Quest Diagnostic, BS payment fee!

[SL6827]

Went online to pay a bill of $48.08 to Quest Diagnostic today. When it got to the end of the payment, they were going to charge me $3.99 just to pay it. That's an 8% charge!! That's BS! I then looked at the bill and called the automated system and paid it for free. No charge.

 

[fla4fun]

Went online to pay a bill of $48.08 to Quest Diagnostic today. When it got to the end of the payment, they were going to charge me $3.99 just to pay it. That's an 8% charge!! That's BS! I then looked at the bill and called the automated system and paid it for free. No charge.

My water bill is that way. If you pay online, there is a $1.99 “convenience fee” added on, whether you use a credit card or pay with your bank info. My actual bill runs around $13 per month, so it’s roughly 15% extra. Once you get above a certain limit, it’s even higher, but I never get to that point. I can’t call in to pay it though. It’s strictly online or mail a check. I mailed a check for a long time, but with only two weeks to pay the bill, sometimes the payment wouldn’t arrive until the day it was due, even if I mailed it the same day I got the bill. So now I grumble, and pay the fee.

I would understand the fee if I paid with a cc and they wanted to cover their processing fees, but there shouldn’t be any fees when paying direct from your checking account.

 

[happily single]

These “convenience fees” are anything but convenient! If I pay my commercial rent online with a debit card it $9.99. If I pay with an electronic check they charge $4.99. It’s free if I mail a paper check.

 

[SL6827]

They are making profit off of these BS fees.

 

[DVCjj]

Cannot stand the bogus service fees I constantly hear about and see.

They are in the same category of intimation of tipping in the credit card machine when buying FAST FOOD or variation of fast food (taking all of a second to toss on a plate). I've always been a good tipper but as a senior, we are definitely feeling the inflation punch in the gut and I've changed my entire way of tipping.

Makes me crazy. Recently I decided I am not going to be intimated anymore if at all possible and now carry cash.
Very rarely do I see tip jars on the crowded counters so I can leave or not leave what I want in a tip. So tired of what's going on.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

My water bill is that way. If you pay online, there is a $1.99 “convenience fee” added on, whether you use a credit card or pay with your bank info. My actual bill runs around $13 per month, so it’s roughly 15% extra. Once you get above a certain limit, it’s even higher, but I never get to that point. I can’t call in to pay it though. It’s strictly online or mail a check. I mailed a check for a long time, but with only two weeks to pay the bill, sometimes the payment wouldn’t arrive until the day it was due, even if I mailed it the same day I got the bill. So now I grumble, and pay the fee.

I would understand the fee if I paid with a cc and they wanted to cover their processing fees, but there shouldn’t be any fees when paying direct from your checking account.

Well, my water bill is free to pay online but it's usually over $100/month, higher if we water our lawn. I'll trade any day.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

These “convenience fees” are anything but convenient! If I pay my commercial rent online with a debit card it $9.99. If I pay with an electronic check they charge $4.99. It’s free if I mail a paper check.

Our DMV is that way. To renew our car registration online it's $1.99. If I mail a check, it's free.

 

[mjkacmom]

I recently ran into that with a medical bill, it was because they were using a third party billing service. Didn’t realize until the end of the transaction.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I recently ran into that with a medical bill, it was because they were using a third party billing service. Didn’t realize until the end of the transaction.

This is what our DMV says too but it’s still annoying. One would think an organization that collects money from millions of customers for an indispensable product would not need to pay another company to collect payments on their behalf. Then again, we’re talking about our government; no need to be efficient.

 

[Anthony1971]

These fees have been around since credit cards switched to Chip somewhere around 2014 where the government agreed to allow service fees to be passed along in return the consumer was offered better protection because of contactless payments. Most did not pass the fees along but in recent years to cover expenses they have…. The point of using a third is exactly that contactless means no employee ever see or touches payments. It was far cheaper for companies to have a third party then the systems employees and Maint. I don’t agree with them either…. Complain to your local congress members maybe they will introduce a bill to reverse the ability to pass the fees along.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

We had to pay a parking ticket for an expired inspection. Ticket was $41. $3.99 "convenience fee" if I paid with my credit or debit card but free if I put my banking info in directly. So annoying.

