the 20th then they have to send the first bill before the 23rd :) ..or it was their fault that it would be paid late and that they should follow their own advice in their letter about posting early ..
They agreed ..and then said not to worry ..that we were good customers ..and had no chance of being cut off ..But that they would "just in case ..because I had phoned them " ( due to their system ) have to grant us a "special delay period" for payment to reach them .. and that the only way to input this "special delay period" into their software interface ..was to place us in the category of "those in arrears ..but who have contacted us and promised to pay" ..or "those in temporary financial difficulties" ...because no one allowed that lateness might be due to the company's own fault ..and the interface had no radio button for that eventuality.
I sent them a cheque , a terse letter , and a quote for a billing system that resembles real life ..and works ..
Give them a few years and they'll figure it out.
Conversely I have had two personal and one business card cloned over the past year through paying on-line at reputable businesses. I never lost money personally but it is inconvenient.
DDs are in my opinion a safer way to pay.
I'll stick with telling them when and how much I will pay.
I religiously check all my CC and other online accounts several times per month and have a spreadsheet with the due dates. The only reason why this is particular payment was an issue is that it is an annual fee, not monthly. And in the past, they sent several reminders BEFORE the payment date.
Example ( didn't happen to me personally ..but the aftermath was dealt with by a very close friend in the banking system ) ..
Customer A authorises Direct debit with phone company B ..at bank C
Customer A has account at bank C with average monthly balance of €50.000.oo ( fifty thousand Euros ) ..
Phone company B should debit €50.oo ( fifty euros ) ..but they screw up and debit is sent for €50.000.oo ..
Bank C auto accepts ( and before the cries of it would raise flags ..it didn't ..and doesnt always ..depends on how much money moves monthly etc on an account ) ..and removes €50.000.oo
Next bank statement arrives 10 days later at customer A's home ..( customer A goes ballistic ..when they eventually find out ..read on :)..
Because not only have they been debited €50.000.oo due to an error ..But other checks they have written thinking they had funds have been bounced ( and bouncing incurs charges ..and pisses of the people that customer A wrote the checks to
But problem is they are on holiday abroad ..and the bank doesn't have their mobile number ..because not only have they been debited €50.000.oo due to an error ..But other checks they have written thinking they had funds have been bounced ( and bouncing incurs charges ..and pisses of the people that customer A wrote the checks to ..
In particular the hotel where they are staying on holiday ..who demand cash payment ( because although they had not yet written a check to the hotel ..they had written one..which had bounced in ashop inside the hotel on the first day of the holiday )..which they cant give ..but they don't know the details as to why until they get home ( the bank refuses to give details to what might after all be as stranger over the phone ..and on an unknown to them mobile phone number )..so they are kicked out )..and find themselves at their consulate ..in a foreign land..
The consulate repatriates customer A ( against an IOU and family guarantees given by phone ) ..customer A gets home ..finds the bank statement ..
Goes in person to the bank C...and phones the phone company B ( phone company admits error and apologises ..but won't admit liability for the inconvenience ) ..bank C says not our fault either ..Phone company B will have to transfer the money back to us before your account is credited we can do nothing ..except offer you a loan or overdraft ( at high rates ) ..and you'll still have to pay the charges associated with bounced checks ..
Customer A also is fielding phone calls from other people that they wrote checks to and who are not happy ..
They contact my friend .who is much higher up in the same bank ..who makes their local branch see reason ..
Nevertheless many people who previously accepted their checks ..now say they want cash or payment by card ..( no smoke without fire ..and their story sounds to far fetched to be true ) ..and they discover 3 months later that their independent credit rating show the traces of the event ..
My friend and his wife who are both very high in the same bank ..don't do anything by direct debit either ..because this isn't the only case they have come across ..just like piatkow ..when you know and have seen the screw ups and the near misses ( and many more happen than get made public )..you don't use direct debit ..and you use two separate banks ..and two separate credit cards at minimum ..
Might never happen to you ..but would you want to take the risk ?
Oh ..and I rounded the figures a little ..phone may have been €57.00 and balance may have been 48K or 51K monthly ..but the figures are close to the actual ones..
Might never happen to you ..but would you want to take the risk ?
However let's say the billing date is the 15th, I sent the funds electronic transfer on the 16th or 17th to pay entire account excluding the late fee which wasn't assessed yet. What the CC company did was apply the payment to the 15th but I still have a late fee. I never look at statement with the assumption I have $30 balance and the transfer was applied to that billing cycle. Next 15th rolls around and I get hit with another late fee, now I have two late fees totaling $60 which is the total balance on my CC.
That was it for me and CC's , paid it and canceled them all but one for emergency use.
