Sometimes I Just Can't Win

[AngliaGT]

We got our house natural gas bill yesterday,& it's due on Wednesday .I told my Wife
that I'd take care of the payment (she wrote a check).There's also a late fee if they don't
receive it on time,& all of our mail has to go to Greensboro,NC first.
I drove to Roanoke Gas's main office to drop it off in person.I found out that you can't
go in to the office,so I rang their doorbell & the lady told me that their were some fliers on
a post just outside of the door,but no drop box.She told me that I could pay it at any Kroger -
store.
On the way back home I stopped at the Customer Service desk & waited,as there was
a line of people there.When I was waited on I was told that you can't pay by check.I told her
that I'd use my credit card,to which she told me that they don't take credit cars,only debit cards,
which I don't have.
Sometimes you just can't get a break.

 

[waltesefalcon]

Man, that is a pain.

 

[YakkoWarner]

Sounds like my water company - they make it really hard to pay your bill (and then offer a "pay online" option that charges a convenience fee that just so happens to be the same cost as the fee for late payment). Just a way to get an extra $5 a month out of people.....

 

[bobhustead]

All the gas companies have consolidated into a handful of entities, which in turn have been organized and are managed by MBAs.
Bob

 

[John Turney]

I mostly use automatic payments. One time I received a notice that my payment was overdue. I called and told them that since I used autopay, the late payment was their fault. They agreed.

 

[YakkoWarner]

I mostly use automatic payments. One time I received a notice that my payment was overdue. I called and told them that since I used autopay, the late payment was their fault. They agreed.

As long as they don't charge you a fee for the autopay, otherwise you're paying the same as a late fee every month anyway.

 

[waltesefalcon]

I pay my electric and gas bills with bank drafts electronically. It works just like a check in the system but happens as soon as I hit the send button on my computer screen. My water bill I just walk into city hall and pay.

 

[PAUL161]

We have auto-pay for water and electricity through our bank. No worries.

 

[mikephillips]

So far I get bills in time enough to pay by check. I end to avoid autopay setups to minimize the number of places that have personal info that could be stolen. And my personal email doesn't contain my name in it either. Less convenient, yep but I'd rather try to make things harder to identify and thus steal from if possible.

 

[NutmegCT]

Something I've learned myself, and from friends I work with (my age and younger ... much younger).

When you have autopay, and monthly statements coming to your cell phone ... you don't bother to read the statements. The screen is too small!

So you miss things like "Next month your bill will go up 25%", or "Your [insert your favorite] service is being removed."

Nothing like skipping the fine print, when you can't even read it.

 

[mikephillips]

Plus the fact there are devices now that can steal info from your phone just by swiping near it. Having been an IT guy for round 45 years I'm the suspicious old guy when it comes to having so much personal and financial data so easy to take when it's just for the sake of being easy to use.

 

[waltesefalcon]

Plus the fact there are devices now that can steal info from your phone just by swiping near it. Having been an IT guy for round 45 years I'm the suspicious old guy when it comes to having so much personal and financial data so easy to take when it's just for the sake of being easy to use.

I'm a strong advocate of never having financial information on your phone.

 

[John Turney]

As long as they don't charge you a fee for the autopay, otherwise you're paying the same as a late fee every month anyway.

For DMV registration, property taxes, other state payments, and some others they charge a fee if you pay with a credit or debit card, but not for direct withdrawals from a bank account.

 

[John Turney]

Something I've learned myself, and from friends I work with (my age and younger ... much younger).

When you have autopay, and monthly statements coming to your cell phone ... you don't bother to read the statements. The screen is too small!

So you miss things like "Next month your bill will go up 25%", or "Your [insert your favorite] service is being removed."

Nothing like skipping the fine print, when you can't even read it.

I don't have statements coming to my phone. The only banking I do on my phone is check deposits.

 

[NutmegCT]

I don't have statements coming to my phone. The only banking I do on my phone is check deposits.

Lucky man. My bank and most of my utilities switch customers to "paperless" (emailed statements) unless the customer agrees to pay a "convenience fee", of $5 to $10/mo for a paper statement.

As Jack Paar, host of the original "The Tonight Show", used to say ... "I kid you not".

yeesh

 

[Gliderman8]

Lucky man. My bank and most of my utilities switch customers to "paperless" (emailed statements) unless the customer agrees to pay a "convenience fee", of $5 to $10/mo for a paper statement.

As Jack Paar, host of the original "The Tonight Show", used to say ... "I kid you not".

yeesh

As long as you setup an account with each of your utilities or bank, you can always login and print any of your bills.

 

[John Turney]

For those of you who send checks, on our local news last night, they featured a story about a couple of people who paid their property taxes by mailing a check. The checks were mailed at the Post Offices. Somehow the checks were stolen, the payee’s names were changed and the thieves cashed the checks. The property owners didn’t know until they received “Past Due” notices from the county. They not only lost their money, they had to repay their property taxes plus late fees, in one case ~$30,000.

 

[mikephillips]

I have seen stories about the occasional mail carrier stealing from their branch or off their delivery truck. Nothing is 100% safe, you just have to hope for the best over time no matter the payment method used.