I just sent a nasty e-mail to Weight Watchers..not like me

[Disney1fan2002]

I never really get so worked up that it comes out nasty, but this time I did. I joined their monthly pass program, and I pay $39.95/month. They charge it to your debit account or cc. I used one of my bank accounts that I try to save money in. I wanted to seperate the money, so it the monthly debit didn't mess up my regular bills, in case I forgot about it. (I am known to do that)

I get home with the paperwork, and read the fine print, and read that they will take out next's month dues in 15 days. Made a mental note of it, and then forgot about it.

Well, the e-mail will tell you what happened. here it is:

To whom it may concern,

I am not happy with how you are running this program. You have tried to debit my account twice, and found insufficient funds. Sorry.

I joined the monthly pass program on Nov. 13th. I set it up to come out of an account that I don't use all month, to make it easier to not get WW's money mixed in with bill money. Most of our money goes into our joint account, then gets transferred to various accounts throughout the month.

I did not realize that 15 days means 13 days. You see, I joined on the 13th, but my account was not debited until the 15th. So, I was counting 15 days from the 15th. My mistake, no problem. Don't know why it took TWO days to debit my account.

Here is where I DO have a problem. I received an e-mail on Nov. 28th timed at 5:16PM that authorization failed. You were giving me 3 days to get the funds in my account. Thank you. But with 3 kids and a busy life, I just could not run off to the bank that second. I fully planned on putting the money in the account FIRST THING this morning, since I forgot to yesterday. So what happens? I have an e-mail waiting for me TIMED AT 3:45 AM!!!! I am so glad that you e-mail someone in late afternoon, tell them 3 days, and the 3rd day is midnight. You only waited TWO days, and I don't think that is fair. Not when I am new to this, and excuse me for not realizing that a monthly fee would be due just two weeks after I paid my 1st month.

Go ahead and charge today. The money is there. Oh wait, I have to sign up again, don't I? Which means I will have to make sure another $40 is in the account in two weeks instead of NEXT MONTH

 

[Buckalew11]

That is way too complicated for me. I'd put in enough $$ to cover at least a month's worth (or two deductions from them) so you'd always have sufficient funds.
I'd never remember all those accounts and all those due dates.

 

[shortbun]

I NEVER set up automatic withdrawl. No exceptions. I could never live up to that kind of organization. Sorry they are so weird.

 

[SandraVB79]

Quite frankly, I also don't really understand. All those accounts for different things...
I would make sure there is always more money on the account than needed. But that's just me...

 

[VioltePrincess]

WW is not responsible for your miscalculation. when I set up autoatic withdrawlas from my checking account, I make sure there's money in the account a few days before the payment is due, because you never know when they will do the transaction -- usually mine are done first thing in the morning. and I certainly wouldn't have waited for Day 3 to deposit funds for the overdue payment.

 

[supercarrie]

Sorry, but I agree with the above posters. Make sure there is at least what it needed in there at all times. Things happen. Especially if you have such a busy life, better to cover it.

 

[dcgrumpy]

Not when I am new to this, and excuse me for not realizing that a monthly fee would be due just two weeks after I paid my 1st month.

But you knew that the day you signed the papers.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Sorry, but I have to agree with the other posters.

 

[azgal81]

I also don't see how this is weight watchers fault. I'm sorry but I think you are repsonsible. Sounds like you forgot to put the money in and they were just trying to deduct it because you signed up for it. They told you they were going to take out next months dues in 15 days so you should have put the money in there.

 

[inaminute]

You joined on the 13th, that's the day you paid. It took your bank two days to process the payment, so it cleared on the 15th. It works the same as a check. If you give someone a check, it takes a few days to clear. As far as WW is concerned the day you joined and paid was the 13th.

It's not their problem that you have a busy life and couldn't get funds to your account within the specified amount of time. They did nothing wrong that I can see.

You simply need to make sure you have funds available in the future. It will save you lots of headaches.

 

[jgmklmhem]

This why I have everything that is possible go to my credit card that gives rewards. I pay it off every month so no fees, but I get an extra 20 days to make the payment from the last thing charged before my statement date.

 

[Allison]

I also don't see how this is weight watchers fault. I'm sorry but I think you are repsonsible. Sounds like you forgot to put the money in and they were just trying to deduct it because you signed up for it. They told you they were going to take out next months dues in 15 days so you should have put the money in there.

I agree.

WW isn't going to care about the details of your personal finances you provided either.

 

[LoraJ]

Automatic payments can be great, but also a nightmare.

I have my mortgage set up to be paid through my online banking. They keep changing the date that it's going to charge. I like to have it go out of my account the Monday after I get my second paycheck of the month. So I am always changing the date. Something funky happened this month and they charged me TWICE in a week and overdrew my account. I was able to put money in from otehr accounts, but I was 3 days late noticing that this had happened and had $80 in charges. I called the bank and got it all sorted out, thankfully and they refunded me the charges. And now I don't have to pay my mortgage next month.

But I think from now on, I will be paying my mortgage manually. Especially since I always have to be on top of teh date. Not sure why they move it around so much.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't understand the e-mail.

I can understand your frustration--we cancelled Discover card when it was "discovered" that their due dates were suggested due dates and not what they really meant. (We had a late fee charged to our account b/c due to a holiday--the payment wasn't in their office by 5am the Thursday before the published Sunday due date in the letter). Very irritating when they do not honor what they post on the billing statement and I'd like to know what post office is delivering to them at 5 in the morning.

In any case--for regular charges, we use a main account or a credit account. In the end the burden is on the purchaser to make sure money is available for the debit.

They say you attract more bees with honey and you might have gotten further with a note that was less personal and more business. Not an attack on you in the slightest..but when I make complaints--the first time I write it is how I would say it if I was complaining to my spouse or a friend....then I have to go and clean it up to remove the emotional aspect of the message so that I convey what the problem was, how they caused it and how it could have been avoided. In your case I would have quoted the part of your contract that you feel applied to your situation and how they didn't honor it.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Oh and debits sometimes do take time. It isn't necessarily the fault of whom gives the debit. When you are dealing with 2 different banks (theirs and yours)--they might have different time schedules.

In my case with discover it was a wire transfer that they didn't honor even though it was received (and documented) 2 days prior to deadline.

 

[VioltePrincess]

so if the payment was due on the 13th, but you thought it was due on the 15th, the seocnd failure should not have happened, since, by your calculations the money should have gone into the account on the 14th.

the "extra 3 days" WW was giving you was a courtesy.

 

[Fionasmommy]

I have the WW monthly pass as well. I was a bit annoyed at first because I noticed they kept charging me a little bit earlier each month. I was sure that if they kept bumping it up 5 days each month, before long I'd have paid for a whole extra month.

But, when I finally checked the fine print, it says your account will be automatically debited up to 15 days prior to your payment due date. This is only a guess, but I think it's so that they can mail out your new card before the other one expires. So, whatever. As long as they don't charge me any earlier than that I'll be fine.

It is a really great deal, especially with the free eTools! I hope you're able to get it all sorted out with them!