I did not realize their customer care reps were Human thay treat their customwers like animals. So I just assumed,.......

Note: Fees charged vary by market, YMMV. Also, as Broadbandreports points out, if you use the automated system (which is often more accurate and just about always faster), it's free.

Why don't people just pay online? Calling in usually take 1000 times longer anyway.

I mean, yes, it's a funny name for the fee, but almost anywhere you try to pay your bill over the phone now charges some kind of fee, unless, as Corydon pointed out, it's an automated system.

"Human Interaction Fee?"

Sounds like we need to call the Vice squad!

When did Comcast hire humans?

They currently do this in MA already, though it doesn't have that catchy tagline. The reps were pretty clear that if I wanted to avoid the fee, I could use the automated payment system (no fees) and they'd transfer me over. (I keep forgetting my pay online password.) Personally, as long as there's at least one fast, free method of payment, I'm happy. They want to discourage a particular method? Fine by me.

Sort of like my old (ex) Bank of America checking account that would charge me if I spoke with the tellers inside the bank more than once a month.

Is that 3.99 Fee on top of the $15 Fee they charge you to do a check by phone?

Hah hah, my ex pays his comcast bill via the phone, sucks to be him.

Who the heck wants to pay by phone? Not only do you have to deal with a person, you're giving out your credit card number to this stranger and even though 'some calls are monitored and recorded' if this person runs off with your information, how are you going to be able to get your money back because you can't prove someone from Comcast took it?

@ pylon83-- Not everyone has a computer with internet access. Not everyone wants or can afford a computer with internet access. An older person might want to talk to a real person. And also, I know that I(and many other people) sometimes get fed up with automated phone systems while waiting to ask a simple little question about something else and will just press any number that will get me to talk with someone-- even if it's the bill paying extension.

@UpsetPanda: Some people are afraid of providing personal data over the internet, you know, with the nonexistent possibility of an undetected keylogging trojan residing in your computer and all, with the -gasp- help form a malicious-script-ridden yet innocent webpage.

I understand charging a fee for "human interaction" but how does a company justify charging a fee for "non-human interaction". My electric and gas want to charge a $5 fee for saving them money by using the internet to pay my bill. Isn't the whole purpose of paying electronically to save the company money by not taking up a real persons time but they want to charge you extra for it. So they are making twice the money. Not having to pay a "human" and charging you the "non-human interaction" fee.

@lovelygirl:
Well, the old people can mail in their checks just like they used to before the phone was invented. Seriously, paying over the phone is a convenience. The more people that do it, the more people Comcast (in theory) has to hire/pay/keep on duty.

but they have already BEEN charging a fee to do that.