Reader Tom wrote in to let us know that during a conversation with AT&T customer service, a representative told him that it is typical to send out collection notices ten days after the original bill is mailed. Factoring in two or three days for the bill to arrive, two or three days for the check to get back to AT&T, and a Sunday or two, that leaves three to five days for customers to pay their bills before the angry letters and phone calls begin.
bills
Your Bill For Using Zero Gallons Of Water: $92.65
By 3.30.08
Among the “improvements” that have come with the rate increase has been new and improved water bills with return envelopes. I’m attaching a picture of the bill and the envelope. Look at it closely and think of what would happen if I put the bill in the return envelope, stamp it and send it off. I’ll give you a hint, I’d waste a stamp and it’d come right back to me!
This Sprint Plan Lets You Talk For 1.9 Years Per Month. What?
By 3.29.08
BG’s Sprint plan lets him talk for 1,000,499 minutes per month and only costs $50. How did he find this stupefyingly amazing plan? Hit the jump for his story.
Why Did The Tennessean Send This Bill For $0.08?
By 3.23.08
The Tennessean sent reader MP a bill for eight cents three months after he canceled his promotional subscription. MP has no intention of wasting a relatively expensive stamp to pay this trifle of a bill, but he would like to know: what could possibly costs eight cents?
Watch Out For Cramming On Your Phone Bill
By 3.20.08
Josh discovered a mysterious $13 fee on his parents’ phone bill, and as he tracked down the source of the bogus charge, he learned a lot about cramming. The FCC describes it as “the practice of placing unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive charges on your telephone bill” by third party companies, who bank on you being too confused/distracted/annoyed by your hard-to-read bill to notice.
Online Convenience Fee Is 63% Of Utility Bill
By 3.19.08
Reader Michael says:
I moved into a new apartment last month, and just received my first electric bill. It is run through a company called AUM Inc. (aum-inc.com), on behalf of my apartment complex. I went to pay the bill online (as I prefer to pay my bills) and I noticed something on the page. In fact, it’s on the page no less than 5 different times.
San Diego Union Tribune Tries To Trick Customers Into Renewing By Demanding Payment For "Unpaid Bill"
By 3.8.08
Dean writes:
I received a call yesterday from my newspaper (the San Diego Union Tribune). The nice young man on the phone told me that I had an unpaid bill, and if I liked, he could take care of that over the phone with me right then. I take a certain amount of pride in paying all my bills promptly, so my first impulse was to go ahead and get it taken care of asap. But after the first few seconds of surprise and confusion, I got suspicious.
Comfort Suite's Shady "Energy Surcharge" Costs You $144
By 3.2.08
Reader ds143 wrote in with a reminder to ask hotels about added fees before reserving a room. He booked a six-night stay at the Comfort Suites in the Bahamas for his family of four without realizing that the hotel levied a $6 per person, per night “energy surcharge.” The financial sucker punch set ds143 back $144.
The $1,000 Gas Bills
By 2.29.08
David City, Nebraska residents were shocked to open their Aquila gas bills and find bills several hundreds of dollars over the norm, in some cases as high as $1,000. Aquila says that an inexperienced meter reader incorrectly read meters in the area too low for several months and now that the error has been caught, 1,100 affected residents will have to make up the difference. Customers aren’t too thrilled. Aquila is giving them three months to pay up, saying that all they’re doing is charging customers for the gas they used, that to do otherwise would be unfair to other Aquila customers, and that they won’t be shutting off anyone due to this billing snafu. Resident Cheryl Gregg was none too thrilled, saying, “A lot of companies that you go into, if they make a mistake, they take the loss. That’s kind of how it works.” What do you think? Should Alquila have paid for the cost of its mistake or is it only fair for customers to pay for the gas they used?
Comcast Will Charge You $2 To Stop Sending You Junk Mail
By 2.29.08
We don’t mean to influence the “Worst Company In America” voting, but check this out: if you call Comcast and ask them to stop sending you anything other than your bill, they’ll agree but quietly slap you with a $1.99 “change of service” fee. Like most made-up, totally indefensible fees from cable and cell phone companies, Ian found that a chat with a customer service agent can get the fee removed. Update: Comcast has responded to this and apologized for the fee.
DirecTV Thinks You Need Protection Plan, Won't Take "No" For Answer
By 2.28.08
Brooks is a DirecTV customer, and he wrote in to warn other DirecTV customers to watch out for a shady “Protection Plan” the company signed him up for against his permission:
- I was not told anything about a “standard policy” to sign me up for the protection plan upon having warranty work done.
- I specifically declined to sign up when pitched on the idea.
- I was signed up anyways.
- I received the letter stating that there would be no charge.
- They attempted to charge a cancellation fee for canceling a plan I never agreed to.
- I had to waste time and energy to haggle to get the charges off, when it really should have been a simple fix.
Read Brooks’ full DirecTV encounter after the jump.
I'm Sorry, But We Didn't Order The "Suck My Dick Fuck Face."
By 2.19.08
The BBC is reporting that a restaurant owner has apologized to some customers who received the above-pictured bill.
Watch Out For These 14 Hidden Hotel Fees
By 2.18.08
Fodor’s posted another helpful list of hidden hotel fees to beware of the next time you travel. In most cases, these fees fall under the practice of “negative option billing,” meaning that there’s an assumption you’ve used the related service and therefore agree to the charge. If that’s not the case—or, in the case of gratuities, if you’ve already tipped—you should definitely ask the hotel to remove such fees from your bill.
New Hampshire Gives Payday Lenders The Boot
By 2.16.08
New Hampshire will become the latest state to keep payday lenders from gouging their patrons. A measure passed by the legislature will cap interest rates on payday loans at 36%, a drastic change for an industry used to bludgeoning underbanked consumers with interest rates exceeding 500%. Payday borrowers spend an average of $793 trying to repay a $325 loan. Let’s see how the economic leeches spin this as a loss for consumers.
House Passes Bill That Would Require Colleges To Practice Network Filtering
By 2.12.08
Last week the House voted 354-58 to approve a college funding bill that requires colleges to “make plans to offer some form of legal alternative to P2P file-swapping” and to implement some form of network filtering. Luckily for sane people everywhere, the White House has already made veto-noises at the bill for other reasons—but still, the MPAA came that much closer to forcing its admittedly false worldview on universities.
Gas Company Abandons Plan To Report Delinquent Customers To Credit Agencies
By 2.12.08
Last fall, CenterPoint Energy—Minnesota’s largest natural gas supplier—announced it was considering reporting the payment histories of its customers to credit reporting agencies in an effort to reduce delinquencies.
When Zombie Utility Bills Attack! 4 Years Later, You Owe $696.51
By 2.11.08
Here’s one for all the Florida lawyers out there who read this blog. (We know you exist!) When reader Matt moved 4 years ago, he transferred the utilities at his college apartment to one of his roommates. Now, 4 years later, the utility company says that the account was never transferred and that Matt owes $696.51 because his deadbeat roommates never paid the bill after he left.
By 1.28.08
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Starting March 11, Comcast will begin charging a $3.99 “human interaction fee” if you want to pay your bill by talking to a live operator. [The Oregonian via DSL Reports]