 

[fla4fun]

We had to pay a parking ticket for an expired inspection. Ticket was $41. $3.99 "convenience fee" if I paid with my credit or debit card but free if I put my banking info in directly. So annoying.

See, I can’t even avoid the fee if I use my banking info on the water bill. They don’t care how you pay it online, you have to pay the fee. The only way to avoid the fee is to mail a check. I would understand (not necessarily like) them passing on the processing fee if I was using a credit card, but I don’t understand the fee when it’s coming out of my checking account directly. They are just doing it because they can, so whether your payment is late because the mail is slow or you try to pay on time online, they still make money on the transaction. It’s as bad as all those extra fees hotels charge these days. It feels so dishonest. . .

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

See, I can’t even avoid the fee if I use my banking info on the water bill. They don’t care how you pay it online, you have to pay the fee. The only way to avoid the fee is to mail a check. I would understand (not necessarily like) them passing on the processing fee if I was using a credit card, but I don’t understand the fee when it’s coming out of my checking account directly. They are just doing it because they can, so whether your payment is late because the mail is slow or you try to pay on time online, they still make money on the transaction. It’s as bad as all those extra fees hotels charge these days. It feels so dishonest. . .

I totally understand. It's ridiculous. Plus isn't it more work for them to have to deal with actual paperwork and process it manually?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

See, I can’t even avoid the fee if I use my banking info on the water bill. They don’t care how you pay it online, you have to pay the fee. The only way to avoid the fee is to mail a check. I would understand (not necessarily like) them passing on the processing fee if I was using a credit card, but I don’t understand the fee when it’s coming out of my checking account directly. They are just doing it because they can, so whether your payment is late because the mail is slow or you try to pay on time online, they still make money on the transaction. It’s as bad as all those extra fees hotels charge these days. It feels so dishonest. . .

Our property taxes are that way too, though it's a much higher fee to use a cc vs. paying from bank account. I don't even know how much a stamp costs but let's say it's 60 cents vs 99 cents to pay online, I might as well just pay online and not worry about slow mail or checks being stolen, etc.
Oh, how I would love to be able to charge our taxes to a cc. Living in a high COL area, we'd be really racking up some cc points!

 

[mjkacmom]

Our property taxes are that way too, though it's a much higher fee to use a cc vs. paying from bank account. I don't even know how much a stamp costs but let's say it's 60 cents vs 99 cents to pay online, I might as well just pay online and not worry about slow mail or checks being stolen, etc.
Oh, how I would love to be able to charge our taxes to a cc. Living in a high COL area, we'd be really racking up some cc points!

We still have a little mortgage left, so our taxes are paid through escrow. When it’s paid we will still be paying over $1000 a month and will need to mail it.

 

[loves to dive]

See, I can’t even avoid the fee if I use my banking info on the water bill. They don’t care how you pay it online, you have to pay the fee. The only way to avoid the fee is to mail a check. I would understand (not necessarily like) them passing on the processing fee if I was using a credit card, but I don’t understand the fee when it’s coming out of my checking account directly. They are just doing it because they can, so whether your payment is late because the mail is slow or you try to pay on time online, they still make money on the transaction. It’s as bad as all those extra fees hotels charge these days. It feels so dishonest. . .

Can you pay it through bill pay with your checking account? Some banks still send paper checks, some electronic, it just depends on the vendor.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We still have a little mortgage left, so our taxes are paid through escrow. When it’s paid we will still be paying over $1000 a month and will need to mail it.

Our mortgage is paid off but I keep a dedicated savings acct that I put $1000/month into but at least that includes our homeowner’s insurance too.

 

[SL6827]

It just got me because I knew the 8% the charge was, was more than the 2-3% cost to use the card charged to them. An extra 5% at least, pure profit. Right?

 

[hertamaniac]

I think many of these companies know that there are credit cards, etc. with cash back bonuses and simply hijack those monies for themselves when making a payment. It's so irritating.

 

[SL6827]

Does a credit card and debit card pay the same fees?