Remember how I've complained
Last month, when I saw that my check had not been credited by the 25th, I did a one-time transaction online, from my checking account. Of course then my check showed up as credited on SUNDAY the 27th, according to DISH. So I knew that at least my payment for February would already be in the can. In their coffers. No action necessary from me. No way it could be late, they already had it a month (less two days) before the new due date.
I got my DISH bill in the mail this month. On the 16th. I didn't bother to open it, since my payment was already in. Good thing, too, because President's Day, a postal holiday, was the Monday after my paper bill arrived. One LESS day to get a payment returned.
Anyhoo... being the cautious kind, and with a very nice credit rating, I figured I'd get online to make sure that extra payment was still showing my credit. WELL! I could not do that, because the DISH SYSTEM WAS DOWN! Uh huh! Who's right NOW? What if I'd waited to pay online, and THEN saw this? That's right. I wouldn't be able to make my payment, and I'd get a late charge! So there, all you modern technowizards! There's a valid reason Mrs. HM does not trust internet bill-paying.
You know what happened, right? Being a bit OCD about my bills, I tried again to access the DISH system on the 19th. You'll never believe what I saw! I owed DISH a payment! Granted, it was a payment for $5.01. But still a payment. Due by the 25th. If I hadn't obsessively checked, I would have had a past-due bill next month!
Do you know where that extra $5.01 charge came from? One of my programming packages has INCREASED IN PRICE since last month. It hasn't done that for several years. But the one month I'm certain I have my payment already in, that package has a price increase.
Of course I paid it with a one-time online payment from my checking account. Because there wasn't time to mail in a check with the monthly statement.
We have paid an insurance premium twice in one month and, like you assumed they would credit the next month. But that would be too simple and make sense! They refunded the over payment. But, of course that refund check did not arrive for 6 weeks. This caused HeWho to spend most of one day on the phone being transferred and waiting because THERE WAS NO RECORD OF THE REFUND. Not only did they refund that month, but he made them credit a month free for our trouble! This was after he told them how incompetent and stupid they were. They removed the late fees, as well. Their excuse? The computer did it.
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteKudos to HeWho! Justice at last! Better than justice. Justice Plus!
Are you saying you DON'T get prior warning when there will be an increase in charges?? That's very low of them. I would be sending them an email asking "why wasn't I told?" Do they LIKE people getting late fees for things like this?
ReplyDeleteI'm outraged.
There's not a single thing I pay for, where I don't get prior warning of increases, al least a month before hand and sometimes six weeks.
River,
ReplyDeleteDISH did notify me of the increase, on the last bill. Which I didn't read closely, because I knew I couldn't mail it back in time, so I paid online. So that was MY fault, for not reading the notice of an increase. It's not like they had a special insert. Just regular-size writing on the statement. My own fault, for just glancing and seeing the same total I've paid for over three years.
My increase notices arrive via email, completely separate to the actual bill. I guess they do that so people will notice, since most, including me, don't always read the information on the bills, only the total and the due date. And the date the next bill should be expected.
ReplyDeleteRiver,
ReplyDeleteThat would be more noticeable, in an email. I would have seen that!