Electric Bill Mistake, Ya Think?

[MIGrandma]

Got the electric "bill" today. I say "bill" because it's an automatic deduction and it always says "do not pay."

Today's bill does not say that.

Last month's bill was about $300, and it was automatically deducted like normal.

Today's bill has an overdue amount AND this month's amount. To the tune of.....OVER $3,000!!!!!

Obviously there is a mistake somewhere. I just hope it can be easily corrected with one phone call.

 

[lynxstch]

that's kind of like our cable bill this month..we have internet, phone, and cable thru our local co . I happened to be looking to see what # had kept calling here and hanging up..and I noticed extra charges on the bill for $25..so I called to find out why...luckily when I called the cable co. I got a girl with some brains, who went and got someone to ask, came back and asked if someone in the house had a pacemaker..the lightbulb went off..we finally tracked it down..my husband has an implanted defibrillator/pacemaker..the thing came with a monitor..it's supposed to transmit ONCE a nite with reports on how it's doing, his heartbeat, etc...well it turned out the monitor was malfunctioning..started in early Dec..calling an operator assisted # every 2 min. all nite long..for almost a month!.....the maker of the monitor is responsible for paying all those charges according to our cable company, thankfully!...so far..for the month of Dec, and till Jan 12, when I noticed it and pulled the phone plug out of the monitor ...they owe our cable co. almost $800..better them than us!..they have gotten in touch with the company and our account has been credited.and the monitor was sent back and replaced with one that has a cell phone chip in it..so if it malfunctions again..it's their cell phone bill that's gonna be high!...lol
Hope you get your elec. bill straightened out soon..sounds like someone added a few too many zero's!

 

[shelly3girls]

That happened to us one month several years ago. The meter reader read the meter incorrectly. One of the larger numbers was in the process of rotating so the reader wrote down the wrong number with 9's after it. Those kind of mistakes are easy to fix!

 

[Sleepy]

This is why I don't like automatic deduction for my utility bills. If they make a mistake and bill for $2,000 and I have $3,000 in the bank, what happens if I had sent in a check to cover my rent and now the funds are not there for the rent? I am left with a bank account that is overdrawn and has fees the bank nor the utility company will reimburse.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Yeah, I agree. I do not have automatic deductions from our checking for nothing. I learned the hard way by using Paypal once directly out of my bank account.

 

[KramBerries]

I do auto deductions for everything. Usually, I do it through my credit card. When I can't, I do it through my checking account. I NEVER give Paypal my banking information. I don't trust them.

 

[GeorgeG]

Now, how do you expect the electric company to survive if you don't throw then a few extra bucks once in a while?

 

[Morganpics]

We have automatic deduction. We are notified 15 days prior to the amount being withdrawn, so if there is an issue, there is time to deal with it. I would not have it automatic if I didn't know the amount prior to withdrawal.

 

[SandrA9810]

I only have automatic deductions if it's a set amount.


The water/electric come on the same bill. And the meter guy read the water wrong, charging us like 10,000 gallons rather than 1,000. The bill was well over a 100$ more than a normal bill. I called to have them come reread the meter. Well some one never put it in the computer. A week later, when I should've been recieving an adjusted bill, they told me it was too late to do a second reading. I would have to pay the full bill amount and after next month when they read the meter, it would be adjusted back down. And the bill would be credited.
It didn't put a major damper on things... but it wasn't a fun situation.

 

[golfgal]

This is why I don't like automatic deduction for my utility bills. If they make a mistake and bill for $2,000 and I have $3,000 in the bank, what happens if I had sent in a check to cover my rent and now the funds are not there for the rent? I am left with a bank account that is overdrawn and has fees the bank nor the utility company will reimburse.

Well, we have had a couple times over the years when either the bank or a company taking money out of our account has messed up and they have always covered any fees without even asking.

Like other's have said, you get a notice long before it happens so if there is an issue you have time to address it. Also, no worries about the bill being lost in the mail-which has happened to us a lot more then we have had problems with online banking/automatic payments, etc.

 

[wdwfan16]

Got the electric "bill" today. I say "bill" because it's an automatic deduction and it always says "do not pay."

Today's bill does not say that.

Last month's bill was about $300, and it was automatically deducted like normal.

Today's bill has an overdue amount AND this month's amount. To the tune of.....OVER $3,000!!!!!

Obviously there is a mistake somewhere. I just hope it can be easily corrected with one phone call.

I think you need to rethink your Christms light display!

 

[ryanshana]

I think you need to rethink your Christms light display!

I need that

OP hopefully it gets resolved quickly!

 

[supercarrie]

We have direct debit (auto payment) for most of our bills. But we always get notified, via an e-bill, approximately 10 days before the funds are taken from the account.

The nice thing about the e-bill is that we will always know and have time to sort out any problems.