Utilities

[LuvOrlando]

Back in 2020 my utility bill collection systems were acting very strange with denial of accepting payment and other weird delays resulting in me overnighting a check with a duplicate payment to avoid this and then slowly building to enough of a credit in each account to pay ahead a month on literally everything, I don't want an unnecessary credit score hit. I've kept that up everywhere but with the exception of electric for our new place where everything is a bulk autopay and was shocked that an update of their system caused them to delete us as customers stopping the autopay. This month was a sizable double pay but we are glad we got out in front of it. Pretty sure one of our medical billing offices did the same thing this time last year & I'm wondering how many people have these weird hiccups in billing. I'd think they would want money so this would get people fired, but no, it seems like they just take it in stride. Going to be tough on families right before Christmas around here, I can see in Nextdoor it's not just us.

 

[RangerPooh]

Since the summer we have had a few bills that have been on autopay for ages go off autopay due to the company changing their billing system platform. It has been a headache as at least one of the companies seems to be chasing its tail unable to resolve the issue.

 

[lanejudy]

I had a bill on autopay once that hiccupped, and it was a couple of months before I noticed. Now I only ever opt-in for autopay if it's required. Otherwise I prefer to initiate payment myself.

 

[fla4fun]

I had a bill on autopay once that hiccupped, and it was a couple of months before I noticed. Now I only ever opt-in for autopay if it's required. Otherwise I prefer to initiate payment myself.

I am the same way. I won’t use autopay unless required either. All of my bills, save one, come in between the 12th and 15th of the month, and I sit down at the computer and pay them all at the same time. The one outlier is the end of the month. They tried hard to get me to go on autopay for my COBRA premiums, but there was no way I wanted to risk messing up my health insurance if autopay went awry.

 

[Skippy918]

That’s happened to us. We got a notice of cancellation in the mail and I was like, isn’t this on autopay? But something got screwed up. We called and paid.

 

[cvjw]

All of our bills are on autopay and charged to our credit card. Since I check the credit card most everyday, I know if the bills are being paid correctly.

 

[focusondisney]

I don’t think I’ll ever do auto pay. I get paper bills & pay online myself. Judging by these “hiccups“ sounds like I’m better off.

 

[tvguy]

My electric company would not let me pay my bill online. I called and the customer service rep said they needed a deposit and a credit check to open an online account which they considered a "new" account. The rep said, "this is stupid, you have had the same old fashioned account for 30 years" A supervisor was able to override that issue.

And my classic car insurance won't let me pay online either. So they still get a check and their customer service rep says everything they see indicates I should be able to pay it online.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I'm no fan of autopay for these exact reasons, it creates a buffer that can be an obstacle. This utility bill is linked up with other things and can't be separated because this is the facilities policy and we didn't notice because the withdrawal isn't itemized so we just sort of guestimate it's ok if the numbers seem on point. It's just such a mess, I'm very worried that families will fall behind with this, the utility should be forced to allow installments if the problem was of their creation & this is all them.

TV guy, that's very peculiar, checks are nice but if there is an emergency you might need the convenience to choose.

 

[CynBeth]

There are a few where it has to be autopsy but for everything else I like to get the bill in the mail and either send a check or pay online if able to.

 

[AgentMama]

We never autopay if we can avoid it, too many possible issues with overpayments and no recourse. Wasn't it a couple years ago when Texas had that freeze and switched to overcharge electricity and people on autopay were charged many times their usual bill?

 

[kdonnel]

30 years ago I was not a fan of auto pay.

But with the advent of online nearly instantaneous access to financial records, 20+ years ago I moved everything I could to auto pay.

I have not had an issue.

Some auto pays draw from my checking account(I have had the same checking account my entire life) but the majority charge to a credit card. When the card expires I update the expiration date. Most times several months of charges will be approved with the wrong expiration date before I am notified or I remember to update the card.

The authorization systems are generally smart enough to recognize that this is a recurring payment and should be authorized even with the old expiration date.

 

[easyas123]

I have several accounts on autopay, I like the convenience of it - only electric & mortgage not on autopay. I've never experienced a hiccup or issue, however I have changed banks once during this time and switching over the accounts was a bit of a pain.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We never autopay if we can avoid it, too many possible issues with overpayments and no recourse. Wasn't it a couple years ago when Texas had that freeze and switched to overcharge electricity and people on autopay were charged many times their usual bill?

Yes! I forgot about that mess.

 

[Dan Murphy]

My electric company would not let me pay my bill online. I called and the customer service rep said they needed a deposit and a credit check to open an online account which they considered a "new" account. The rep said, "this is stupid, you have had the same old fashioned account for 30 years" A supervisor was able to override that issue.

And my classic car insurance won't let me pay online either. So they still get a check and their customer service rep says everything they see indicates I should be able to pay it online.

You should really be able to pay any company or person through your bank online payments. If the bank does not have an e-payment relationship with the biller, the bank mails a physical check. At least this is true of any bank here. Several of my monthly bills are paid that way, the bank sends them a check, no charge no postage, nothing to me.

 

[tvguy]

You should really be able to pay any company or person through your bank online payments. If the bank does not have an e-payment relationship with the biller, the bank mails a physical check. At least this is true of any bank here. Several of my monthly bills are paid that way, the bank sends them a check, no charge no postage, nothing to me.

It is an option with my bank but I have never used it. A friend is Business Manager for an older guy who has 12 employees and owns hundreds of apartments. He absolutely refuses to do anything online, even things like forwarding withheld payroll taxes, Medicare tax, etc. So she uses the bank service to pay those. All the owner sees is the checks written to pay those taxes, he never sees that the bank is actually paying them electronically. He is pretty hardcore, won't even allow an internet hookup in the office.